Top 5 Predictions

24.) “ We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out." – Decca Recording Company on declining to sign the Beatles, 1962

The Beatles quote was my number 5 because I think it represented one of the biggest barriers to innovation, personal preference and status quo. Too often people discount new innovations and trends, simply because it doesn't fit their personal tastes or the current status quo. Of course looking back we realize the Beatles were a major hit, but how many of us are  brave enough to admit we appreciate a new and upcoming band when our friends disagree?

17.) "The horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty—a fad." – -The president of the Michigan Savings Bank advising Henry Ford's lawyer not to invest in the Ford Motor Co., 1903

The horse to automobile example I felt was the best example of the advance of technology, and how despite our best knowledge, sometimes we can't predict the effect technology will have on our society. It reminded me of the advances of cloud technology, how it initially started off as a simple file sharing platform, which has now given rise to companies such as Salesforce. A trendy fab turned into a entire industry.

10.) “ There will never be a bigger plane built." – - A Boeing engineer, after the first flight of the 247, a twin engine plane that holds ten people 

Another example of humans underestimating the advances of technology. The reason this quote stood out to me was it reminded me of a quote a few decades ago, predicting the world would run out of food for its citizens by 2000. And yet we are well past the year 2000 and we now produce more food than anyone could ever imagine.

 

8.) “The idea that cavalry will be replaced by these iron coaches is absurd. It is little short of treasonous.” — Comment of Aide-de-camp to Field Marshal Haig, at tank demonstration, 1916  

I chose this quote as my number two because I think it represents one of the greatest drivers of innovation, the military. The space race, communication, aviation, all indirectly or often directly linked to militaristic motives. Taking no moral stance on the issue, it is important to realize how important conflict is for the advancement of technology.

13.) "If excessive smoking actually plays a role in the production of lung cancer, it seems to be a minor one." – -W.C. Heuper, National Cancer Institute, 1954

This quote came in at my #1 because it rung strangely similar to a current debate taking place in our society; the health effects of marijuana. I can only hope we don't look back 50 years and realize we've made the same mistake with our health.