Boba Rhett Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 Below is a list of actual comments. The ones I thought were the best are bold. Enjoy. "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. "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." --Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977 "But what ... is it good for?" --Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip. "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." --Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943 "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 Federal Express Corp.) "Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" --H.M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927. "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 H-P 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. ^^^ ROFL. What a dumb arse. ^^^ "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, Ecole Superieure de Guerre. "Everything that can be invented has been invented." --Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 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 "DOS addresses only 1 Megabyte of RAM because we cannot imagine any applications needing more." --Microsoft, 1980, on the development of DOS. "Windows NT addresses 2 Gigabytes of RAM which is more than any application will ever need." --Microsoft, 1992, on the development of Windows NT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WolfmanNCSU Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 HAHAHA! Good find. I liked thoses, needed a good laugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannibal Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 "DOS addresses only 1 Megabyte of RAM because we cannot imagine any applications needing more." --Microsoft, 1980, on the development of DOS. "Windows NT addresses 2 Gigabytes of RAM which is more than any application will ever need." --Microsoft, 1992, on the development of Windows NT. Ok, he didn't learn the first time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admiral Odin Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." --Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977 This is my favorite, the 1.5 ton comment comes close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Gnarly Posted March 28, 2003 Share Posted March 28, 2003 "640K ought to be enough for anybody." --Bill Gates, 1981 thats my faveriote! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Homer Posted March 29, 2003 Share Posted March 29, 2003 Originally posted by Boba Rhett "640K ought to be enough for anybody." --Bill Gates, 1981 Yeah, good quote, too bad he never said it... I tried finding the document I saw about it, but was unable to find it, trust me, he never actually said it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darthfergie Posted March 29, 2003 Share Posted March 29, 2003 "Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau." --Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, 1929. I thought this was good...although that could be because we're on the very same chapter in AP USH as the great depression... But the Apple one was probably the best. Imagine Atari basically being the powerhouse Microsoft is...they were already a good name at that time and didn't have to rise from the ground up like Microsoft and Mac. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
another_trooper Posted March 29, 2003 Share Posted March 29, 2003 Originally posted by Boba Rhett "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." --Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977 Right. . except for all the games, the useful softwares and all the possibilities of the internet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[RAA]-=Chi3f=- Posted March 30, 2003 Share Posted March 30, 2003 Originally posted by Boba Rhett "DOS addresses only 1 Megabyte of RAM because we cannot imagine any applications needing more." --Microsoft, 1980, on the development of DOS. ...and along came Audocad! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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