Incredibly Stupid Predictions & Decisions
Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2002 6:31 pm
"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)
"Everything that can be invented has been invented."
-- Charles H. Duell (Commissioner at the U.S. Office of Patents - 1899)
"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?"
-- H.M. Warner (Warner Brothers - 1927)
"Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau."
-- Irving Fisher (Professor of Economics at Yale University - 1929)
"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'.)
"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)
"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out."
-- Decca Recording Co. (Rejecting the Beatles - 1962)
"The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C', the idea must be feasible."
-- Yale University Management Professor (In response to student Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. Smith went on to found Federal Express)
"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
-- Ken Olson (President, Chairman and Founder of Digital Equipment Corp. - 1977)
"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.'"
-- Steve Jobs (Founder Apple Computer Inc.)
"640K ought to be enough for anybody."
-- Bill Gates (Founder and CEO of Microsoft - 1981)
-- Western Union (Internal Memo - 1876)
"Everything that can be invented has been invented."
-- Charles H. Duell (Commissioner at the U.S. Office of Patents - 1899)
"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?"
-- H.M. Warner (Warner Brothers - 1927)
"Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau."
-- Irving Fisher (Professor of Economics at Yale University - 1929)
"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'.)
"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)
"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out."
-- Decca Recording Co. (Rejecting the Beatles - 1962)
"The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C', the idea must be feasible."
-- Yale University Management Professor (In response to student Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. Smith went on to found Federal Express)
"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
-- Ken Olson (President, Chairman and Founder of Digital Equipment Corp. - 1977)
"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.'"
-- Steve Jobs (Founder Apple Computer Inc.)
"640K ought to be enough for anybody."
-- Bill Gates (Founder and CEO of Microsoft - 1981)