When brilliant minds and computer geeks didn't think...

Brilliant Minds
"Man will never reach the moon regardless of all
future scientific advances."
- Dr. Lee De Forest, inventor of the vacuum tube
and father of television

"If excessive smoking actually plays a role in the
production of lung cancer, it seems to be a minor one."
- Dr. W.C. Heuper of the National Cancer Institute, as
quoted in the New York Times on April 14, 1954

"For the majority of people, smoking has a beneficial effect."
- Dr. Ian G. Macdonald, Los Angeles surgeon, quoted in
Newsweek, November 8, 1963

"I have traveled 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

"Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently
high plateau."
- Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale
University, 1929

"The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in
order to earn better than a 'C,' the idea must be
feasible."
- A Yale University management professor in response
to Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight
delivery service. Smith went on to found Federal
Express Corp.

"Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value."
- Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole
Superieure de Guerre

"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


Computer Geeks
"Computers in the future may weigh no more than
1.5 tons."
- Popular Mechanics, 1949

"I think there is a world market for maybe five
computers."
-Thomas Watson, Chairman of IBM, 1943

"But what ... is it good for?"
- Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems
Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip

"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in
their home."
- Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder
of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977

Quote of the post
"Problems cannot be solved at the same level of
awareness that created them."- Albert Einstein