A random collection of quotes by experts in their fields:
“What use could this company make of an electrical toy?”
— William Orton, president of Western Union, in 1876, after being offered the chance to purchase the patent for Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone.“Do not bother to sell your gas shares. The electric light has no future.”
—Dr. John Henry Pepper, Victorian-era celebrity scientist, sometime in the 1870s.“Stocks have reached a permanently high plateau.”
— Dr. Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics at Yale University, shortly before the crash of 1929.“No matter what happens, the U.S. Navy is not going to be caught napping.”
— Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox on Dec. 4, 1941, three days before the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.“Radio has no future. Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible. X-rays are a hoax.”
— Lord Kelvin (William Thomson), a scientist and member of the British Royal Academy of Science, in 1899.“Everything that can be invented has been invented.”
—Charles H Duell, Commissioner of US Office of Patents, 1899.“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, Aug. 2, 1968.“Fred Astaire can’t act, can’t sing, balding … Can dance a little.”
— From an MGM talent scout’s memo, 1928.“What can you do with a guy with ears like that?”
— Jack Warner, head of Warner Bros. studios, rejecting Clark Gable in 1930.“Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?”
— Harry M. Warner of Warner Bros. studios in 1927.“You ain’t goin’ nowhere, son. You ought to go back to drivin’ a truck.”
— Jim Denny of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, firing Elvis Presley after his first performance at the Opry.“Not to mince words, Mr. Epstein, but we don’t like your boys’ sound. Groups are out; four-piece groups with guitars particularly are finished.”
— Dick Rowe, executive talent scout for the London office of Decca Records in 1962, turning down a record contract with The Beatles. (Perhaps to make amends, Rowe later signed The Rolling Stones.)