World's Worst Predictions - Famously Wrong Predictions

[Sniper]

 Theoretically, television may be feasible, but I consider it an impossibility--a development which we should waste little time dreaming about.
- Lee de Forest, 1926, inventor of the cathode ray tube

 I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.
- Thomas J. Watson, 1943, Chairman of the Board of IBM

 It doesn't matter what he does, he will never amount to anything.
- Albert Einstein's teacher to his father, 1895

 It will be years - not in my time - before a woman will become Prime Minister.
- Margaret Thatcher, 1974

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

 We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.
- Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962

 Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?
- H. M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927

 640K ought to be enough for anybody.
- Bill Gates, 1981

 Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction.
- Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872

 Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons.
- Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949

 We don't need you. You haven't got through college yet.
- Hewlett-Packard's rejection of Steve Jobs, who went on to found Apple Computers

 King George II said in 1773 that the American colonies had little stomach for revolution.

 An official of the White Star Line, speaking of the firm's newly built flagship, the Titanic, launched in 1912, declared that the ship was unsinkable.

 In 1939 The New York Times said the problem of TV was that people had to glue their eyes to a screen, and that the average American wouldn't have time for it.

 An English astronomy professor said in the early 19th century that air travel at high speed would be impossible because passengers would suffocate.

 Airplanes are interesting toys, but they have no military value.
- Marshal Ferdinand Foch in 1911

 With over 50 foreign cars already on sale here, the Japanese auto industry isn't likely to carve out a big slice of the U.S. market.
- Business Week, 1958

 Whatever happens, the U.S. Navy is not going to be caught napping.
- Frank Knox, U.S. Secretary of the Navy, on December 4, 1941

 Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau.
- Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, October 16, 1929.

[MisterD]

Peace in our time - N Chamberlain.

[myvice]

"Man will never fly"
"Everything that can be invented, has been invented" Said in 1899 by the then head of the patients office
"Moving at any speed over 30 miles per hour will probably have fatal consequences"
"Man will never get to the moon"
Said about motorcycles "No one will want to sit on an explosion"

[Big Dave]

'I don't think I'll spend as much time on Kiwi Biker'.........

[KLOWN]

"Man will never fly"
"Everything that can be invented, has been invented" Said in 1899 by the then head of the patients office
"Moving at any speed over 30 miles per hour will probably have fatal consequences"
"Man will never get to the moon"
Said about motorcycles "No one will want to sit on an explosion"

Moving at any speed over 30miles per hour will probably have fatal consequences - LTSA

[marty]

and more quotes:
 "Though I Fly Through the Valley of Death... I Shall Fear No Evil. For I am at 80,000 Feet and Climbing." - At the entrance to the old SR-71 operating base, Kadena, Japan

 "You've never been lost until you've been lost at Mach 3." - Paul F. Crickmore (test pilot)

 "The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire."

 "Blue water Navy truism: There are more planes in the ocean than submarines in the sky." --From an old carrier sailor

 "If the wings are traveling faster than the fuselage, it's probably a helicopter -- and therefore, unsafe."

 "When one engine fails on a twin-engine airplane you always have enough power left to get you to the scene of the crash."

 "What is the similarity between air traffic controllers and pilots? If a pilot screws up, the pilot dies; if ATC screws up, the pilot dies."

 "Never trade luck for skill."

 The three most common expressions (or famous last words) in aviation are: "Why is it doing that?", "Where the hell are we?" and "Oh Shit!"

 "Weather forecasts are horoscopes with numbers."

 "Progress in airline flying: now a flight attendant can get a pilot pregnant."

 "Mankind has a perfect record in aviation; we never left one up there!"

 "Flashlights are tubular metal containers kept in a flight bag for the purpose of storing dead batteries."

 "Flying the airplane is more important than radioing your plight to a person on the ground incapable of understanding or doing anything about it."

 "Just remember, if you crash because of weather, your funeral will be held on a sunny day."

 Advice given to RAF pilots during WWII: "When a prang (crash) seems inevitable, endeavor to strike the softest, cheapest object in the vicinity as slowly and gently as possible."

 "The Piper Cub is the safest airplane in the world; it can just barely kill you." - Attributed to Max Stanley (Northrop test pilot)

 "Never fly in the same cockpit with someone braver than you."

 "There is no reason to fly through a thunderstorm in peacetime." - Sign over squadron ops desk at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ,

 "If something hasn't broken on your helicopter, it's about to."

 Basic Flying Rules: "Try to stay in the middle of the air. Do not go near the edges of it. The edges of the air can be recognized by the appearance of ground, buildings, sea, trees and interstellar space. It is much more difficult to fly there."

