Preface
Technical innovation begins with fascination of what technology is capable of doing, but its adoption and persistence depends on what people are capable of doing with technology. Computing today is approaching the border between the two, and this book is written for users and developers to help cross over into a future in which technology is used to enhance our world.
EN: At the time the book was written, the industry was just emerging from the dot-com crash, a time at which many companies did a lot of innovative things using the technology, but seldom stopped to consider whether it would be useful to the market, so I'd agree with the author's point, and would underscore its salience at the time this book was written.
The author turns to Da Vinci (the book's main title is "Leonardo's Laptop") as a visionary in the last wave of technology (engineering and machinery) for the ways in which it could be used to serve mankind.