Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/02/03
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> With all the discussion of digital vs. film I thought the LUGs would be
> interested to see what was thought of by others in the heart of
> their field
> 10-50+ years ago. It may give us an idea of what we may sound
> like 50 years
> from now.
>
> "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.
JIM IS NOT SUGGESTING THAT DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY IS OF NO VALUE AND HAS NO
FUTURE.
> "Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible."
> --Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895.
JIM IS NOT SUGGESTING THAT DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY IS IMPOSSIBLE
>
> "Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value."
> --Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole
> Superieure de Guerre 1911.
JIM IS NOT SUGGESTING THAT DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY IS ONLY A TOY.
> "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
> --Thomas Watson, Chairman of IBM, 1943
JIM IS NOT SUGGESTING THAT THERE IS NO SIGNIFICANT MARKET FOR DIGITAL.
> "Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons."
> --Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of
> science, 1949
JIM IS NOT SUGGESTING THAT TODAY'S BULKY DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY WILL NOT BE
MINIATURIZED.
> "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
JIM IS NOT SUGGESTING THAT DIGITAL IS A FAD.
> "We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out."
> --Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.
JIM IS NOT SAYING THAT HE DOESN'T LIKE DIGITAL AND THAT IT WON'T SUCCEED.
> "But what ... is it good for?"
> --Engineer at IBM's Advanced Computing Systems Division (1968)
> commenting on the microchip.
JIM IS NOT SUGGESTING THAT DIGITAL IS GOOD FOR NOTHING.
> "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
> --Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital
> Equipment Corp., 1977
JIM IS NOT SUGGESTING THAT WE WON'T ALL WANT DIGITAL - EVENTUALLY.
> "640K ought to be enough for anybody."
> -- Bill Gates, 1981
JIM IS NOT SUGGESTING THAT WHAT IS CONSIDERED ACCEPTABLE DIGITAL TODAY IS
THE LIMIT OF THE TECHNOLOGY.
> "Sometimes when you're too close to something, you can't see past it."
> -- Peter K., member LUG group 1999
No, sometimes when one of us has no technical knowledge of a subject but
enormous prejudice against it and belief in a competing technology, we tend
to make silly statements that add nothing to an otherwise serious and
interesting discussion.
B. D. Colen, LUG member, 1999