Amara’s Law

By Deane Barker • •

This is a quote from Roy Amara, the one-time president of The Institute for the Future.

We tend to over-estimate a new technology’s impact in the short-term and under-estimate it in the long-term.

It refers to the fact that technology has to mature over time. Valuable use cases for new technologies might not emerge for decades, and the value of a technology might simply be that it enables or serves as a base for even newer technologies, rather than having a direct, immediate impact. World-changing effects might be one level removed from Technology X, but would have been impossible without that link in the chain.

Why I Looked It Up

In a picture, I saw the spine for a book called “Amara’s Law.” I was curious if it was a novel or something else.

While I did find this definition, I’m not sure about the actual book. This is the only one I found that might fit: Amara’s Law: Blood Tech

This is item #29 in a sequence of 948 items.

You can use your left/right arrow keys to navigate