“If every country committed to spending 0.05 per cent of GDP on researching non-carbon-emitting energy technologies, that would cost $25 billion a year, and it would do a lot more than massive carbon cuts to fight warming and save lives.” IfsYearsCountryFightingEnergyTechnologyCuttingCostCommittedSpendingBillionsMassiveCentsCarbonGdpSave A Life Author:Bjorn Lomborg
“I mean, if you've ever been a governor of a state, you understand the vast potential of broadband technology, you understand how hard it is to make sure that physics, for example, is taught in every classroom in the state. It's difficult to do. It's, like, cost-prohibitive.” IfsMeanHardStatesDifficultTechnologyExampleTaughtCostPhysicsClassroomGovernorsBroadband Author:George W. Bush
“It is despairing to consider that the cost and reliability of access to space have barely changed since the Apollo era over three decades ago. Yet in virtually every other field of technology, we have made great strides in reducing cost and increasing capability.” MadeThreeSpaceTechnologyFieldsChangedCostDecadesAccessErasCapabilityApolloReducingStrideReliability Author:Elon Musk
“The Internet is the first technology since the printing press which could lower the cost of a great education and, in doing so, make that cost-benefit analysis much easier for most students. It could allow American schools to service twice as many students as they do now, and in ways that are both effective and cost-effective.” WayFirstsSchoolTechnologyStudentsInternetEasierCostBenefitsPressesAnalysisPrintingGreat EducationPrinting PressCost Benefit Analysis Author:John Katzman
“The Internet rewards scale; by trading higher up-front costs for lower marginal cost, market leaders can invest in better technology and service. As a result, there is nothing online that is both great in quality and small in scale. Amazon wasn't originally a better bookstore than the small shops we mourn, but it is now.” ResultsQualityLeaderTechnologyFrontsInternetHigherCostRewardsScalesShopsOnlineTradingMournAmazonBookstoresMarket Leaders Author:John Katzman
“What the new fertilizer technology has accomplished for the farmer is clear: more crop can be produced on less acreage than before. Since the cost of fertilizer, relative to the resultant gain in crop sales, is lower than that of any other economic input, and since the Land Bank pays the farmer for acreage not in crops, the new technology pays him well. The cost-in environmental degradation-is borne by his neighbors in town who find their water polluted. The new technology is an economic success-but only because it is an ecological failure.” WellsWaterPayTechnologyClearEconomicLandCostGainsTownsEnvironmentalNeighborAccomplishedFarmersRelativeCropsDegradationEcologicalNew TechnologyInputFertilizerEnvironmental DegradationEconomic Success Author:Barry Commoner
“As the technology matures, it becomes less and less relevant. The technology is taken for granted. Now, new customers enter the marketplace, customers who are not captivated by technology, but who instead want reliability, convenience, no fuss or bother, and low cost.” WantTechnologyTakenCostLowsCustomersGrantedBotherRelevantConvenienceMarketplaceTaken For GrantedReliabilityCaptivated Author:Donald A. Norman
“The aim of industrialization has always been to replace people with machines or other technology, to make the cost of production as low as possible, to sell the product as high as possible, and to move the wealth into fewer and fewer hands.” PeopleHandsMovingWealthTechnologyProductsCostLowsMachinesAimSellsProductionsFewerIndustrialization Author:Wendell Berry
“The Nuffield report suggests that there is a moral imperative for investment into GM crop research in developing countries. But the moral imperative is in fact the opposite. The policy of drawing of funds away from low-cost sustainable agriculture research, towards hi-tech, exclusive, expensive and unsafe technology is itself ethically questionable. There is a strong moral argument that the funding of GM technology in agriculture is harming the long-term sustainability of agriculture in the developing world.” WorldLongCountryFactsStrongTermMoralTechnologyPolicyCostLowsResearchArgumentOppositesInvestmentDrawingDevelopingLong TermExpensiveReportsFundSustainabilityAgricultureExclusiveImperativesFundingCropsQuestionableUnsafeDeveloping CountriesSustainable Agriculture Author:Tewolde Berhan Gebre Egziabher
