Newsweek in 1995: Why the Internet will Fail

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...

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

http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2001-05-20/commentary-so...

We should create one list with all these predictions.

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.