Also
Posted on 12/24/2016 5:06:50 AM PST by sodpoodle
1.) “The idea that cavalry will be replaced by these iron coaches is absurd. It is little short of treasonous.” — Comment of Aide-de-camp to Field Marshal Haig, at tank demonstration, 1916
2.) “The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys.” — Sir William Preece, Chief Engineer, British Post Office, 1878
3.) "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
4.) "Reagan doesn't have that presidential look." – United Artists executive after rejecting Reagan as lead in the 1964 film The Best Man
5.) "Rail travel at high speed is not possible because passengers, unable to breathe, would die of asphyxia." – Dr. Dionysius Lardner, 1830
6.) "The world potential market for copying machines is 5000 at most.” — IBM, to the eventual founders of Xerox, saying the photocopier had no market large enough to justify production, 1959
7.) "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." – Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943
9.) "The horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty—a fad." – -The president of the Michigan Savings Bank advising Henry Ford's lawyer not to invest in the Ford Motor Co., 1903
10.) “When the Paris Exhibition [of 1878] closes, electric light will close with it and no more will be heard of it.” – Oxford professor Erasmus Wilson
11.) A rocket will never be able to leave the Earth’s atmosphere.” — New York Times, 1936
12.) "No one will pay good money to get from Berlin to Potsdam in one hour when he can ride his horse there in one day for free." – King William I of Prussia, on trains, 1864
13.) "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
14.) "There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home." – -Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), in a talk given to a 1977 World Future Society meeting in Boston
15.) "If excessive smoking actually plays a role in the production of lung cancer, it seems to be a minor one." – -W.C. Heuper, National Cancer Institute, 1954
16.) "No, it will make war impossible." – -Hiram Maxim, inventor of the machine gun, in response to the question "Will this gun not make war more terrible?" from Havelock Ellis, an English scientist, 1893
17.) "The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to no one in particular?" – -Associates of David Sarnoff responding to the latter's call for investment in the radio in 1921
18.) "There will never be a bigger plane built." – - A Boeing engineer, after the first flight of the 247, a twin engine plane that holds ten people.
19.) "We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out." – Decca Recording Company on declining to sign the Beatles, 1962
20.) "How, sir, would you make a ship sail against the wind and currents by lighting a bonfire under her deck? I pray you, excuse me, I have not the time to listen to such nonsense.” — Napoleon Bonaparte, when told of Robert Fulton’s steamboat, 1800s
21.) "Television won't last because people will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night." – -Darryl Zanuck, movie producer, 20th Century Fox, 1946
22.) "I must confess that my imagination refuses to see any sort of submarine doing anything but suffocating its crew and floundering at sea.” — HG Wells, British novelist, in 1901
23.) "It'll be gone by June." – Variety Magazine on Rock n' Roll, 1955
24.) "And for the tourist who really wants to get away from it all, safaris in Vietnam" – -Newsweek, predicting popular holidays for the late 1960s.
25.) "Everyone acquainted with the subject will recognize it as a conspicuous failure." – -Henry Morton, president of the Stevens Institute of Technology, on Edison's light bulb, 1880
“Donald Trump will never be President.”
“Trump will never surpass 37%” - Karl Rove
Also
Fun post. The only one I would challenge...if only to a small degree...is: “There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home.” – -Ken Olson
Back in 1977 that was true. Until the software was created to go with it that people could use, there was no reason to have a computer at home.
Eventually I did tire of it (and turned it off for over 8 years). For many people "addicted" to it, it's the matter of routine (as with those still holding subscriptions to their daily newspaper).
“Barack Obama is the smartest man with the highest IQ ever to be elected to the presidency.” — Historian Michael Beschloss on the Don Imus Show, November 2008
As to #8 l’m still a fan of his temperature scale.
“We’re not going to be able to drill our way to two dollar a gallon gasoline”— Obama debating Mitt Romney, 2012.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Goddard#New_York_Times_editorial
1920, not 1936.
On January 13, 1920, the day after its front-page story about Goddard’s rocket, an unsigned New York Times editorial, in a section entitled “Topics of the Times”, scoffed at the proposal. The article, which bore the title “A Severe Strain on Credulity”, began with apparent approval, but soon went on to cast serious doubt.
I only made it this far on the list. Showed this to my husband, who is a radiologist. His comment: "I'm a charlatan! I need a copy of that for my office."
bfl
Not that ASCAP and the powers that be didn't try to regain industry control of the "pop" charts.
Folk music (communists), jazz (junkies), poster boy idols ("Bobbys" ruled the day until the Beatles arrived on the charts), they even tried to sell calypso as the "next fad" to replace rock and roll.
But by 1957 the "rock and roll" heard on radio was often ice cream parlor music written by faddish song pluggers, not the gin joint music of 1948-52...
I remember seeing Beschloss say that on a talk show around then. One of the others asked “What is Obama’s IQ?”. Beschloss just had this blank look like he couldn’t believe anyone would question that obvious truth and said “Uh, I don’t know”.
I didn’t check the internet or Snopes these for accuracy. It took me 30 minutes to copy and post each item - not an internet site, so no link. It was an email from a great conservative buddy. Had great photos included, but I don’t know how to scan & post to FR.
“Barack Obama is the smartest man with the highest IQ ever to be elected to the presidency.” — Historian Michael Beschloss on the Don Imus Show, November 2008
Actually, in modern years, it was probably (Nuclear Engineer) Jimmy Carter. Common sense is obviously undervalued.
More Obamaisms:
Barack on the threat from Russian -
“The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because… the Cold War’s over”
No it was not true - I had a Tandy TRS-80 in 1977 which I used to learn to code and to compile statistics for my professional association - which data later went on to be used in international negotiations. We wrote our only software.
Dr. Lardner was one of the unintentionally hilarious "sages" of his day. His miscalculations and gaffes were many, but he had an amazing ability to ignore reproof and move on to another error. His assertions about early railroads and I.K. Brunel's responses make for entertaining reading.
Mr. niteowl77
“If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor”.
“ISIL is the JV team.”
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