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13 Future Predictions That Were So Wrong People Would Probably Regret Saying Them
Throughout history, there have been many prophecies about the future, and some were incredibly accurate. One of the most famous ‘seer’s’ was Nostradamus, a French physician and astrologer who foresaw such historical facts as the French Revolution, both World Wars and even the death of Princess Diana. Although his story may seem unbelievable, so many people have failed to match his predictions’ success that it makes you wonder. This “Timeline Of Very Bad Future Predictions” created by Infographic shows the worst predictions in history, and it’s safe to say these futurists weren’t as good as they thought. From ‘the telephone won’t succeed as a form of communication’ prophecy to ‘the Internet won’t replace newspapers,’ it’s unbelievable how wrong these funny facts were.
Scroll down to see more funny history predictions, and if you know of some more, don’t forget to tell us in the comments!
More info: Infographic.city
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What do you think ?
Zenozenobee 7 years ago
Some people must have/had regrets about not noticing good investments (people have always more regrets about ignoring a way to make money than a good idea)... like publishers refusing J. K. Rowling manuscripts
Vlad Horobet 7 years ago
Me at the start of the BitCoin when 100 BTC were less than 10$....
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Brigitte Munsterman 7 years ago
They forgot every teacher up until 2000 "You're not going to have a calculator everywhere you go."
Hard 2 Guess 7 years ago
Oh wow ... so true. So significant yet looks so insignificant. Never thought I'd have multiple ways of getting math answer on my person when ever I am awake.
Load More Replies...
Parmeisan 7 years ago
What I have learned here is: Do not predict that something WON'T happen - especially that something won't ever be useful. The lesson from history is that any new technology is very likely to be improved upon until it is practical, even if it didn't start out that way.
JustABobcat 7 years ago
Agreed. Also, doesn't Murphy's Law say something like "Whatever can happen, will."?
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PBMc 7 years ago
It's easy to read these examples and chuckle at them as they are so mainstream these days, we can't imagine life without them. Imagine what it took to make the light bulb practical. Power plants needed to be built, power lines strung all across the landscape, buildings wired for electricity. New technologies needed to be created and businesses built in order for a small glass globe and a piece of filament to be practical. When you think about all that, it's easy to see why some had their doubts. The time, effort and money involved could seem insurmountable. On the other hand, how many inventions had their potential oversold? The Segway was going to change society. We were going to have to redesign cities to accommodate all of them. Google Glass was going to change the way humans interact with technology. You never know what the public is going to embrace or ignore. I bought an eggtastic for a $1 at Dollar Tree and I'm surprised that there isn't one of these in every home.
CbusResident 7 years ago
Interesting points. One overarching take away though is that we shouldn't assume the current paradigms of society are permanent, or that current tech limitations will never be overcome. Cars took over from horses in part b/c their quality on speed, smoothness and reliability improved a ton over their first few decades. If a proposed new technology like reusable rockets or solar shingles can just keep being improved then the claim that it will become significant seems more plausible. On the other hand there are some changes people don't want; when it just felt too weird or dystopian for people to walk around in Google Glasses, no amount of tech improvements to it or marketing could change that.
Load More Replies... CbusResident 7 years ago
Also, the then Director of the US Patent office, some time in the 1890s said (at one of the world's fairs I think): 'There will be no more significant inventions.' At the same event the US Postmaster General, when asked if mail carriers would ever get cars, said: 'Your mail will always be delivered by a horse and buggy.' And in 1995 some guy wrote a long article for Wired explaining how 'the internet probably wouldn't grow much more in popularity.'
Hans 7 years ago
If history tells you one thing, than it is that technological progress cannot be stopped, and neglecting it is folly. But then, if the next newspaper mentioned billions spent on space flights, people lurk out from everywhere asking "Where will this help me now?". Well, folly.
Rebekah 7 years ago
I shall now be inserting "folly" into my daily language.
