Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Been doing some research on my TWC essay(ugh!) and I came across many of these cute, funny and pretty stupid quotes :) Take a look and have a good laugh..


Man will not fly for 50 years."
Wilbur Wright, 1901

"The horse is here to stay, but the automobile is only a novelty - a fad."
President of the Michigan Savings Bank advising Horace Rackham (Henry Ford's lawyer) not to invest in the Ford Motor Company in 1903. Rackham ignored the advice and bought $5,000 worth of stock. He sold it several years later for $12,500,000!

"The automobile has practically reached the limit of its development."
Scientific American, 1909

"Gasoline engines will soon be rendered obsolete."
Thomas A. Edison, 1910

"The radio isn't even worthy of discussion."
Pittsburgh newspaper, 1920

"Talking films are a very interesting invention, but I do not believe they will remain long in fashion."
Louis-Jean Lumiere (co-inventor of the first film projector), 1929

"The Depression is over .... improvement will set in during the Spring months."
Herbert Hoover; January, 1930

"No Civil War picture has ever made a nickel."
Irving Thalberg, MGM Studios (who turned down 'Gone With The Wind'), 1938

"The Glider Train, consisting of one tow plane and three or more gliders is now a tested reality. Tomorrow, it will carry mail and fast freight to every point on the globe, revolutionizing transportation."
Forbes Magazine, 1942

"In the future, computers will have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and, perhaps, only weigh one and one-half tons."
Popular Mechanics, 1949

"I never met any guitar player who was worth a damn."
Vernon Presley, providing career advice to his son, Elvis, 1953

"The biggest no-talent I ever worked with."
Paul Cohen, Decca Records (after firing Buddy Holly), 1956

"Castro will last a year. No longer."
Fulgencio Batista (deposed by Fidel Castro), 1959

"With over fifteen types of foreign cars already on sale here, the Japanese auto industry isn’t likely to carve out a big share of the market for itself."
Business Week, 1968

"No woman in my time will ever be Prime Minister of Great Britain."
Margaret Thatcher, 1970 (she became Prime Minister in 1979)

And it's trivia time!! Which of the following commonly (mis)quoted quotes are actually REAL?

Quote 1: This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication."
— William Orton, president of Western Union, in 1876, when Alexander Graham Bell tried to sell the company his invention.

Quote 2: Everything that can be invented has been invented."
— Charles Duell, U.S. Patent Commissioner, 1899

Quote 3: Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?"
— Harry Warner, Warner Bros., as movies with sound made their debut in 1927.

Quote 4: "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
— Ken Olsen, founder of Digital Equipment, in 1977

Quote 5: "640K ought to be enough for anybody."
— Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder, 1981.

Quote 6: Thomas Watson, builder of IBM, in 1943: "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."


Interesting, eh? Especially the last and 3rd quote, cos they are most commonly cited (i've heard them a few times during talks about "innovation", "creativity" and whatnots). The answers, right here.

Mrs Brightside at 10:54 pm

{xoxo}