Quotes that prove how smart people can be
Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943
I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.
Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment
Corp.,1977
There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.
Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949
Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons.
David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for investment
in the radio in the 1920s
The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would
pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?
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.)
The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better
than a 'C,' the idea must be feasible.
Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in "Gone With The Wind."
I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face and not
Gary Cooper.
Response to Debbi Fields' idea of starting Mrs. Fields' Cookies
A cookie store is a bad idea. Besides, the market research reports say
America likes crispy cookies, not soft and chewy cookies like you make.
Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962
We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.
Spencer Silver on the work that led to the unique adhesives for 3M Post-It" Notepads
If I had thought about it, I wouldn't have done the experiment. The
literature was full of examples that said you can't do this.
Apple Computer Inc. founder Steve Jobs on attempts to get Atari and HP interested in his and Steve Wozniak's personal computer
So we went to Atari and said, 'Hey, we've got this amazing thing, even
built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us?
Or we'll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we'll
come work for you.'
And they said, 'No.' So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said,
'Hey, we don't need you. You haven't got through college yet.
Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, US Office of Patents, 1899
Everything that can be invented has been invented.
Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872
Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction.
Bill Gates, 1981
640K ought to be enough for anybody.