FOSTER HUMAN CONNECTION

“And we've learned a ton from founders like Edwin Land, who transformed photography really by focusing on building amazing products and thinking about, you know, how to make sure those products fit into people's lives and uplifted humanity. I think, you know, if you look at instant photography and the role that that played in people's lives, Edwin thought of the camera as something that was incredibly personal. Right? And and I think, as we've looked at the sort of trajectory of technology over the long arc of time, technology gets more and more and more and more personal.”

“One of my frustrations or disappointments with the way that computers have been built over time is that they actually pulled us away from one another. So growing up, during lunch, rather than being on the recess yard running around with my friends, I was so inspired by what computers could do. I was obsessed with computers. So I was in the computer lab all day long. And computers, I think, you know, whether it was the mainframe or the desktop, you know, have have sort of pulled us away from one another, away from society, brought us indoors.”

“I mean, even basic things like opening into the camera. Right? It opens into your experience of the world. Right? Not, you know, a feed of content from other people, not a a messaging feed alerting you to what other people are sending you. It literally opens into your experience. And so from the very beginning, we've thought about, like, how do we ground your experience of computing, like, in what what is right in front of you in the present moment and inspire you to create from that.”

“But the second thing you said, which which is so funny, my daydreaming right now, especially as we think about glasses and the future of computing, is really, like, what if aliens are watching Earth right now and they're, like, terrified that smartphones have, like, taken over humanity, that, like, we're spending all day long, like, caring for these things and, like, plugging them in and, like, tending to them and, like, our lives are all oriented around, like, these little screens, and, like, what would aliens do?”

“I like that he had a commitment beyond just, like, you know, his customers and creativity and these sorts of things. He really wanted to participate in building a better world, and and took that really seriously. And then I think if you look at a lot of his, you know, a lot of the the investments he made around his laboratories and around his innovation, he was he was famous, actually, and and back then, this was quite unique, famous for uplifting women in those research roles. Right? And I think, like, he was a real champion of talent.”