Humans are fallible and even the greatest minds of their time are not omniscient and do not see into the future. Read the predictions of tech visionaries that turned out to be completely wrong. We know it's easy to be a general after a battle, but we won't offend anyone with a little joke at someone else's expense. After all, these tech giants can take comfort in the millions or even billions in their bank accounts.
Read on for predictions from tech visionaries that turned out to be completely wrong.
1. "I think there is room on the market for a maximum of five computers."
Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, in 1943
2. ”Everyone keeps asking me when Apple is going to launch its mobile phone. My answer is always the same: 'Probably never.'
David Pogue, editor of the American newspaper The New York Times, in 2006
3. ”Americans need a phone, but we don't. We have messengers over our heads."
Sir William Preece, Chief Engineer of the British Post Office, in 1878
4. "Television will not last more than six months in any market. People will get tired of staring at a wooden box every day.”
Darryl Zanuck, 20th Century Fox, in 1946
5. "In two years there will be no more spam."
Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, in 2004
READ MORE: Predictions by great minds that turned out to be completely wrong
6. ”Playing with alternating current (AC) is a waste of time. No one will ever use it.”
Thomas Edison, inventor of the light bulb, in 1889
7. "I'm predicting a meteoric rise for the Internet, but in 1996 it will collapse catastrophically."
Robert Metcalfe, founder of 3Com, in 1995
8. “There is no way the iPhone will have a significant market share.”
Steve Ballmer, CEO of the IMB, in 2007
9. “The iPhone will never succeed. It will be a coat by next Christmas.”
Alan Sugar, founder of Amstrad, in 2005
