Predictions

These are what I think are the top 10 incorrect predictions throughout history. 
(First 5 from the professor, Last 5 found on the web)

1. "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers" - Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943. 

Ironically, the chairman of IBM, an integral group in the development of computers, has claimed that there will barely be a market for computers. However, today, most people around the world have their own computers, possible even more than one. It seems that the chairman did not see the huge demand for computers arising in the future. But it is also understandable since computers back then were huge, heavy processors that the average person wouldn't use. 

2. "The horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty - a fad." - The President of the Michigan Savings Bank.

After a recent trip to the city of LA, with its many freeways and car-filled traffic jams, it's hard to imagine a world without automobiles. This president downplayed the great promise that automobiles had in providing much faster, more highly available transportation to the people of our world. 

3. "If excessive smoking actually plays a role in the production of lung cancer, it seems to be a minor one." - W.C. Heuper, National Cancer Institute, 1954

This prediction baffles me more just because of who made the prediction. It's hard to believe someone from the National Cancer Institute ignored the effect that smoking can have on the lungs, especially with all the chemicals and hazardous materials produced by smoking cigarettes. According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, there are over 30 known carcinogens in cigarette smoke. I find the idea that smoking does not play a role in the production of lung cancer ridiculous. 

4. "There will never be a bigger plane built." - A Boeing engineering, after the first flight of the 247, a twin engine plane that holds ten people

I've ridden planes since I was a little baby, going on long 13-hour flights across the Pacific Ocean, on planes like the Airbus A380, a double-deck, four-engine plane that can seat over 800 people. Being in flight in such huge planes for so long makes me even more surprised at the idea that people in the past couldn't even imagine more than 10 people flying on a plane at once. 

5. "A rocket will never be able to leave the Earth's atmosphere" - New York Times, 1936

Not too long after, in fact, just 8 years later, in 1944, a German rocket reached an altitude of 189 km and exited the earth's atmosphere. The Times placed such a rigid boundary around technology, but humans keep breaking and breaking the imaginations of people.

1. "Fooling around with alternating current is just a waste of time." - Thomas Edison, 1889

I find this to be perhaps a biased prediction, since Edison himself invented the direct current (DC) power distribution method, and he was competing against the AC method. Ultimately, the fact that AC power was cheaper and can be used from longer distances caused AC to overcome DC power, disproving Edison's claim. Today, all the electronic devices that we plug into walls as well as our residential homes are powered through AC sources.

2. "Remote shopping, while entirely feasible, will flop." - Time magazine, 1968

Personally, I'm someone who does most of my shopping online on sites like Amazon, Ebay, and Free and for Sale. Online shopping is now a multi-billion dollar source of revenue. Today, we can practically order anything online, including basic necessities like food and clothing. 

3. "Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons." - Popular Machanics, 1949

Although this claim was not wrong, its upper bound on the size of computers is outrageously high compared to the computers we have today. For example, my laptop weighs around 3 pounds and is less than 2 cm thick. It easily fits into my purse. Most computers today don't weight anything close to a ton, and barely take up any space. However, it is understandable to make such a prediction since the first computers took up entire rooms and weighed around 30 tons. 

4. "The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon." - Sir John Eric Ericksen, British surgeon, appointed Surgeon-Extraordinary to Queen Victoria 1873.
If surgeons today did not perform surgeries in the abdomen, chest, and brain, there would be an outrage. In contrast to what Sir Ericksen said, not performing these surgeries is more inhumane than not performing them. Although it is understandable that these surgeries are more riskier than others, without touching these areas of the human body, there are many heart diseases, brain tumors, digestive diseases that cannot be cured. Because we have surgeons performing these kinds of surgeries, millions of lives have been saved. 

5. "Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value." - Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre.

Aerial warfare is the primary method of modern warfare. A majority of World War II was fought on air, especially the Japanese attacks. Also, bombing is not possible without airplanes transporting these bombs, and bombing was a major part of the second world war.