The Mainframe Pages: Milestones in Technology

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1876 – A Western Union internal memo declares, "This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us."

1899 – Commissioner of U.S. Office of Patents Charles H. Duell asserts, "Everything that can be invented has been invented."

1943 – Thomas Watson, Chairman of IBM predicts, "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."

1947 – Engineer in the vacuum tube lab at Bell Laboratories, upon observing the transistor, "If you really want to do electronics, you go down to the storeroom and get some vacuum tubes, resistors, and capacitors..."

1949 – Popular Mechanics magazine predicts that "Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons."

1957 – "I have travelled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won't last out the year."
- The editor in charge of business books for Prentice-Hall

1968 – An IBM engineer, commenting on the microchip at IBM's Advanced Computing Systems Division, asks, "But what is it good for?"

1977 – Ken Olson, founder of Digital Equipment Corporation, announces that "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."

1981 – Bill Gates asserts, "640K ought to be enough for anybody."