“The laws of thermodynamics restrict all technologies, man's as well as nature's, and apply to all economic systems whether capitalist, communist, socialist, or fascist. We do not create or destroy (produce or consume) anything in a physical sense- we merely transform or rearrange. And the inevitable cost of arranging greater order in one part of the system (the human economy) is creating a more than offsetting amount of disorder elsewhere (the natural environment).” MenHumansWellsLawOrderNaturalTechnologyEconomyEnvironmentGreaterEconomicProduceAmountCostCreatingInevitableCommunistDisorderCapitalistElsewhereSocialistFascistsNatural EnvironmentEconomic SystemsArrangingThermodynamics Author:Herman E. Daly
“Setting an aggressive enough carbon-reduction goal will result in an appropriate price for carbon and will help many a renewable technology. Consumer education will help. Most importantly, though, will be the continually declining cost trajectory of the real breakthrough in clean-technology costs driven by research and innovation. In the end, private capital is the real barometer of change.” RealEndsEnoughHelpingGoalResultsTechnologyCostResearchInnovationCleanDrivenSettingSettingsConsumersAppropriateAggressiveCarbonBreakthroughReductionTrajectoryBarometerResearch And Innovation Author:Vinod Khosla
“We cannot deny that our decision today will have an impact on the ability of law enforcement to combat crime. Cell phones have become important tools in facilitating coordination and communication among members of criminal enterprises, and can provide valuable incriminating information about dangerous criminals. Privacy comes at a cost.” ImportantTodayLawAbilityDecisionTechnologyDangerousCrimeInformationCommunicationCostMembersToolsImpactPhonesValuableDenyCriminalsCellsEnterprisePrivacyCombatLaw EnforcementEnforcementCell PhoneCoordination Author:John Roberts
“If coal wants a place in a carbon-constrained future, they have to look at technology like this. And we think that our rule can help stimulate technology, growth, and innovation, bring those costs down, and allow coal a more stable opportunity to continue to be invested in.” IfsThinkingWantLooksHelpingOpportunityGrowthTechnologyCostInnovationDown AndStableCarbonCoal Author:Gina McCarthy
“The overarching goal of Tesla is to help reduce carbon emissions and that means low cost and high volume. We will also serve as an example to the auto industry, proving that the technology really works and customers want to buy electric vehicles.” WantMeanHelpingGoalTechnologyExampleIndustryCostProveLowsCustomersVehicleElectricVolumeCarbonEmissionsTeslaCarbon EmissionsAuto IndustryElectric Vehicles Author:Elon Musk
“The essence and the glory of the free market is that individual firms and businesses, competing on the market, provide an ever-changing orchestration of efficient and progressive goods and services: continually improving products and markets, advancing technology, cutting costs, and meeting changing consumer demands as swiftly and as efficiently as possible.” IndividualTechnologyCuttingProductsCostDemandGloryEssenceMeetingsConsumersFirmGoodsProgressiveEfficientImprovingCompetingFree MarketAdvancingGoods And ServicesOrchestration Book:For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto Source: For a New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto
“Silicon Valley companies need to be asked to bring the best and brightest, the most recent technology to the table. I was asked as a CEO. I complied happily. And they will as well. But they have not been asked. That's why it cost billions of dollars to build an [Barack] Obama website that failed because the private sector wasn't asked.” NeedsWellsCompanyTechnologyCostTablesDollarsBillionsBarackValleysCeoWebsitePrivate SectorSiliconSilicon Valley Author:Carly Fiorina
“With our technology, with objects, literally three people in a garage can blow away what 200 people at Microsoft can do. Literally can blow it away. Corporate America has a need that is so huge and can save them so much money, or make them so much money, or cost them so much money if they miss it, that they are going to fuel the object revolution.” PeopleIfsNeedsAmericaThreeCan DoTechnologyMissingObjectsHugeRevolutionCostBlowCorporateFuelMicrosoftGarageCorporate America Author:Steve Jobs
