The Most Incorrect Assumptions In Computing?

Miss Muis writes "After reading once again that Moore's Law will become obsolete, I amused myself thinking back to all the predictions, absolutes and impossibles in computing that have been surpassed with ease. In the late 80s I remember it being a well regarded popular 'fact' that 100MHz was the absolute limit for the speed of a CPU. Not too many years later I remember much discussion about hard drives for personal computers being physically unable to go much higher than 1GB. Let's not forget "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers" from the chairman of IBM in 1943, and of course 'Apple is dying...' (for the past 25 years). What are your favorite beliefs-turned-on-their-heads in the history of computing?"

Comments

Re:Picking up chicks

[Anonymous Coward]

That's because your dual 2.0 ghz g5 will only help you pick up a certain type of guy.

Negative proofs

[arth1]

It's a known fact that Bill Gates never actually said this, or at best, that it is rephrased severely and taken out of context.

Much like it was impossible for Hussein to prove he didn't have ABC weapon programs anymore, it's impossible for Gates to prove that he didn't say it. Thus the myths prevail.

Regards,
--
*Art

Re:Thankfully, your link debunks it too.

[Wakko Warner]

You're welcome. I figured some fucking retard would bite at that one.

- A.P.

Not only did he say it,

[twitter]

but he tried to keep it that way as long as he could.. Nothing much has changed. When the 386 came out, M$ hobbled it with horid limitations. Microsoft systems today still suffer under many of the limits imposed by 16 bit DOS as well as Intel's 10 year old 386. Free software, meanwhile, has adopted best practices from Unix and is ported to all modern platforms. The facts are much worse than the verbal slip up.

Re:I Invented...

[mrlpz]

yeah...like Salon is the bastion of informative reporting. Get real.

Re:Al Gore

[valdis]

So what you're saying is that since we sent like 50,000 troops to Afghanistan and Iraq, one person's effort was miniscule there as well.

So even if George W Bush wasn't President, we'd have invaded anyhow.

Gotcha.

Re:Dot-Com bubble

[easter1916]

You're either *very* young or very stupid. Of course we remember the bubble, you twit.

Re:What about my massive 10mb?

[Anonymous Coward]

AFAIK no 10 millibit harddrives have ever been made.

Maybe you meant 10MB (megabyte)?

Re:Steve Jobs on networking

[idsofmarch]

What the hell are you talking about? I don't even understand your sentence, are you trying to say you can't network a mac unless you plug in an external device? Show me such an item, or maybe you'd realize that macs have used Appletalk since their very beginning and even pre-Internet could be connected together by a grade-school kid. Now, each Mac offers Ethernet, 802.11b/g, Bluetooth, Firewire, USB. So, again what exactly are you trying to say.

And The World Is Truly A Better Place...

[EventHorizon]

"Mouse has moving. Humbly please clicking here to make honorfully rebooted"

Whew, good thing that future didn't happen!

Re:Storage Space

[freeze128]

Incoming message from APPLEDRAGON: --> D00d! go to XTALK!! I have some warez that will fill up your hard drive!!!!

Re:Home Computer

[Anonymous Coward]

"There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home." -- Kenneth Olson, 1977, founder of Digital

Know what? He was right. He did not say that there never would be a reason. He said there is no reason. Things were different then. So he was not incorrect. And "640K ought to be enough for anyone" was a correct statement. Software was different back then and, indeed, 640K was overkill for most everyone.