Predicting the future is easy. The hard part is getting it right, as the following predictions clearly show.
鈥淚 will never marry again.鈥
-Barbara Hutton, 1941
Hutton would subsequently be married five more times.
鈥淭he bullet hasn鈥檛 been made that can kill me.鈥
鈥揓ack 鈥淟egs鈥 Diamond, 1929.
He was shot dead 2 years later.
鈥淭here is not doubt that [Adolf Hitler] has become more thoughtful during his imprisonment 鈥 and does not contemplate acting against existing authority.鈥
鈥揙tto Leybold, warden of Landsberg Prison, in which Hitler served time as a young man, September 1924
鈥淚 am finished.鈥
鈥揥inston Churchill, after being replaced as First Lord of the Admiralty during World War I, 1915
鈥淭he thought of being president frightens me. I do not think I want the job.鈥
鈥揜onald Reagan, 1973
Hail to the Chief, Mr. President.
鈥淔or the majority of people, smoking has a beneficial effect.鈥
鈥揇r. Ian G. Macdonald, 1963
厂耻谤别&苍产蝉辫;鈥
鈥淐omputers, in the future, may weigh no more than 1.5 tons.鈥
鈥揚opular Mechanics, forecasting 鈥渢he relentless march of science鈥 in 1949
The Michigan Micro Mote at the University of Michigan, the world鈥檚 smallest computer, fits on the edge of a dime (and I would wager weights a little less than 1.5 tons).
鈥淭here is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.鈥
鈥揔en Olson, president, chairman, and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., in 1977
Tell that to the 83.3% of American households who owned a computer in 2013, according to the US Census Bureau.
鈥淭his 鈥榯elephone鈥 has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is, inherently, of no value.鈥
鈥揥estern Union internal memo, written in 1876
It would appear that only 2.4% of Americans would agree with you, Western Union, based on 2000 Census data that showed that 97.6% of households had a 鈥渢elephone.鈥
鈥淭he wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?鈥
鈥搊ne of David Sarnoff鈥檚 top associates in response to people urging him to invest in the radio, in 1920 (Sarnoff first proposed the concept of broadcast radio in 1915.)
65% of Americans, that鈥檚 who. According to a 2014 report, that鈥檚 what percentage of us get our news from the radio.
鈥淲ho wants to hear actors talk?鈥
鈥H. M. Warner of Warner Brothers, in 1927
鈥淲e do.鈥- Everyone who has ever seen a movie.
鈥淚鈥檓 just glad it鈥檒l be Clark Gable who鈥檚 falling on his face and not Gary Cooper.鈥
鈥揋ary Cooper, commenting on his decision to turn down the leading role in Gone With the Wind.
Mr. Gable would go on to be nominated for an Oscar for his performance.
鈥淪tocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau.鈥
鈥揑rving Fishe, a professor of economics at Yale University, in 1929
鈥淭his crash is not going to have much effect on business.鈥
鈥揂rthur Reynolds, chairman of Continental Illinois Bank of Chicago, October 24, 1929
Whoops.
鈥淎irplanes are interesting toys but of no military value.鈥
鈥揗ar茅chal Ferdinand Foch, a professor of strategy at l鈥櫭塩ole Sup茅rieure de Guerre in France, in 1911
See: WWI, WWII, Vietnam, etc鈥 .
鈥淎 guitar鈥檚 all right, John, but you鈥檒l never earn your living by it.鈥
鈥揓ohn Lennon鈥檚 Aunt Mimi
鈥 600 million records later 鈥