The 10 Worst Technology Predictions of All-Time

The original title of this article was going to be Technology Predictions for 2016… you know, because we’re rapidly approaching the end of the year. But as I began compiling and organizing chaotic thought-nuggets into actual predictions, I realized that even with quite a few years of digital marketing experience, these predictions are really just guesses. My purchased-from-Spencer’s crystal ball is deeply buried in the back of a closet somewhere, which meant that I couldn’t even rely on that shiny orb to assist in my prediction-making. Who really knows what technological advances are awaiting us next year?

So instead of throwing some predications against the wall and revisiting a year later to see what has stuck, let’s point and laugh at… The 10 Worst Technology Predictions of All-Time!

10. “There’s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share.” – Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO [2007

9. “Remote shopping, while entirely feasible, will flop.” – Time Magazine [1966]

8. “Television won’t be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.” – Darryl Zanuck, 20th Century Fox [1946]

7. “The horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty – a fad.” – Horace Rackham, president of the Michigan Savings Bank, advising Henry Ford’s lawyer not to invest in the Ford Motor Company [1903]

6. “Heavier than air flying machines are impossible.” – Lord Kelvin [1895]

5. “There is practically no chance communications space satellites will be used to provide better telephone, telegraph, television, or radio service inside the United States.” – T.A.M. Craven, FCC Commissioner [1961]

4. “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” – Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM [1943]

3. “There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will.” – Albert Einstein [1932]

2. “This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication.” – William Orton, president of Western Union [1876]

1. “I predict the Internet will soon go spectacularly supernova and in 1996 catastrophically collapse.” – Robert Metcalfe, founder of 3Com [1995]

Do YOU have any tech predictions for 2016? Well, what are you waiting for? …share them with us!