TRIVIA - BAD PREDICTIONS

1. 1876: The myopic chief engineer of the British Post Office called out Americans for needing this device, but said the English do not because “we have plenty of messenger boys.”

2. 1889: The otherwise forward-thinking Thomas Edison was cool to this kind of electrical charge, which basically powers indoor items like televisions and air conditioners, calling it “a waste of time, nobody will ever use it.”

3. 1903: The visionless President of the Michigan Savings Bank, of all places, advised against local investors backing this mechanical product because it was “a fad.”

4. 1921: David Sarnoff was right not to listen to friends who said that this invention has no commercial value because, as they asked, “Who would pay for a message sent to no one in particular?”

5. 1946: David Zanuck was a visionless communications exec, as he dismissed this invention as “a plywood box” that won’t be able to hold market share.

6. 1955: Alex Lewt manufactured vacuum cleaners, but was too rash when he predicted that within this kind of controversial energy was going to blow up and power many products, including his.

7. 1961: TAM Craven was the narrow-minded head of the FCC, who dismissed the chance that these spaceage devices would ever “be used to provide better telephone, telegraph, television, or radio service inside the United States.” Courtesy of the Democratic Republic of Trivia