Steve Coast
Founder of OpenStreetMap, the collaborative map of the world; later worked on mapping at Microsoft and Telenav.
Steve Coast did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
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Our reading
Fear and vanity, not a lack of ideas, are what keep most people from building new things.
motivationinnovationideas vs execution
Their wordsThere seems to be a million reasons and two opposing forces keeping us in inaction: fear and vanity.
↗The Days Are Long but the Years Are Shortstevecoast.com 1st of 2 in this piece
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Their wordsNew things tend to not work, or you have to change them drastically.
↗The Days Are Long but the Years Are Shortstevecoast.com 2nd of 2 in this piece
- 6 months earlier
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Their wordsWe need to find ways to work with this new tech to get the best of humans and the best of computers, together, rather than thinking in terms of one or the other.
↗Encyclopaedia Automaticastevecoast.com 1st of 2 in this piece
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Their wordsAs of today, computers write pretty good articles but lack the direction and insight of human editors.
↗Encyclopaedia Automaticastevecoast.com 2nd of 2 in this piece
- 4 months earlier
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Our reading
Reading even one book on a niche topic sharply shrinks the number of people you can discuss it with.
Their wordsMost people don't read books. If you read a book on a topic (say, clouds, or Italian furniture), you can now only communicate on that topic with 1 in 10 to 1 in 100 people.
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Their wordsyou should be frightened of smart people who don't read. They're the ones that build Jurassic Park, or send all the dentists to build a dam.
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Their wordsIt's important to look around you for solutions instead of accepting the current unavailability of options.
- 5 months earlier
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Their wordsThe gap between reality and media is very large: The gap between cause of death and what people search for and read.
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Their wordsThis isn't perfect, but soon it will be, and you will be able to listen to or read any content you want in the timeframe, tone, voice and bias of your choosing.
- 7 months earlier
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Their wordsThe aim of any professional training in the end is to make you someone competent, capable of independent thought and leadership in a specified field.
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Their wordsWe don't really control anything anyway, so we may as well find the good in things.
- 8 weeks earlier
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Their wordsCharming, beautiful and astronomically expensive because like in most of the western world it's illegal to build anything.
↗Jurassic Jeep Adventuresstevecoast.com 1st of 2 in this piece
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Our reading
Fixating on the destination rather than the process leaves you stranded when things go wrong.
Their wordsIf you focus on the goal you'll just be stranded on some mountain waiting for a rescue mission.
↗Jurassic Jeep Adventuresstevecoast.com 2nd of 2 in this piece
- 8 weeks earlier
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Their wordsThe problem with talking to the customer for anything you are making is that you might be wrong.
↗In Defense of OpenStreetMap's Data Modelstevecoast.com 1st of 2 in this piece
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Their wordsWith each rule and added complexity you make the system less human and less fun. You make it a Computer Scientists rube goldberg machine while sterilizing it of all the joy of life.
↗In Defense of OpenStreetMap's Data Modelstevecoast.com 2nd of 2 in this piece
- 7 days earlier
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Our reading
Making a change within a complex system tends to produce unforeseen and unintended consequences.
Their wordsI'm reminded I'm in a huge dynamical system and making a change has unforeseen and unintended consequences.
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Their wordsBeing on the orangutans schedule and at his convenience vs. going to the zoo is something like love vs. prostitution.