“Diverse groups of countries can do a lot by trading amongst themselves, exploiting differences in costs, resources, and technologies.” CountryCan DoDifferencesTechnologyGroupsCostResourcesDiverseTrading Author:Daniel Altman
“In the world of computers and just devices in general, the lifespan, or the shelf life, is relatively short just because technology moves so fast and the costs drop so quickly and the power, whether it's computing power or memory rises very, very quickly.” WorldMovingLife IsMemoriesTechnologyCostComputerDevicesShelvesComputingShelf Life Author:Nicholas Negroponte
“I think integrative medicine, something I've pioneered, is the way of the future. Its great promise is that it can reduce healthcare costs by shifting the whole focus of healthcare away from disease management to health promotion and prevention. They can do that two ways: first, by focusing attention on lifestyle medicine, which is very deficient. And second, by bringing into the mainstream treatments that are lower cost because they are not dependent on expensive technology.” ThinkingWayFirstsTwoWholeCan DoAttentionTechnologyFocusPromiseCostDiseaseManagementMedicineLifestyleExpensiveDependentTreatmentHealthcareMainstreamPromotionShiftingTwo WaysPreventionHealth Promotion Author:Andrew Weil
“For our international projects we developed an online skilled volunteer job board to help connect skilled individuals around the world who can help with the projects. This is the cost effective channel to achieve a wider reach, which you wouldn't have been possible without technology.” WorldHas BeensHelpingJobsIndividualTechnologyAchieveCostProjectsInternationalAround The WorldBoardsOnlineVolunteer Author:David Batstone
“There would be a cost for dumping carbon into our atmosphere and a cap on total emissions. The government must make a clear and firm decision - terminating the idea in our society it is free to pump infinite amounts of carbon into the air. Once that happens, private capital will flow even more aggressively into developing and deploying the alternative, less-polluting technologies.” IdeasGovernmentHappensWould BeDecisionTechnologyClearAirAmountCostFlowInfiniteAlternativesDevelopingAtmosphereFirmOur SocietyCarbonCapsEmissionsPumpsDeployingFirm Decisions Author:Van Jones
“The question is: do we pay a little bit more now? Or do we pay a whole lot later? For the equivalent of a postage stamp a day for each American, we can put a price on carbon today that will send a signal to private capital to invest in the clean technologies of tomorrow. Taking a vast portfolio of new energy solutions to scale will ultimately drive down costs through competition.” LittlesWholeTodayEnergyBitsPayTechnologyTomorrowCostLittle BitSolutionsCompetitionCleanScalesCarbonSignalsStampsPortfoliosNew EnergyPostagePostage Stamps Author:Van Jones
“I think we need missile defense. But I want to make sure it works, that it's cost effective, that the technologies are operable, that it's our best possible strategy, and that hasn't been shown.” ThinkingWantNeedsTechnologyCostStrategyDefenseMissilesMissile Defense Author:Barack Obama
“Just as there's some technologies that jeopardize revenue for traditional products, there are also technologies that can significantly lower costs.” TechnologyProductsCostTraditionalRevenueJeopardize Author:Norman Pearlstine
“Authors and publishers want fair compensation and a means of protecting content through digital rights management. Vendors and technology companies want new markets for e-book reading devices and other hardware. End-users most of all want a wide range and generous amount of high-quality content for free or at reasonable costs. Like end-users, libraries want quality, quantity, economy, and variety as well as flexible business models.” WantWellsMeanBookEndsReadingQualityCompanyTechnologyEconomyRightsAmountCostModelsFairsManagementLibraryWideVarietyRangeGenerousReasonableDigitalDevicesQuantityUsersPublishersFlexibleCompensationBook ReadingHigh QualityHardwareBusiness ModelsVendors Author:Tom Peters
