"[W]hen the Paris Exhibition closes electric light will close with it and no more be heard of."
- Erasmus Wilson (1878) Professor at Oxford University
"This `telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a practical form of communication.
The device is inherently of no value to us."
- Western Union internal memo, 1878
"Radio has no future."
- Lord Kelvin (1824-1907), British mathematician and physicist, ca. 1897.
"Rail travel at high speed is not possible because passengers, unable to breathe, would die of asphyxia."
- Dr. Dionysus Lardner (1793-1859), Professor of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy at University College, London.
"This `telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a practical form of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." - Western Union internal memo, 1878
"Radio has no future."- Lord Kelvin (1824-1907), British mathematician and physicist, ca. 1897.
"Rail travel at high speed is not possible because passengers, unable to breathe, would die of asphyxia."- Dr. Dionysus Lardner (1793-1859), Professor of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy at University College, London.
Solar cells have been around just as long, since 1883.
There's a reason why those other things have taken off while solar remains a liberal's pipe dream
For starters those other things aren't limited by the 1st Law of Thermodynamics, the Solar Constant, etc.
"CD's will never catch on...you'll never replace the record album." My boss at work circa 1990.