'All these young people feel nothing is ever happening so of course they're going to get frustrated. Related These 7 inventions were supposed to change the world.On climate activists such as XR, Insulate Britain and Greta Thunberg Morton's pronouncement shows just how hard it is to predict the future. In his case, he didn't doubt that Edison's lightbulb was useful. His main objection was that there was no way to carry electricity long distances and get light bulbs in every home ( even Edison couldn't figure that out on his own. ) Forecasting the fate of a new invention often means forecasting broad social and technological changes - and that's incredibly hard. With that in mind, here's a look at seven other important inventions - from the bicycle to nail polish to the answering machine - that had their doubters early on. There's a lot to learn from wrong predictions: 1) Bicycles: "The popularity of the wheel is doomed"Ĭritical mass, 1890s-style. Today, we think of bikes as a major source of transportation, but they started out as a trendy fashion statement. That's why some critics were skeptical that they'd stick around (spoiler: they did).īikes had a rapid rise: on August 20, 1890, the Washington Post called bicycling a hot fad for fancy ladies and not just for the "bleached-haired, music-hall type" anymore (read: hipsters). The craze was driven by improved technology, as big-wheeled bikes became closer to the ones we use today. The bicycle's growth was so rapid that on February 29, 1896, the Washington Post called bicycling the national sport.īut then the fad faded. On December 31, 1906, the New York Sun rendered its verdict: "As a fad cycling is dead, and few individuals now ride for all the good they claim to see in the pastime when it was fashion." On August 17, 1902, the Post called bicycling a passing fancy, and experts declared "the popularity of the wheel is doomed." Critics thought bikes were unsafe, impossible to improve, and ultimately impractical for everyday use. Over the years, bikes acquired better tires, and sturdier frame. That made bicycles an increasingly practical option - and not just a passing fad. (New York Historical Society/ Getty Images) 2) Automobiles: "The prices will never be sufficiently low"Īn early automobile racer. In 1902, the New York Times called the automobile impractical - and they had a few good reasons why. In the wake of the bike fad of the 1890s, reporters and analysts were wary of the "next big thing" in transportation. As one critic put it:Īutomobiling is following the history of cycling with such remarkable closeness in almost every detail, both as a sport and an industry, that the question is often asked if the present period of expansion will be followed by a collapse as complete and as disastrous as was that of the cycling boom of a few short years ago. The Times complained that the price of cars "will never be sufficiently low to make them as widely popular as were bicycles." It didn't help that some of the early proposals for an auto-centric transportation system were outlandish. In 1902, The Steel Roads Committee of the Automobile Club of America was angling for a steel highway system. Bizarre proposals like that made it harder to believe the car would ever make it big.īut it did. 3) Liquid nail polish was a "strange and unique fad" Once Henry Ford perfected the mass production of automobiles, the price came down and cars took off, eventually becoming the dominant form of transportation. In 1917, Cutex invented the closest thing to modern mass-market liquid nail polish. But it took a while for nail polish to hit the mainstream. In 1927, the New York Times reported on it as a "London fad," and the year before, writer Viola Paris took to the pages of Vogue to assess the new invention. "Dame fashion, whimsical and wayward as the wind," the paper snarked, "has so many strange and unique fads that her latest vagary, that of tinting the fingernails.has become quite popular." "There seems to be some doubt," she wrote, "in the minds of a great many women as to whether nail polish is in any way harmful or, at least, not so good for the nails as the powder or paste polish."Īs late as March 31, 1932, the Atlanta Daily World questioned how long colored fingernails could possibly stick around. Ultimately, nail polish wasn't just a passing fancy. 4) Talkies: "Talking doesn't belong in pictures" Better manufacturing processes, a new age of mass marketing, and clear advantages over powders and pastes helped it stick around. Joseph Schenck, pondering the future, silently.
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