

Newsweek in 1995: Why the Internet will Fail - sida
http://thenextweb.com/shareables/2010/02/27/newsweek-1995-buy-books-newspapers-straight-intenet-uh/#!qjm0k

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bsirkia
The author, Clifford Stoll, owns up to it in 2010:

Of my many mistakes, flubs, and howlers, few have been as public as my 1995
howler.

Wrong? Yep.

At the time, I was trying to speak against the tide of futuristic commentary
on how The Internet Will Solve Our Problems.

Gives me pause. Most of my screwups have had limited publicity: Forgetting my
lines in my 4th grade play. Misidentifying a Gilbert and Sullivan song while
suddenly drafted to fill in as announcer on a classical radio station. Wasting
a week hunting for planets interior to Mercury’s orbit using an infrared
system with a noise level so high that it couldn’t possibly detect ‘em. Heck –
trying to dry my sneakers in a microwave oven (a quarter century later,
there’s still a smudge on the kitchen ceiling)

And, as I’ve laughed at others’ foibles, I think back to some of my own
cringeworthy contributions.

Now, whenever I think I know what’s happening, I temper my thoughts: Might be
wrong, Cliff…

Warm cheers to all, -Cliff Stoll on a rainy Friday afternoon in Oakland

[http://boingboing.net/2010/02/26/curmudgeony-essay-
on.html#c...](http://boingboing.net/2010/02/26/curmudgeony-essay-
on.html#comment-723356)

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melling
Here's Cliff Edwards telling us in 2001 that Apple Stores will fail.

[http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2001-05-20/commentary-
so...](http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2001-05-20/commentary-sorry-steve-
heres-why-apple-stores-wont-work)

We should create one list with all these predictions.

~~~
sida
what is with these cliffs haha

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philliescurt
His commentary is very reminiscent of a lot of the Bitcoin doubters right now,
short-sighted and ignoring the possibilities for innovation and improvement
upon the current framework.

