Gibson’s remark holds that “the future” does not arrive all at once. The technologies and ways of living that will one day seem ordinary already exist, but only in certain places and among certain groups, such as laboratories, wealthy cities and early adopters. For most people they remain out of reach, so the present holds the future in patches.

Versions of the phrase were being attributed to Gibson, who coined the term “cyberspace” in Neuromancer, by the mid-1990s. The best-known recording is NPR’s Talk of the Nation of 30 November 1999, where he introduced it as something he had said many times, partly as a disclaimer: he was not predicting the future but observing the present closely.

The line is widely quoted in technology, business and policy writing. It can be read as a guide to spotting trends, since what a few people use today may become commonplace, or as a comment on inequality, since access to new developments depends on wealth and location.

Variation

“The future has arrived—it’s just not evenly distributed yet.”