I thought this was an interesting list printed in the Telegraph today. Speaking of predictions...did anyone in the world actually predict the current global economic meltdown?
1. The iPod will never take off – Sir Alan Sugar in 2005
2. No need for a computer in the home – Ken Olsen, founder of Digital Equipment Corp in 1977
3. "Nuclear-powered vacuum cleaners will probably be a reality within ten years" – Alex Lewyt, president of the Lewyt Corp vacuum company
4. TV won't last because people would, "soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night" – Darryl Zanuck in 1946
5. In 1933, after the first flight of the Boeing 247, a plane that could hold ten people, a proud Boeing engineer reportedly said, "There will never be a bigger plane built."
6. "We stand on the threshold of rocket mail" – US postmaster general Arthur Summerfield in 1959
7. Nobody would ever need more than 640KB of memory on their personal computer– Bill Gates in 1981, allegedly.
8. "The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys" – Sir William Preece, chief engineer at the Post Office in 1878
9. Spam will be solved – Bill Gates, 2004.
10. "X-rays will prove to be a hoax" – Lord Kelvin, President of the Royal Society, in 1883.