 As the test pilot climbs out of the experimental aircraft, having torn off the wings and tail in the crash landing, the crash truck arrives, the rescuer sees a bloodied pilot and asks, "What happened?" The pilot's reply: "I don't know, I just got here myself!" - Attributed to Ray Crandell (Lockheed test pilot)

[marty]

more:

 A slipping gear could let your M203 grenade launcher fire when you least expect it. That would make you quite unpopular in what's left of your unit." - Army's magazine of preventive maintenance.

 "Aim towards the Enemy." - Instruction printed on US Rocket Launcher

 "When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is not our friend." - U.S. Marine Corps training manual

 "Cluster bombing from B-52s is very, very accurate. The bombs are guaranteed to always hit the ground." - USAF Ammo Troop

 "If the enemy is in range, so are you." - Infantry Journal

 "It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just bombed." - U.S. Air Force Pilot training manual

 "Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons." - General MacArthur

 "Try to look unimportant; they may be low on ammo." - Infantry Journal

 "You, you, and you ... panic. The rest of you, come with me." - U.S. Marine Corp Gunnery Sgt.

 "Tracers work both ways." - U.S. Army Ordnance officer

 "Five second fuses only last three seconds." - Infantry Journal

 "Bravery is being the only one who knows you're afraid." - David Hackworth

 "If your attack is going too well, you’re walking into an ambush." - Infantry Journal

 "No combat-ready unit has ever passed inspection." - Joe Gay

 "Any ship can be a minesweeper... once." - Anonymous

 "Never tell the Platoon Sergeant you have nothing to do." - Unknown Marine Recruit

 "Don't draw fire; it irritates the people around you." - Your Buddies

 "If you see a bomb technician running, follow him." - USAF Ammo Troop

[scumdog]

"We do not need more Police as the traffic laws will automatically be followed by the average motorist"..

"If we go over 160kph they will call off the pursuit"


Tui's moment here, 'Yeah Right'

[R6_kid]

'John will never have gay sex in the toilets while attending St Kentigerns College'

[Ixion]

"We do not need more Police as the traffic laws will automatically be followed by the average motorist"..



As indeed they are . The problem is that, research has shown, 99% of NZ motorists are far better than average. And no motorists are worse than avergae. So that leaves only 1% to follow the traffic laws.

[scumdog]

As indeed they are . The problem is that, research has shown, 99% of NZ motorists are far better than average. And no motorists are worse than avergae. So that leaves only 1% to follow the traffic laws.

Me suspect thou have inverted the figures..


99% are WORSE than average. (how can you figure a number that is larger than the 'average' is worse ?)

[Ixion]

NO indeed for the researchers asked a wide selection of motorists whether they ranked themselves as worse than average, average, or better than average. 99% considered themselves as better than average.

[scumdog]

NO indeed for the researchers asked a wide selection of motorists whether they ranked themselves as worse than average, average, or better than average. 99% considered themselves as better than average.

Hahahahahah! They asked the MOTORISTS?? NO wonder they can get figures ABOVE the 'average'.

The average motorist would be incapable of driving a drawing-pin into a sheet of balsa-wood!!


Hahahahahahahahahahha! The 'average' motorist!!

[KLOWN]

my mates gf thinks she is a 'good' driver even though she crosses the white line, dosen't indicate, does 100 point turns can't park for shit and gets lost going to the end of the drive way. BUT she dosen't speed and won't over take unless there is a passing lane so that makes her a 'good' driver. what a moron, and this is the mentality of many drivers, if I don't speed i'm a 'good' driver.

[scumdog]

my mates gf thinks she is a 'good' driver even though she crosses the white line, dosen't indicate, does 100 point turns can't park for shit and gets lost going to the end of the drive way. BUT she dosen't speed and won't over take unless there is a passing lane so that makes her a 'good' driver. what a moron, and this is the mentality of many drivers, if I don't speed i'm a 'good' driver.

Point out what a crap driver she really is - you might destroy her and she might not drive again, = no loss.
She might pick up on what you are telling her and drive better, = a big plus.

[KLOWN]

Point out what a crap driver she really is - you might destroy her and she might not drive again, = no loss.
She might pick up on what you are telling her and drive better, = a big plus.
Me and her boyfriend give her heaps about it but she dosent believe she is doing anything wrong. I will not get in the car with her driving, just is too unsafe, although she hasn't had an accident yet (i think). She also won't believe us because we (me and her bf) are speeders and she has been brain washed by speeding kills ads

[mstriumph]

... or she might pick something sharp up and drive it THRU you ...... 'ouch'!!

[kro]

There's only two people on the planet thus far whom I will sit as a passenger in a car for, one is my dad, the other is my wife.

Any driver that wont take unnecessary risks is my kind of driver.