With hindsite on our side, it is easy to quote a prediction that doesn't make the speaker look too bright. For example:
"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons."- Popular Mechanics, 1949
"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943
I happened to trip upon a quote today that made speaker look pretty visionary. And that visionary man is Rudolf Diesel. I had always thought that Diesel died when one of his diesel motors exploded, but two sources say that nobody knows for sure.
Here's the quote:
"The use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may seem insignificant today, but such oils may become in the course of time as important as petroleum and the coal tar products of the present time." - Rudolf Diesel, Patent application, 1912
Thursday, August 10, 2006
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