Here are a few quotes I like to keep in mind whenever I think I have all the answers.
Everything that can be invented has been invented.
–Charles H. Duell, Office of Patents, 1899
There will never be a bigger plane built.
–A Boeing Engineer, after the first flight of the 247, a twin engine plane that carried ten people.
Ours has been the first, and doubtless to be the last, to visit this profitless locality.
–Lt. Joseph Ives, after visiting the Grand Canyon in 1861
We don’t like their sound. Groups of guitars are on the way out.”
–Decca Executive, 1962, after turning down the Beatles
With over 50 foreign cars already on sale here, the Japanese auto industry isn’t likely to carve out a big slice of the US market.
–Business Week, August 2, 1968
There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.
–Ken Olson, president of Digital Equipment Corp. 1977
This telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication.
–Western Union, memo, 1876
No imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?
–David Sarnoff’s associates in response to his urging investment in the radio in the 1920’s
Who wants to hear actors talk?
–H.M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927
