The internet turned 20 today, and people all over the world are reflecting on everything it has brought us, as well as making predictions about what is to come.
But you have be careful what you predict when it comes to computing – you don’t want to end up on this list of the top 10 most preposterous claims about the future of technology...
10) ‘I have travelled 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
9) ‘$100 million dollars is way too much to pay for Microsoft.’
IBM, 1982
8) ‘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.
7) ‘Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons.’
Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949
6) ‘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 his attempts to get Atari and HP interested in his and Steve Wozniak's personal computer.
5) ‘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.
4) ‘But what ... is it good for?’
Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, commenting on the microchip, 1968.
3) ‘There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.’
Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977
2) ‘I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.’
Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943
1) ‘Everything that can be invented has been invented.’
Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899.
