These reflections of impossible prognostications were compiled by Pat Strickland of PG&E.
Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons.
--- Popular Mechanics, forecasting the
relentless march of science,
1949.
I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.
--- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.
I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with
the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that
won't last out the year.
--- The editor in charge of business books
for Prentice Hall, 1957.
But what ... is it good for?
--- Engineer at the Advanced Computing
Systems Division of IBM, 1968,
commenting on the microchip.
There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.
--- Ken Olson, president, chairman and
founder of Digital Equipment Corp.,
1977.
This "telephone" has too many shortcomings to be seriously
considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no
value to us.
--- Western Union internal memo, 1876.
The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would
pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?
--- David Sarnoff's associates in response
to his urgings for investment in
the radio in the 1920s.
The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better
than a "C," the idea must be feasible.
--- A Yale University management professor
in response to Fred Smith's paper
proposing reliable overnight delivery service. (Smith went on to found
the Federal Express Corp.)
I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face and not
Gary Cooper.
--- Gary Cooper on his decision not to
take the leading role in "Gone
With The Wind."
A cookie store is a bad idea. Besides, the market research reports say
America likes crispy cookies, not soft and chewy cookies like you
make.
--- Response to Debbi Fields' idea of
starting Mrs. Fields' Cookies.
We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.
--- Decca Recording Co. rejecting the
Beatles, 1962.
Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.
--- Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society,
1895.
If I had thought about it, I wouldn't have done the experiment. The
literature was full of examples that said you can't do this.
--- Spencer Silver on the work that led to
the unique adhesives for 3-M
"Post-It" Notepads.
So we went to Atari and said, "Hey, we've got this amazing thing,
even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding
us? Or we'll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary,
we'll come work for you." And they said, "No." So then
we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said, "Hey, we don't need you.
You haven't got through college yet."
--- Apple Computer Inc. founder Steve Jobs
on attempts to get Atari and HP
interested in his and Steve Wozniak's personal computer.
Professor Goddard does not know the relation between action and reaction
and the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to
react. He seems to lack the basic knowledge ladled out daily in high
schools.
--- 1921 New York Times editorial about
Robert Goddard's revolutionary
rocket work.
You want to have consistent and uniform muscle development across all of
your muscles? It can't be done. It's just a fact of life. You just
have to accept inconsistent muscle development as an unalterable
condition of weight training.
--- Response to Arthur Jones, who solved
the "unsolvable" problem
by inventing Nautilus.
Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil?
You're crazy.
--- Drillers who Edwin L. Drake tried to
enlist to his project to drill for
oil in 1859.
Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau.
--- Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics,
Yale University, 1929.
Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value.
--- Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of
Strategy, Écß?ole
Superieure de Guerre.
Everything that can be invented has been invented.
--- Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S.
Patent Office, 1899.
Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction.
--- Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology
at Toulouse, 1872.
The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the
intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon.
--- Sir John Eric Ericksen, British
surgeon, appointed Surgeon-Extraordinary
to Queen Victoria, 1873.
640K ought to be enough for anybody.
--- Bill Gates, 1981.
Matt Bishop Office: 3059 Engineering Unit II Phone: +1 (530) 752-8060 Fax: +1 (530) 752-4767 Email: bishop@cs.ucdavis.edu | Copyright Matt Bishop, 2000. All federal and state copyrights reserved for all original material presented in this course through any medium, including lecture or print. |