Computer: a bicycle for our minds

A story by Steve Jobs:Thank You, Steve - CrumplePop Blog
“I read a study that measured the efficiency of locomotion for various species on the planet. The condor used the least energy to move a kilometer. And humans came in with a rather unimpressive showing about a third of the way down the list. It was not too proud of a showing for the crown of creation. So that didn’t look so good, but then somebody at Scientific American had the insight to test the efficiency of locomotion for a man on a bicycle. And a man on a bicycle, or a human on a bicycle, blew the condor away – completely off the top of the charts. And that’s what a computer is to me. What a computer is to me is – it’s the most remarkable tool that we’ve ever come up with, and it’s the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds.”
– Steve Jobs



Longer interview in Forbes
(answer to What drives Steve Jobs? Cringley: What’s your passion? What drove you?)

Scientific paper: Locomotion: Energy Cost of Swimming, Flying, and Running