You remember when your neighbor was the first person in town to get cable TV? To be sure, the neighbor received clear pictures and received five more channels than you did! Who would be dumb enough to PAY for the privilege of watching a television channel when the other channels are all free? All you need is rabbit ears. The neighbor pays HOW MUCH for those extra channels? I'll never do that!
Everyone knows that television will always be broadcast on the airwaves while telephones will always connect via wires.
Some years later, many of us decided that Ted Turner must be nuts when he announced a new television channel would broadcast nothing but news twenty-four hours a day. No sit-coms? No game shows? He'll go bankrupt within a year!
Then there was a rumor of still another TV channel that would only broadcast music videos twenty-four hours a day. Naw. That can't be. NOBODY would watch that!
Computers? I agree with Ken Olsen of Digital Equipment Company (DEC) who stated in 1977 that "There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home."
I was showing my wireless Internet connection yesterday to a person at a genealogy conference in San Luis Obispo. Unlike the normal "Wi-Fi" connections, I use a long-range wireless connection that communicates with most any cell phone tower within a few miles. I get high speed wireless connectivity most anyplace, even while riding on a commuter train.
I mentioned that I pay $60 a month for the connection and receive unlimited usage. The person I was talking to exclaimed, "That's outrageous! I bet that very few people will ever pay for a wireless connection. The cell phone companies will never have many customers for that service!"
