Bill Gates claimed way back in 1981 that people wouldn’t need more than 640kb of memory in their computers. Today Windows alone needs thousands of times more bytes to come anywhere close to functioning.

The Microsoft founder is not alone in the list of qualified individuals who were completely off-the-mark when it came to predicting the future.

Bill Gates claimed way back in 1981 that people wouldn’t need more than 640kb of memory in their computers. Today Windows alone needs thousands of times more bytes to come anywhere close to functioning.

The Microsoft founder is not alone in the list of qualified individuals who were completely off-the-mark when it came to predicting the future.

Here’s an extract from a list of the Worst Tech Predictions as compiled by T3 Magazine:

BRITAIN DOESN’T NEED TELEPHONES
Sir William Preece 1878

X-RAYS ARE A HOAX
Lord Kevlin 1883

THERE WILL NEVER BE A BIGGER PLANE (AND IT ONLY HELD 10 PEOPLE)
At the launch of Boeing 247 in 1933

TV WON’T LAST
Darryl Zanuck 1946

HOMES WILL BE CLEANED WITH NUCLEAR HOOVERS
Alex Lewyt 1950

LETTERS WILL BE DELIVERED BY ROCKET
Arthur Summerfield 1959

COMPUTERS AREN’T FOR HOME USE
Ken Olsen, founder DEC 1977

YOU’LL ONLY EVER NEED 640KB OF MEMORY
Bill Gates 1981

WE’LL KILL SPAM IN TWO YEARS
Bill Gates 2004

THE iPOD WILL BE KAPUT BY NEXT CHRISTMAS
Sir Alan Sugar 2005