Here is a brief excerpt from an article (in 2013) by Mark Spoonauer, Editor in Chief of LAPTOP. To read the complete article, please click here:
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In the technology world, bold predictions abound, and they should. Placing big bets in one direction or another is how this industry works. Some pundits try to make educated guesses about where tech is headed, while others prognosticate in reaction to disruptive technologies that could boost (or threaten) their business.
As we all know, foretelling what’s going to happen in 5, 10 or 30 years is pretty much impossible, but some predictions are so spectacularly wrong that they should be immortalized. That’s why I’ve selected these gems from some of the biggest names, publications and research firms to present the 10 worst tech predictions of all time. A couple of these timelines haven’t yet passed, but I feel comfortable predicting them as total fails now.
In the category of worst general predictions, here’s one that must be included: Charles H. Duell was the Commissioner of US patent office in 1899. He recommended to Congress that it be closed. Why? Mr. Deull’s most famous attributed utterance is that “everything that can be invented has been invented.”