6 Historical Predictions That Were Confidently, Hilariously Wrong

Comments · 112

• PA

  @Paul-s4y4o · 3 weeks ago

  Here's a #7, when Les Paul was in elementary school his music teacher sent his parents a letter that said "Dear Mr. and Mrs. Polsfuss, your son Lester has no musical aptitude and anything you spend on lessons is a waste of money".

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• AD

  @adammetzger4182 · 1 month ago

  To be totally fair. How many products were supposed to be the next big thing went totally bust.

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• FU

  @FunkySpunkyJunky · 3 weeks ago

  I cant believe we've been flying since One Nine Zero Three.

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• RA

  @Raytownian · 3 weeks ago

  I read the Steve Wozniak, when he designed the Apple and then the Apple II computers, was working for Hewlett Packard. His contract specified that anything he designed, they owned. He presented the management the computer he designed and asked if they wanted to manufacture and sell it. They said no, they didn't deal with consumer products but industrial test equipment. He said then, "Can I have it?" They told him yes and he started Apple Computer.

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• TH

  @thylacine1154 · 3 weeks ago

  I remember in the late 1970's - early 1980's some mainstream magazines dismissed home microcomputers as "overpriced calculators."  They questioned their practical utility saying that homemakers would end up using them just to store recipe files or balance checkbooks.  Zero understanding of the future.

• RO

  @roderickmain9697 · 1 month ago

  There is a story that IBM, one time the largest Computer company in the world, dismissed the idea of small computers directly connected to lab equipment. This is exactly where Ken Olson&apos;s company (DEC/PDP) excelled. It was somewhat ironic that they tripped over the same stone when personal computers appeared.<br>To be fair, this was the second stone IBM had tripped over as Thomas Watson, founder of IBM, is reported to have said he only foresaw the need for about 5 computers in the world.

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• MI

  @mikekolokowsky · 3 weeks ago

  Bill Gates said spam would die in two years. &nbsp;That was back in one nine nine eight.

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• GI

  @giannapple · 3 weeks ago

  Oh well… it’s difficult to make predictions, especially about the future…

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• JS

  @jsl151850b · 3 weeks ago (edited)

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66FKQerL-eI&amp;t=90">1:30</a> <b>Simon Newcomb, the Carl Sagan of his era, said it was impossible in an article printed two months before the Wright&apos;s flight.</b><br><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66FKQerL-eI&amp;t=281">4:41</a> <b>Until the discovery of the Neutron, electrons kept most Alpha particles from reaching the nucleus making bombardment too expensive.</b>

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• WO

  @wozhardy · 3 weeks ago

  this is why we should take no notice of &quot;experts&quot; who are often &nbsp;limited to their biases and their day.

• BR

  @brunozeigerts6379 · 1 month ago

  I&apos;ve never flown in a seven hundred forty seven.

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• SN

  @Snoopydad · 4 weeks ago (edited)

  I remember Olson&apos;s prediction when he made it. &nbsp;Digital and its huge number of buildings locally was in decline at the time of the merger.