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Jamie
Member Elite

since 2000-06-26

Posts 3168
Blue Heaven

0 posted 2004-01-28 05:09 PM

Reading things like this always remind me to keep my mouth shut. Nothing like peering into the future is there?

"Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible." (Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895)

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." (Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943)

"There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home." (Ken Olsen, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977)

"The 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)

"Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value." (Marshal Ferdinand Foch, French commander of Allied forces during the closing months of World War I, 1918)

"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 radio in the 1920's)

"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." (New York Times editorial about Robert Goddard's revolutionary rocket work, 1921)

"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" (Harry M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927)

"Everything that can be invented has been invented." (Charles H. Duell, commissioner, US Office of Patents, 1899)

"Never underestimate the value of a closed mouth"

( Jamie Patterson, 2004 )

There is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar.
byron

Ron

Administrator

Member Rara Avis

since 1999-05-19

Posts 8669
Michigan, US

1 posted 2004-01-28 06:44 PM

quote:
"Everything that can be invented has been invented." (Charles H. Duell, commissioner, US Office of Patents, 1899)

This one is a known myth. Which has to raise a question as the accuracy of the rest, too?

Still, your point is well taken, Jamie. If someone says it can't be done, they are usually wrong.

In 1995, I told a client the home mortgage origination software he want my company to write for him would never work on the Internet. The Web, I explained, is a one-way street and will never be interactive.

Yea, right.

Not A Poet
Member Elite

since 1999-11-03

Posts 3885
Oklahoma, USA

2 posted 2004-01-28 07:07 PM

Well Ron, at least when a minority group of partners at my former employer (a big law firm in 1995) insisted I change them over from UNIX office automation to a PC LAN, I tried to explain that PCs were not YET ready for primetime.

Jamie, you make a valid point, for sure.

Pete

Nan

Administrator

Member Seraphic

since 1999-05-20

Posts 21191
Cape Cod Massachusetts USA

3 posted 2004-01-28 09:12 PM

I really enjoyed this, Jamie - My favorite, as it's all encompassing...

quote:

"Never underestimate the value of a closed mouth"

The rest... Shows ya what happens when we "assume," doesn't it?

Poet deVine

Administrator

Member Seraphic

since 1999-05-26

Posts 22612
Hurricane Alley

4 posted 2004-01-28 10:34 PM

With the price of computers becoming so reasonable, we'll soon see them as prizes in a McDonald's Happy Meal!

Severn
Member Rara Avis

since 1999-07-17

Posts 7704

5 posted 2004-01-29 12:28 PM

blink...a Jamie post?

Remember, though, it's all subjective isn't it. What seems so clear to us, must have seemed so outrageous. The technological era is still young..

K

Tais
Member

since 2004-01-28

Posts 92
Ontario, Canada

6 posted 2004-01-29 06:47 AM

Jamie,

this one:

"Never underestimate the value of a closed mouth"

I sort of agree with. It depends. Sometimes it is wise to just listen and not say anything. A case when this can be applied, I think, would be when the speaker is talking about something with a certain 'determined' and 'conclusive' view, where you know they will not listen to your oppostie opinion. Then, I would think it would be useless to tell them. So, in that case, it would be wise to just stay quiet and listen. It would avoid conflict and unecessary arguments.
One example would be religion. It is useless to talk to someone about religion, when they are decided about never to have one, nor believe in any. When they are prepared to listen, then it would be good to speak to them about it...not trying to convince, rather trying to explain through a different angle or view.

Thanks for these Jamie, some of them were funny to read...it's really surprising that some of these were actually said.

Tais

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