How fast things change... and some former experts surely would hope that nobody remembers what they said...
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
I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.
-- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943
Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons.
-- Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949
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
There has been a great deal said about a 3,000-mile high-angle rocket. In my opinion, such a thing is impossible today and will be impossible for many years [...]
-- Vannevar Bush, author of As We May Think, Director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development, as stated before the Special Senate Committee on Atomic Energy [a], [b]