Errors in judgment The Bomb will never go off, I speak as an expert in explosives. - - Admiral William Leahy , US Atomic Bomb Project *** There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom. -- Robert Millikan, Nobel Prize in Physics, 1923 *** 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 wont 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. *** 640K ought to be enough for anybody. -- Bill Gates, 1981 *** 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 Sarnoffs 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 Smiths paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.) *** Im just glad itll be Clark Gable whos falling on his face and not Gary Cooper -- Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in Gone With The Wind. *** We dont 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 wouldnt have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you cant do this - - Spencer Silver on the work that led to the unique adhesives for 3-M Post-It Notepads . *** Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? Youre 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, Ecole Superieure de Guerre , France . *** Everything that can be invented has been invented -- Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, US Office of Patents, 1899. *** The super computer is technologically impossible. It would take all of the water that flows over Niagara Falls to cool the heat generated by the number of vacuum tubes required. -- Professor of Electrical Engineering, New York University *** I dont know what use any one could find for a machine that would make copies of documents. It certainly couldnt be a feasible business by itself. -- the head of IBM, refusing to back the idea, forcing the inventor to found Xerox. *** 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. And last but not least... *** There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home. -- Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977 ***
Posted on: Sat, 07 Jun 2014 05:56:26 +0000
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