Steve Jobs on Computer Literacy: The Future of Humanity

The wave of personal computers has made a company very rich. In this world of high technology, it has become the biggest company. Five years ago, after the establishment of the Apple Computer Company, its sales have increased by more than 100,000,000 dollars and even more than 10 crore dollars. Steven Jobs had made his first Apple computer in his garage. He is now 26 years old and is the chairman of the board. And he considers the future of his computer as the future of humanity. This is a cycle of the 21st century, which increases a human's special intellectual capacity. And I think that after the completion of this process, the impact it will have on the society will be much more than the impact of the industrial revolution. But this computer is not just a future-proof toy, but some people feel threatened by it.

Some believe that it can be inhuman. And others fear that it can eventually take away their jobs. Pramukh Back to you, Ed. In a few moments, I will get you to talk to my computer. And in a few moments, we will talk to the chairman of the Apple Computer Company and a writer who warns about the dangers of computers for the society. The kind of role computers play in our lives, was as important for the success of a bad shuttle as the power of the boosters that take it up in the air. And the bottom line is that boosters and computers were actually doing the same thing.

Both were increasing the human's special intellectual capacity. In other words, a small group of people could run the shuttle in the same way as they could jump thousands of feet in the air. However, many of us do not really understand how computers work, or what they do for us, or what they do with us. They have this feeling that we are being controlled by computers. Is there any danger of this happening? As you know, many people see the products we make for the first time, and they don't think it's a computer. It weighs about 12 pounds. If the relationship is not going well, you can throw it out of the window. And I feel that if you look at the process of technological revolution, which we are all a part of, then it is a process of making very centric things very democratic, very personal. They have to make a budget for people, for small things, like from a passenger train to a Volkswagen.

We just heard you talking about the 21st century cycle. What were you talking about? Actually, I read an interview in Scientific American in the early 1970s. In this interview, the speed of various species on the planet was measured, birds, fish, dogs, etc. And it was found that the condor won the race. The condor was the slowest to go from point A to point B, and the man came with a very simple demonstration at a rate of about one third below. But a person from that newspaper came up with the idea of testing the man's ability to ride a cycle. And while riding a cycle, the man was two times better than the condor, which was at the top of the list. And it actually showed the ability of man to make a device to increase his genetic ability as a device maker. And we actually feel what we are doing.

We are actually making a way for the 21st century cycle, but to increase a little different genetic ability of man, the ability of a certain part of the intellect… Now we are at the inner part of the intellect, and yes, one of these devices can liberate a person from many obstacles in life, and can actually allow humans to do what they do best, which is to work on the intellectual level, to work on the creative level. Okay, David Burnham, you have some concerns about computers, and I think they are partially related to the violation of privacy, and they violate our privacy, don't they? They definitely do this, and we have many examples of this in our history. Mr. Jobs said that computers have increased the ability of humans. This is true. But history tells us that humans have done good deeds, and they have also done bad deeds.

For example, in 1941, the Jangana Bureau used a computer-equipped punch card to help locate Japanese-Americans, when many of them were arrested on the West Coast. Okay? I take this statement from the NRA. You know that guns don't kill people, people kill people. Computers don't do this to people. People who use computers do this. Isn't a computer itself a terrible tool that can be used for good or bad purposes? Yes, it is. And people use guns to kill people, and people use guns to hunt animals. The question is, is our society careful enough to understand the power of computers and to turn it towards good things, or are there people and opportunities when we use this tool for bad purposes?

Okay, Steve Jobs, I understand that this is your creation, and you have made a career out of it. But you are also a philosopher to some extent. Do you see any possibility of something bad coming out of this? I think that one thing that you should see in reality is that you should see children using computers. For example, students from Minnesota's Santanavasan High School have a practical experience of these personal computers, and they are learning to use them. We call this computer literacy. This is actually happening in primary schools as well. And when you see children talking to these computers, what you see is far from being harmful. In reality, what you see is a temporary reflection of a part of them, which is an expression of their creative part.

And to see these children using this tool, and to feel that this tool will be available to them for the rest of their lives, it is very difficult to picture this in a very harmful way. This is actually very populist. But I think that Mr. Brahm was taking us in this direction. The government has the ability to use computers to get all kinds of information about us, which we don't even know about, that they have. Isn't this dangerous? Anyway, I think that the best defense against something like this is that there are a lot of literate people, and in this matter, computer literate people. And I think that in reality, you are seeing this happening in the field of personal computers. Again, these are computers that people can buy themselves. In the United States of America, we have already made one out of every thousand houses, and I think that in the next five or six years, this number will be one in ten.

Finally, it will be in every house. And I think that the feeling of computer literacy among the people is what gives me the confidence that a centralized intelligence will not be able to influence our lives without our knowledge. Mr. Brahm, are you convinced that somehow, all of us will have the ability to protect ourselves by being able to control and control computers? Anyway, I am surprised that can a single centralized state be able to compete with the army, when a few years ago, it had started a program of surveillance of millions of people, who were legally opposing the war, and were raising their voices against the war in Vietnam. And were raising their voices against the war in Vietnam. I am surprised that can a common citizen be able to control the army, or can a common citizen be able to control the People's Bureau, if he breaks the rules and decides to consolidate the information that the citizen has given him.

But in general, are you on their side or on their side? I think that there is a very big threat right now, about which the people are not fully aware. I think that if we become aware, then maybe we can use them for those good things, which Mr. Jobs sees in them. Computer literacy, you both are on his side. And I thank you both very much for coming here.