“Stones can’t fall from the sky; there’s nowhere for them to come from!” – Paris Academy of Sciences on meteorites, 1772.

“Computers in the future may have only 1000 vacuum tubes and perhaps weigh only 1½ tons.” – Popular Mechanics, 1949.

“I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won’t last out the year.” – Prentice Hall Editor, 1957.

“But what’s it good for?” – On microchips, IBM Advanced Computing Division, 1968.

“There is no reason why anyone would want a computer in their home.” – Ken Olsen, founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977.

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

“The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?” – David Sarnoff’s partners on investing in radio, 1920.

“The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a ‘C’, the idea must be feasible.” – Yale professor on Fred Smith’s proposal for express delivery (Smith later founded FedEx).

“Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?” – Warner Brothers on adding sound to films, 1927.

“We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.” – Decca Records rejecting The Beatles, 1962.

“Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible!” – Lord Kelvin, physicist, 1895.

“With no air to push against, how could a rocket actually push itself through space?” – New York Times on Robert Goddard’s rocket research, 1921.

“Airplanes are interesting toys, but of no military value.” – Marshal Ferdinand Foch, French military strategist.

“Everything that can be invented has been invented.” – Charles Duell, US Patent Office, 1899.

“$100 million dollars is way too much to pay for Microsoft.” – IBM, 1982.