Posted on 05/12/2007 11:19:39 PM PDT by Rick_Michael
Read post 5 and 8.
http://www.rinkworks.com/said/predictions.shtml
“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” — Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.
“Where a calculator on the ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and weigh only 1.5 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.” — The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957.
“But what...is it good for?” — Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.
“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” — Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977.
“640K ought to be enough for anybody.” — Attributed to Bill Gates, 1981, but believed to be an urban legend.
“This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.” — Western Union internal memo, 1876.
“The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys.” — Sir William Preece, chief engineer of the British Post Office, 1876.
“The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?” — David Sarnoff’s associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s.
“While theoretically and technically television may be feasible, commercially and financially it is an impossibility.” — Lee DeForest, inventor.
Although, this guy may have had a point:
“Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?” — H. M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927.
They are a boondoggle! Turbo Deisel Injection engines have been getting as good or better gas mileage as these hybrids for a decade or more with no more pollution out of the tailpipe and FAR FAR less pollution in the manufacture and eventual end life of the product!
Hybrid technology is a scam, its not more Green and its not going to ever beat deisel technology in terms of fuel efficiency or cost.
the electric car is a hoax. it is a dirty process, and it is leading people to feel falsely ‘green’ about their decision.
Hope they’re correct about that.
Every time someone posts a thread about alternative energy sources, the same crowd shows up to throw rocks. What are you afraid of?
I’ve also heard that a VCR costs well over $1000.
Times change, and the batteries are nowhere near that expensive. They’re given 8 year warranties, Honda is the only manufacturer to have had to replace ANY (all under warranty), and the prices are dropping rapidly, just like your DVD player dropped in cost dramatically from 1998 to today.
Idaho National Labs has tested these things past 180k miles with no appreciable drop in mpg.
And the cost for the battery is dropping rapidly - the new Prius is under $3000 AU in Australia for a “book” cost for replacement.
Sudbury, Ontario is where Inco’s big nickle producing mine and processing facilities are located. And, indeed, the area immediately around Sudbury does look like a moonscape, but that happened long before the Ni-Mh battery was ever invented, and production has been cleaned up considerably since then. Undoubtedly, however, producing the nickle and other constituents of these batteries is a highly energy-intensive process. It is a very recyclable metal, however.
When people say that cold fusion won’t work, they are most likely just stating a fact. There’s no theoretical basis for it, nor has it ever been reproduceable. I mean, it’s possible there’s something to it, but there’s no reason to think so at this time. There was never any theoretical reason to think that heavier than air flight was impossible - birds show us every day that it is possible. There were good reasons to think that humans might not be able to survive spaceflight, and to this day some people believe that the Apollo missions never happened, because men couldn’t have survived the cosmic radiation on the journey.
““But what...is it good for?” — Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.”
OK, I’ve got to call that one out. Any engineer, or for that matter anyone who knew anything about computing at the time, would have recognized the advantages of the “microchip”. Speaking of which, did they really mean “microchip”. IIRC, by the late 60s they were really only doing small-scale ICs, which were nonetheless a great improvement over boards full of discrete transistors and other components, which themselves were a great improvement over vacuum tubes. In any case, if nothing else, “microchips” enabled reducing the size and power consumption of IBM mainframes greatly, again an advantage that any fool could see.
The list probably needs to be “snoped” out. In fact, though, that’s not a bad question. It could be paraphrased as “what are some potential applications of this product” rather than being completely dismissive.
That's what I want! I don't mind the gas/elec. hybrid, as I'd like to use it for long trips, when necessary, but for just futzing around town, electric would be great! Then I could just drive home and plug it in. Be even better if we can rig a photovoltaic grid in which to plug it!
Since the Prius mileage was cut 15% yesterday....I would expect the premium to be gone overnight.
Let that sucker set for a year without being used or charged and get back to me.
If mining is involved to make the components for batteries , where is it being mined? China?
Are these cars going to work in winters like we had here in Minnesota or are all their testing scenarios in Southern California?
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