This is my fourth IEOR 190G VideoBlog Post.
This week I will be discussing Mistaken Predictions about society.
First are my top five predictions from the 25 quotes chosen by Prof. Lavian:
1. "Rail travel at high speeds is not possible because passengers, unable to breathe, would die of asphyxia." -- Dr. Dionysius Lardner, 1830
2. "I think there is a world market for maybe 5 computers" -- Thomas Watson, Chairman of IBM, 1943
3. "The horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty - a fad." -- The president of the Michigan Bank advising Henry Ford's lawyer not to invest in the Ford Motor Co., 1903
4. "A rocket will never be able to leave the Earth's atmosphere." -- New York Times, 1936
5. "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.
It is easy to see now why these statements are wildly incorrect but what is most remarkable is that all of these people were experts or leaders in their fields!
Next are my top 5 Mistaken predictions that I found myself:
1. “Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.” — Lord Kelvin, British mathematician and physicist, president of the British Royal Society, 1895.
2. “Nuclear-powered vacuum cleaners will probably be a reality in 10 years.” -– Alex Lewyt, president of vacuum cleaner company Lewyt Corp., in the New York Times in 1955.
3. “The cinema is little more than a fad. It’s canned drama. What audiences really want to see is flesh and blood on the stage.” -– Charlie Chaplin, actor, producer, director, and studio founder, 1916
4. “Home Taping Is Killing Music” — A 1980s campaign by the BPI, claiming that people recording music off the radio onto cassette would destroy the music industry.
5.“There is Nothing New to be Discovered in Physics Now. All That Remains is More and More Precise Measurement.” -- Lord (Absolute Zero) Kelvin
Please view the below video for a presentation on the above Quotes!
Hi Oliviero,
ReplyDeleteLooks like you and I had a similar way of thinking for selecting our quotes (the speakers are leaders and experts). However, the one quote by the NYT was not necessarily said by a leader or an expert. Otherwise, this is a great system and I completely agree with what you chose.
Hi Oliviero, I really like the new comments that you found. They were pretty different from the ones that I found and the ones others have posted.
ReplyDeleteHello Oliviero,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your selections for your mistaken quotes and predictions, it is always really funny to apply hindsight when approaching these galvanizing statements as it seems ridiculous that someone would ever think the railway would kill people. Hopefully you can use these awful predictions as a way to not limit yourself!
Cheers