“A technology becomes truly disruptive when it drives the marginal cost of something that used to be scarce and expensive to approach zero. Thus, it used to be to deploy software at scale, you had to fund a data center, buy a set of servers, storage, and networking gear, build an in-house IT management capability, and buy an expensive stack of enabling software before you could even get started. Now you can get all that from Amazon or Microsoft on a pay-as-you-grow model.” UsedHouseGrowsPayTechnologyCostApproachModelsManagementScalesUsed To BeDataExpensiveFundZeroSoftwareCapabilityNetworkingGearsMicrosoftScarceAmazonEnablingStorageDisruptiveServerData Centers Author:Geoffrey Moore
“The challenges, the changes we're talking about often seem to them like unbelievable opportunities to deliver a product quicker, better. If you can improve the quality, lower the cost, and improve the turns - and you can do that because your information systems, your delivery systems, are better because of technology - well, you see that as a wonderful opportunity to gain market share.” IfsWellsSeemsTurnsOpportunityCan DoChallengesQualityTalkingTechnologyWonderfulShareInformationProductsCostGainsUnbelievableDeliveryInformation Systems Author:Ken Moelis
“Brasil used to have - and still has, in some ways - a strong culture of showing off. And that's not only in sneakers and streetwear. People like to show how much their sneakers cost, usually by rocking performance models with visible technology, like Nike Shox, adidas Springblade and ASICS Noosa. It's like a status symbol for someone that wants to show to the world they "succeeded in life," no matter how rich they actually are.” PeopleWorldWayWantStillsMatterShowsUsedCultureStrongTechnologyRichCostModelsPerformancesSymbolsVisibleShowing OffSneakersNikeStatus SymbolAdidas Author:Ricardo Nunes
“It is irrational to charge high prices for socially valuable innovations as this guarantees that they will be underutilized. It is much better to sell them at cost and then to reward the innovator in some other way. This is not always possible, because in some cases the value of an innovation is in the eye of the beholder; it's very difficult to value how much a new Madonna song is worth, for example. But in the case of medicines, green technologies and seeds in agriculture, such an alternative reward mechanism is fairly straightforward.” WayEyeValuesSongDifficultCasesTechnologyExampleCostInnovationGreenSellsMedicineRewardsValuableSeedsAlternativesGuaranteesMechanismAgricultureIrrationalStraightforwardInnovatorsGuarantees ThatBeholderHigh PricesEye Of The BeholderGreen Technology Author:Thomas Pogge
“If we can reduce the cost and improve the quality of medical technology through advances in nanotechnology, we can more widely address the medical conditions that are prevalent and reduce the level of human suffering.” IfsHumansSufferingLevelsQualityTechnologyConditionsCostMedicalAddressesHuman SufferingNanotechnologyMedical ConditionsMedical TechnologyMedical Advances Author:Ralph Merkle
“A potato can grow quite easily on a very small plot of land. With molecular manufacturing, we'll be able to have distributed manufacturing, which will permit manufacturing at the site using technologies that are low-cost and easily available.” AbleGrowsTechnologyLandCostLowsAvailablePlotPermitSitePotatoesManufacturing Author:Ralph Merkle
“Items of interest will be located, identified, monitored, and remotely controlled through technologies such as radio-frequency identification, sensor networks, tiny embedded servers, and energy harvesters - all connected to the next-generation internet using abundant, low-cost, and high-power computing.” NextEnergyInterestTechnologyGenerationsInternetCostLowsRadioConnectedTinyControlledItemsNext GenerationFrequencyIdentificationEmbeddedComputingServerSensors Author:David Petraeus
“Technology has given us this wonderful opportunity to have low energy costs. We have to seize that, rather than keep debating and discussing and fighting over it.” FightingOpportunityEnergyGivenTechnologyWonderfulCostLowsOver ItDiscussing Author:Michael Porter
“Technological innovation has dramatically lowered the cost of computing, making it possible for large numbers of consumers to own powerful new technologies at reasonably low prices.” PowerfulNumbersTechnologyCostLowsInnovationConsumersTechnologicalNew TechnologyLarge NumbersComputing Author:James Surowiecki
“Technology to wipe out truth is now available. Not everybody can afford it but it's available. When the cost comes down, look out!” LooksTechnologyTruth IsCostAvailableWipe Author:Bob Dylan