Week 4 - Top 5 Internet Quotes

Please find below the top 5 "failed" quotes that I found through my own research. Enjoy!

1. "0x2026Apple is already dead." --Nathan Myhrvold, former CTO of Microsoft

As this was the CTO of Microsoft, it is in their best interest to bring down their competitors, and at the time, Microsoft did not see this company as a threat to their business at all. However, given how fast technology changes, it should have been in his best interest not to have said this against an up-and-coming competitor.

2. "There's just not that many videos I want to watch." --Steve Chen, CTO and co-founder of YouTube

Chen was onto something when he said this, as he realized how much the Internet lacked in online video content for people. He was able to identify a need, and help build an entire business off this need that lacked in a giant entertainment medium.

3. "The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys." --Sir William Preece, chief engineer, British Post Office

The chief engineer did not realize how much time is valued by people, and that the telephone would create not only a quicker communication time for the messages, but would also help to cut down on costs for the company as they did not need to pay an entire workforce of messenger boys anymore.

4. "We are on a tear to be the undisputed winner in China." --Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay

Whitman, who was speaking to the stockholders of eBay, needed to sound confident in her plans for the company, and was trying to demonstrate how great eBay was going to do in this new market to help justify the investment that the shareholders were giving.

5. "Television won't be able to hold onto any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night." --Daryl Zanuck, film producer, co-founder of 20th Century Fox

Zanuck, as many of the others in this assignment, did not realize the value that customers put on time, and spending weeknights in a movie theater as opposed to the comfort of their own home was something that appealed to consumers when purchasing a TV.

Thanks,
Payal