Dr. Dionysius Lardner, an Irish scientist of the 19th century, felt that “Rail travel at high speed is not possible, because passengers would die of asphyxia.”

H. M. Warner, the head of Warner Studios in Hollywood in 1927, when questioned about the possibility of movies with sound, asked “Who wants to hear actors talk?”

Radio Times editor Rex Lambert opined in 1936, “Television won’t matter in your lifetime or mine.”

In 1943, Thomas Watson, IBM chairman, said that no more than five computers would ever be needed.

The personal computer was launched in 1981 (not that I saw one until 10 years later).

Elvis Presley was fired in 1954 by a concert manager saying “You ought to back to driving a truck.”

Decca Records rejected the Beatles in 1962 with the words, “We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.”

Time Magazine, in 1966, predicted. “By 2000, the machines will be producing so much that everyone in the US will, in effect, be independently wealthy.

In 1966, Coco Chanel in reference to miniskirts said, “It’s a bad joke that won’t last. Not with winter coming.”

Ken Olson, the founder of Digital Equipment Corporation, in 1977, said “There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.”

Digital Equipment Corporation machines: Image by The U.S. National Archives via Flickr