Want to know what I am asked most often? "Why (in-the-world) did you move to Sequim from Hawaii?" As in, "What were you thinking?" Well, besides wanting to live closer to my grown children, here's one compelling reason: This morning's magnificent sunrise was captured by friend and local photographer John Gussman. In days to come, I'll share more compelling reasons for my move!
Do you have an idea for writing a story but fear the inevitable rejection that comes along with writing? Here are 24 terrific reasons you should take a risk on your idea and ignore the nay-sayers. Prove the skeptics wrong!
“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” ~ Thomas Watson (1874-1956), Chairman of IBM, 1943 “We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.” ~ Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962 “The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?” ~ David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” ~ Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899 “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 “We still feel that color is hard on the eyes for so long a picture.” ~ Frank S. Nugent of the New York Times Film Review in its original 1939 review of Gone with the Wind “There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” ~ Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977 “The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C', the idea must be feasible.” ~ A Yale University management professor in response to student Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.) “Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?” ~ H. M. Warner (1881-1958), founder of Warner Brothers, in 1927 “640K ought to be enough for anybody.” ~ Bill Gates, 1981 “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.” ~ Editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957 “But what ... is it good for?” ~ Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip “A cookie store is a bad idea. Besides, the market research reports say America likes crispy cookies, not soft and chewy cookies like you make.” ~ Response to Debbi Fields' idea of starting Mrs. Fields' Cookies “If I had thought about it, I wouldn't have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can't do this.” ~ Spencer Silver on the work that led to the unique adhesives for 3-M “Post-It” Notepads “So we went to Atari and said, 'Hey, we've got this amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or we'll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we'll come work for you.' And they said, 'No.' So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said, 'Hey, we don't need you. You haven't got through college yet.'“ ~ Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, on pitching the personal computer to Atari and HP “You want to have consistent and uniform muscle development across all of your muscles? It can't be done. It's just a fact of life. You just have to accept inconsistent muscle development as an unalterable condition of weight training.” ~ Response to Arthur Jones, who solved the “unsolvable” problem by inventing Nautilus “Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You're crazy.” ~ Drillers who Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill for oil in 1859 “Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau.” ~ Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, 1929 “Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous fiction.” ~ Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872 “The abdomen, the chest, and the brain will forever be shut from the intrusion of the wise and humane surgeon.” ~ Sir John Eric Ericksen, British surgeon “Dear Mr. President: The canal system of this country is being threatened by a new form of transportation known as ‘railroads.’ ... As you may well know, Mr. President, ‘railroad’ carriages are pulled at the enormous speed of 15 miles per hour by ‘engines’ which, in addition to endangering life and limb of passengers, roar and snort their way through the countryside, setting fire to crops, scaring the livestock and frightening women and children. The Almighty certainly never intended that people should travel at such breakneck speed.” ~ Martin Van Buren, Governor of New York “I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face and not Gary Cooper.” ~ Gary Cooper on his decision not to take the leading role in Gone with the Wind “Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.” ~ Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895 “Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons.” ~ Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949 |
AuthorBonnie, a nature lover, is the author of twenty-eight heart-to-heart gift books full of animal and nature images, plus one inspiring book on interfaith understanding. Archives
June 2021
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