Technology is nothing. What's important is that you have a faith in people, that they're basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they'll do wonderful things with them.
Jobs is actually arguing against the determinism that haunts Silicon Valley—the belief that tools themselves carry moral weight or inevitability. What makes this radically different from tech boosterism is his insistence that *faith* precedes innovation: we must choose to believe people are fundamentally decent before we design anything, or we'll build systems that assume the worst (surveillance, manipulation, paywalls around basic needs). Consider how this explains why some apps feel genuinely liberating while others feel like traps—the former were built on trust in users, the latter on suspicion. The quote's real challenge is that it puts the burden on the builder's character, not on the brilliance of the invention itself.
“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive — to breathe, to...”
Marcus Aurelius“Drive your business. Let not your business drive you.”
Benjamin Franklin“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”
Seneca“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”
Benjamin Franklin