Sorry – can’t recall the source for these – let me know if you know ….
Strictly Accurate :
“Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons.”- Popular Mechanics, 1949
“Indeed, it would not be an exaggeration to describe the history of the computer industry for the past decade as a massive effort to keep up with Apple.”
- Byte, December 1994 (in fact they still are …)
Just Wrong :
“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”
– Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943
“I have travelled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processings is a fad that won’t last out the year.”
- The editor in charge of business books for Prentice-Hall, 1957
“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.”
- Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of DEC
Valid Question At The Time :
“But what…is it good for?”
- Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip
And To Finish :
“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.’”
Steve Jobs, cofounder of Apple Computer
