The three silliest predictions about computers and the Internet

Being at the sharp end of IT support in Bristol means we need to keep up with the rapid pace of change in computer usage - both the technological side, and the human side, i.e. user trends. Bizarrely, some of the figureheads of the industry don't seem to be all that savvy when it comes to trends. We've come across three statements from big bosses in the tech world that were eyebrow-raisingly inaccurate considering who said them. For your enjoyment, here they are so that you, with the benefit of hindsight, can marvel at their silliness…

1. "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home"

This was the opinion in 1977 of one Ken Olsen, the founder of Digital Equipment Corporation - a company synonymous with mainframe computer systems. Perhaps it's a classic case of 'inside out' thinking: was he simply over-familiar with his customers' uses for computing? But there's two ironies here: DEC had just started to develop minicomputers for engineering, and Olsen himself had a personal computer at home. For geek tasks only, we're sure.

2. "We'll never make a 32-bit system"

Bill Gates must have been suffering from a temporary limit to his imagination when he made this odd declaration in 1989. Windows made the transition from 8-bit to 16-bit around that time, and guess what? The 32-bit Windows NT 3.1 was launched only four years later, in 1993.

3. "Next Christmas the iPod will be dead, finished, gone, kaput."

That Christmas came and went in 2006, and we think it's fair to say the high profile business guru Sir Alan Sugar got that one wrong. In fact, since he's a business adviser to the Government and himself chairs an electronics company, wouldn't you suppose he'd be a bit more clued up on electronics and business trends?