Ken Olsen Quotes

I can’t see any reason that anyone would want a computer of his own,” DEC president Ken Olsen declared at a May 1974 meeting

I can’t see any reason that anyone would want a computer of his own,” DEC president Ken Olsen declared at a May 1974 meeting where his operations committee was debating whether to create a smaller version of its PDP-8 for personal consumers.

Kurzweil cites numerous quotations from prominent people in history who completely underestimated the progress and impact of technology. Here are a few examples. IBM’s chairman, Thomas J. Watson, in 1943: ‘I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.’ Digital Equipment Corporation’s co-founder Ken Olsen in 1977: ‘There’s no reason for individuals to have a computer in their home.’ Bill Gates in 1981: ‘640,000 bytes of memory ought to be enough for anybody.

The top forty or so DEC executives were flown up to Heald Pond, Ken Olsen’s hideaway in Maine,

Or how about the following three business examples of other historical assumed constraints: 1. “There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” This was said by Ken Olsen, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corporation, in 1977. 2. “Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons.” This was quoted by Popular Mechanics magazine forecasting the relentless march of science in 1949. 3. “The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a ‘C,’ the idea must be feasible.” This was said by a Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith’s paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. Smith then went on to found FedEx. If you’d like to read more examples of assumed constraints, look in Appendix A, which lists other historical quotes.