“There is no reason anyone would ever want a computer in their home.”
-- Ken Olson, D.E.C., 1977
“The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?"
-- David Sarnoff, R.C.A., 1922
Who the (****) wants to hear film actors talk?"
-- H.M. Warner,
Warner Bros. Studios, 1927
“Radio has no future… Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible… X-rays will prove to be a hoax”
-- Lord William Thomson, 1899
“With over 50 models of cars already on sale here, the Japanese auto industry isn't likely to carve out a big slice of the U.S. market."
-- U.S. Business Week, August 2, 1968
“Dr. Louis Pasteur's theory of ‘germs’ is ridiculous fiction."
-- Dr. Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology Toulouse University, 1872
“This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication”
-- Western Union Corp. (internal memo), 1876
“Everything that can be invented has been invented.”
-- Charles H. Duell, U.S. Commissioner Office of Patents, 1899
“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”
-- Thomas Watson, Chairman, IBM, 1943
“We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.”
-- Decca Records executives, 1962