"When you write a computer program you've got to not just list things out and sort of take an algorithm and translate it into a set of instructions. But when there's a bug — and all programs have bugs — you've got to debug it. You've got to go in, change it, and then re-execute … and you iterate. And that iteration is really a very, very good approximation of learning."

“Isn't it odd how parents grieve if their child spends six hours a day on the 'Net, but are delighted if those same hours are spent reading books?”

“True personalization is now upon us. It's not just a matter of selecting relish over mustard once. The post-information age is about acquaintance over time: machines' understanding individuals with the same degree of subtlety we can expect from other human beings, including idiosyncrasies and totally random events, good and bad, in the unfolding narrative of our lives.”

“MIT is governed by a second, even higher rule: the inalienable right of academic freedom.”

“Archive of Wired columns”

“Think about it. Turning pages. How ridiculous that is. It's just unbelievably dumb. … building peripherals for iTunes … We can't turn these kids into couch potatoes.”

“If you think about it, being digital is Italian. It's underground, provocative, interactive. It has humor, discourse, and debate. It has a kind of liveliness to it.”