Are You Sure About That?

Sitting in my Synergistics lab as I was working on a few problems, I ran across the following information and just found it interesting on an FYI basis ... this may not be of interest to anyone, but then again... one never knows.

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It's hard to predict what will happen with technology, but that doesn't stop people from trying.

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1876 - "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)

1895 - "Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible."
(Lord Kelvin, British scientist)

1913 - "Books will soon be obsolete in the schools."
(Thomas A. Edison, American inventor)

1943 - "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
(Thomas Watson, founder of IBM)

1948 - "Television won't last. It's a flash in the pan."
(Mary Somerville, broadcaster for educational radio)

1949 - "Computers in the future may...perhaps weigh no more than 1.5 tons."
(Popular Mechanics)

1956 - "Space travel is utter bilge."
(Richard Woolley, U.K. Astronomer Royal)

1973 - "Every family in a Creative Society (which will begin around the year 2000) would be able to afford a domestic robot."
(M.W. Thring, in Man, Machines, and Tomorrow)

1977 - "There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home."
(Ken Olson, founder of Digital Equipment Corporation)

Just a Few Facts:

* Some new technologies emerge as a result of war and other social and political upheavals. After the attack on the World Trade Center, several new anti-terror projects were launched. For example, a tiny camera worn by search-and-rescue dogs helped find victims under the tower wreckage.

* We use many products of technology every day and never know the names of the people who invented them. Here are a few unsung heroes:

* L. Lovel - pencil sharpener (1897)
* Satori Kato - instant coffee (1901)
* Mary Anderson - windshield wipers (1903)
* Garrett A. MOrgan - traffic light (1923)
* R. Stanton Avery - self adhesive label (1935)
* Earl John Hilton - credit card (1950)
* Luther Simjian - ATM technology (1960)