Wednesday, May 11

SO MUCH FOR THE EXPERTS

1. "Computers, in the future, may weigh no more than 1.5 tons."
-- Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949.

2. "I think there is a world market for, maybe, five computers."
-- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.

3. "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.

4. "But what is it good for?"
-- Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.

5. "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
-- Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp.,1977.

6. "This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is, inherently, of no value."
-- Western Union internal memo, 1876.

7. "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

8. "The concept is interesting and well-formed. But, in order to earn better than a 'C,' the idea must be feasible."
-- A Yale Univ. management professor in response to Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)

9. "Who wants to hear actors talk?"
-- H.M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927

10. "I'm just glad it will be Clark Gable who is falling on his face and not Gary Cooper."
-- Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in "Gone With The Wind".

11. "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.

12. "We don't like their sound and guitar music is on the way out."
-- Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962

13. "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.

14. "Stocks have reached what looks like a, permanently, high plateau."
-- Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, 1929

15." Airplanes are interesting toys, but of no military value."
-- Marecha Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre.

16. "Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction."
-- Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872

17. "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, Surgeon-Extraordinary to Queen Victoria, 1873.

and finally.......

18. "64K ought to be enough memory for anybody."
-- Bill Gates, 1981
Posted by batch 92 :: 1:01 PM :: 0 comments

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