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Nathan Myhrvold

Nathan Myhrvold Quotes

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Nathan Myhrvold is an American computer scientist, entrepreneur, and author. He is recognized for his contributions to artificial intelligence and his role in co-founding Microsoft. Myhrvold has been involved in various business ventures, serving as the CEO of Intellectual Ventures.

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All People Ifs Cooking Want Way World Cooks Software Thinking Computer Long Patents Chef Company Firsts Humans Ideas Next Technology Two

Famous Nathan Myhrvold Quotes

“I've never filed a patent lawsuit. I hope never to file a patent lawsuit. That may be unrealistic, but it would be great if I could avoid doing it... Lawsuits are a ridiculous way to do business.”

Ifs Way May Would Be Ridiculous If I Could Files Patents Lawsuit

Author:Nathan Myhrvold

“If you take a scotch whiskey and distill out the alcohol, what is left has an amazing taste to it and can be used as a flavoring for a dessert.”

Ifs Used Left Taste Alcohol Whiskey Dessert Scotch Scotch Whiskey

Author:Nathan Myhrvold

“Elections, for their part, are typically popularity contests rather than measures of candidates' relative competency or effectiveness. Imagine if scientific truth were determined according to which scientist was most popular. To be successful, scientists would have to be charismatic and attractive - and human knowledge would suffer terribly.”

“For relatively modest amounts of sulfur dioxide injected into the atmosphere, you could easily cool Earth by 1% or more, if you want.”

Ifs Want Earth Amount Atmosphere Modest Sulfur

Author:Nathan Myhrvold

“If I want popularity, I go to a chef's convention.”

Ifs Want Conventions Popularity Chef

Author:Nathan Myhrvold

“If people don't find what you are doing threatening, then it is probably not very important.”

People Ifs Important Threatening

Author:Nathan Myhrvold

“If you have a block of ballistics gelatin and a high-speed camera, pretty soon somebody gets a gun!”

Ifs Gun Cameras Speed Block High Speed Gelatin Ballistics

Author:Nathan Myhrvold

“If you talk about sous-vide, then you have to talk about food safety, and microbiology, and heat.”

Ifs Safety Heat Food Safety Microbiology

Author:Nathan Myhrvold

“If your kitchen smells good, your food lost something.”

Ifs Lost Smell Kitchen

Author:Nathan Myhrvold

“Nobody wants a prediction that the future will be more or less like the present, even if that is, statistically speaking, an excellent prediction.”

Ifs Want Excellent Predictions

Author:Nathan Myhrvold

“The magic words 'on the Internet,' if inserted into nearly any sentence, seem to protect it from normal critical scrutiny.”

Ifs Seems Magic Internet Protect Normal Critical Sentences Scrutiny Magic Words

Author:Nathan Myhrvold

“The world has shown that if you provide capital and expertise to an area that is starved for capital and expertise, really good things will happen.”

Ifs World Happens Areas Good Things Expertise

Author:Nathan Myhrvold

“If I say I've got two versions of Word - that old one from 1982 that's perfect, with zero defects; or the new one that's got all this cool new stuff, but there might be a few bugs in it - people always want the new one. But I wouldn't want them to operate a plane I was on with software that happened to be the latest greatest release!”

People Ifs Want Two Might Stuff Perfect Happened Versions Release Planes Zero Software Defects Bugs New Stuff Zero Defects

Author:Nathan Myhrvold

“If people don't get paid for their inventions, that's not a good thing. In the case of many patents, there are people who aren't in a position to take them to the next level. If you don't enforce your rights, no one is going to enforce them for you.”

People Ifs Next Levels Cases Rights Position Paid Good Things Invention Patents Next Level

Author:Nathan Myhrvold

“If you had a really good - battery, it wouldn't matter that the sun goes down at night and the wind stops blowing sometimes. But at the moment, battery technology is nowhere near good enough to use at utility scale.”

Ifs Sometimes Matter Enough Moments Use Night Technology Sun Wind Scales Good Enough Utility Batteries

Author:Nathan Myhrvold

“If you have two steaks, one that's an inch thick, one that's 2 inches thick, how much longer does the thicker one need to cook? It's four times as long. It goes roughly like the square. How come cookbooks don't tell you that?”

Ifs Needs Long Doe Two Four Cooks Squares Thick Inches Steak Cookbook

Author:Nathan Myhrvold

“Micropayments are great if you use them for a product or service with certain properties. It must be one where you can get away with usage-based pricing, and where there is a strong rationale for making it cheap, yet not free.”

Ifs Use Certain Strong Products Property Get Away Usage Rationale Pricing

Author:Nathan Myhrvold

“My company invents all kinds of new technology in lots of different areas. And we do that for a couple of reasons. We invent for fun - invention is a lot of fun to do - and we also invent for profit. The two are related because the profit actually takes long enough that if it isn't fun, you wouldn't have the time to do it.”

Ifs Kind Long Two Different Reason Enough Fun Company Technology Couple Areas Profit Invention All Kinds Related New Technology

Author:Nathan Myhrvold

“Politicians don't like to face unpleasant realities. In truth, nobody does, but as individuals, we have no choice; if we neglect to plan ahead, we are held accountable. Fail to meet your responsibilities at work, and you get fired. Ignore your car's gas gauge, and you get stranded.”

Ifs Doe Reality Faces Choices Individual Responsibility Plans Failing Car Politician Gas Neglect Gauges Stranded

Author:Nathan Myhrvold

“Regardless of how it's done, transaction costs will continue to plummet as computers get more powerful. Low transaction costs are a wonderful thing if you're in the transaction business. They're wonderful for consumers too, making it cheaper and easier to buy things and creating new things to buy.”

Ifs Done Powerful Wonderful Easier Cost Computer Creating Lows Consumers New Things Wonderful Things Cheaper Transactions Creating New Things

Author:Nathan Myhrvold

“The techniques of being an Internet visionary are just like those of lower-tech fortunetellers through the ages. A technological visionary must tell people what they want to hear, because your company's stock won't rise if you spout an unpopular vision to analysts.”

People Ifs Want Age Company Vision Internet Technique Technological Visionaries Analysts

Author:Nathan Myhrvold

“The way Moore's Law occurs in computing is really unprecedented in other walks of life. If the Boeing 747 obeyed Moore's Law, it would travel a million miles an hour, it would be shrunken down in size, and a trip to New York would cost about five dollars. Those enormous changes just aren't part of our everyday experience.”

Ifs Way Would Be Law Hours Walks Millions Five New York Cost Dollars Everyday Size Miles Enormous Unprecedented Computing Walks Of Life Boeing Moore's Law Boeing 747

Author:Nathan Myhrvold

“The ever-growing size of software applications is what makes Moore's Law possible: 'If we hadn't brought your computer to its knees, why would you go out and buy a new one?'”

Ifs Law Growing Computer Size Knees Application Software Moore's Law

Author:Nathan Myhrvold

About the Author

Born: August 3, 1959
Known for: Author
Quotes: 115

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