The most courageous people from the past foresaw what transformations awaited society in the future, and some doubted everything. Now the pessimistic forecasts of skeptics seem ridiculous to us …
Why drill the ground?
It is difficult to imagine the obstacles with which inventions and technical innovations made their way to people, without which it is impossible to imagine life today. Each of them met obstacles on its way and caused bewilderment among those people on whom it depended whether this or that invention would reach people. The words of Charles Duell, Special Representative of the American Patent Office, look indicative in this regard. In 1899, he said: "Everything that could be invented has already been invented." And this is exactly how many people reasoned, meeting any innovations with hostility …
So, in response to the research of the American Edwin Drake, who proposed drilling for oil in 1859, industrialists answered: “Drilling the earth in search of oil? Do you mean that you have to drill the ground in order to find oil? You are crazy.
But Drake still did not give up, and soon the world entered a new era - oil and gasoline, which in turn caused a number of new inventions, however, which made their way to consumers with the same difficulty.
In 1895, Lord Kelvin, President of the Royal Society of England, uttered the historic words: "Flying machines weighing heavier than air are impossible!" Scientists thought much the same when discussing a revolutionary article by researcher Robert Goddard, written in 1921. This article raised the question of creating a rocket that can overcome gravity. Colleagues handed down the following verdict: “Professor Goddard does not understand the relationship between action and reaction, he does not know that the reaction needs conditions more suitable than a vacuum. It seems that the professor has an acute shortage of basic knowledge that is taught in high school."
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When the first aircraft appeared, one of the American university professors wrote an article in which he stated: "Airplanes are interesting toys, but they have no military value."
In the field of medicine, innovators also faced considerable challenges. One of Louis Pasteur's colleagues put it this way in 1872: "Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is a funny fantasy."
And Sir John Erickson, the chief surgeon of the British Queen Victoria in 1873 sternly pronounced: "The stomach, chest and brain will always be closed for the invasion of a wise and humane surgeon" …
No phone needed
In 1876, the American company Western Union discussed a telephone recently invented by Alexander Bell. The inventor turned to Western Union to promote his creation to the market. After the demonstration of the novelty, a company representative said the phrase that has become legendary: “A device like a telephone has too many flaws to consider it as a means of communication. Therefore, I believe that this invention has no value."
Fortunately, after a while they returned to the phone again, and soon it conquered the whole world.
With no less difficulty the radio made its way to the people. In 1920, the David Sarnoff Association held a meeting of investors to consider a project to create a commercial radio station. The verdict of the high congregation was: “This wireless music box has no commercial value. Who will pay for messages not intended for some private person?"
But other companies thought differently, and soon the first radio stations appeared, successfully broadcasting for the still few listeners, the number of which increased every day. Now radio is listened to by literally billions of people, and it has not lost its position even after the advent of television and the Internet.
The words spoken by Harry Warner - one of the famous Warner brothers who founded the legendary film company - look very funny. In 1927, filmmakers discussed the possibility of a sound film. Harry Warner reacted to it this way: "Yeah, who the hell is interested in talking actors?"
I must say that not only technical innovations, but also some creative innovations were met with no less bewilderment. The British record company "Deka Records", where the young group "The Beatles" directed their footsteps in 1962, made their conclusion: "We do not like their sound and, in general, the guitar is yesterday."
Cheap Microsoft
Perhaps most of the controversy and various pessimistic and seemingly ridiculous predictions to us now were caused by the appearance of the first computers.
The director of the famous company "IBM" (it should be noted that earlier this company specialized in the production of cutters for meat and cheese) Thomas Watson said in 1943: "I think that in the world market we will find demand for five computers." … These words did not seem ridiculous at that time - computers were such an expensive and huge machine that Popular Mechanics magazine in 1949 wrote such an optimistic forecast: "In the future, computers will weigh no more than 1.5 tons." I must say that at that time turning on the first computer necessarily caused a power outage in the entire city - it consumed too much energy … Although computers were getting smaller and cheaper, for a long time no one believed that they would ever spread everywhere.
In 1957, the editor of one of the American publishing houses wrote an article in which he stated: “I have traveled this country far and wide, communicated with the smartest people and I can guarantee you that data processing is just a fad, the fashion for which will last no more than a year.
He was echoed by Ken Olson, founder and president of Digital Development Corporation: "No one needs a computer in their home."
The emergence of the microchip caused the following reaction: "Well, what can be useful in this thing?" - so reasoned in 1968 in the corporation "IB-Em", which later played a huge role in the emergence of mass and inexpensive computers. The same company once said the legendary phrase "$ 100 million is too high a price for Microsoft."
I must say that Bill Gates, the richest man on the planet who managed to change her face, once uttered a phrase that has now become literally an anecdote. In 1981, he said, "640KB of RAM should be enough for everyone."
Nowadays, when the volumes of hard drives are measured in gigabytes, this statement seems ridiculous and naive … Such strange and ridiculous arguments were encountered quite recently. Fortunately, progress is so indomitable that no one's sarcasm and disbelief can ever stop its progress …
Natalia Trubinovskaya