Anything is possible, false predictions
Hey Everybody,
With all the prediction talk circling the web with the start of the new year, I thought that I would drop a quick reminder that predictions are just that, predictions not destiny. The world can change dramatically and quickly. Here are a few examples of what I mean:
Men might as well project a voyage to the Moon as attempt to employ steam navigation against the stormy North Atlantic Ocean.
- Dr. Dionysus Lardner (1793-1859), Professor of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy at University College, London.
They will never try to steal the phonograph because it has no `commercial value.
- Thomas Edison (1847-1931)
This `telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a practical form of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.
- Western Union internal memo, 1878
Television won’t be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.
- Darryl F. Zanuck, head of 20th Century-Fox, 1946.
Rail travel at high speed is not possible because passengers, unable to breathe, would die of asphyxia.
- Dr. Dionysus Lardner (1793-1859), Professor of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy at University College, London.
There is not the slightest indication that [nuclear energy] will ever be obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will.
- Albert Einstein, 1932.
Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.
- Lord Kelvin (1824-1907), ca. 1895, British mathematician and physicist
There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home.
- Kenneth Olsen, president and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977.
These came from the Our Time to Act Blog. They were originally published by Evelyn Rodriguez on her blog.
Hope you enjoy, have a great new year. Don’t take yourself or the world too seriously this year.
Will Flavell