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ge pa 7 years ago
for their time they were not wrong.But science is advancing with great steps.Εven today some issues which we consider to be certain continue to change
Jeremy Carlson 4 years ago
Well, considering these were predictions, of course they couldn't be proven right or wrong at that time. Pointless observation.
Load More Replies...
Notsoswift 7 years ago
"The guitar's all right John, but you'll never make a living out of it". - Aunt Mimi to John Lennon
Zenozenobee 7 years ago
Some people must have/had regrets about not noticing good investments (people have always more regrets about ignoring a way to make money than a good idea)... like publishers refusing J. K. Rowling manuscripts
Vlad Horobet 7 years ago
Me at the start of the BitCoin when 100 BTC were less than 10$....
Load More Replies... Brigitte Munsterman 7 years ago
They forgot every teacher up until 2000 "You're not going to have a calculator everywhere you go."
Hard 2 Guess 7 years ago
Oh wow ... so true. So significant yet looks so insignificant. Never thought I'd have multiple ways of getting math answer on my person when ever I am awake.
Load More Replies... Parmeisan 7 years ago
What I have learned here is: Do not predict that something WON'T happen - especially that something won't ever be useful. The lesson from history is that any new technology is very likely to be improved upon until it is practical, even if it didn't start out that way.
JustABobcat 7 years ago
Agreed. Also, doesn't Murphy's Law say something like "Whatever can happen, will."?
Load More Replies... PBMc 7 years ago
It's easy to read these examples and chuckle at them as they are so mainstream these days, we can't imagine life without them. Imagine what it took to make the light bulb practical. Power plants needed to be built, power lines strung all across the landscape, buildings wired for electricity. New technologies needed to be created and businesses built in order for a small glass globe and a piece of filament to be practical. When you think about all that, it's easy to see why some had their doubts. The time, effort and money involved could seem insurmountable. On the other hand, how many inventions had their potential oversold? The Segway was going to change society. We were going to have to redesign cities to accommodate all of them. Google Glass was going to change the way humans interact with technology. You never know what the public is going to embrace or ignore. I bought an eggtastic for a $1 at Dollar Tree and I'm surprised that there isn't one of these in every home.
CbusResident 7 years ago
Interesting points. One overarching take away though is that we shouldn't assume the current paradigms of society are permanent, or that current tech limitations will never be overcome. Cars took over from horses in part b/c their quality on speed, smoothness and reliability improved a ton over their first few decades. If a proposed new technology like reusable rockets or solar shingles can just keep being improved then the claim that it will become significant seems more plausible. On the other hand there are some changes people don't want; when it just felt too weird or dystopian for people to walk around in Google Glasses, no amount of tech improvements to it or marketing could change that.
Load More Replies... CbusResident 7 years ago
Also, the then Director of the US Patent office, some time in the 1890s said (at one of the world's fairs I think): 'There will be no more significant inventions.' At the same event the US Postmaster General, when asked if mail carriers would ever get cars, said: 'Your mail will always be delivered by a horse and buggy.' And in 1995 some guy wrote a long article for Wired explaining how 'the internet probably wouldn't grow much more in popularity.'
Hans 7 years ago
If history tells you one thing, than it is that technological progress cannot be stopped, and neglecting it is folly. But then, if the next newspaper mentioned billions spent on space flights, people lurk out from everywhere asking "Where will this help me now?". Well, folly.
Rebekah 7 years ago
I shall now be inserting "folly" into my daily language.
Load More Replies... ge pa 7 years ago
for their time they were not wrong.But science is advancing with great steps.Εven today some issues which we consider to be certain continue to change
Jeremy Carlson 4 years ago
Well, considering these were predictions, of course they couldn't be proven right or wrong at that time. Pointless observation.
Load More Replies... Notsoswift 7 years ago
"The guitar's all right John, but you'll never make a living out of it". - Aunt Mimi to John Lennon
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