A world with five computers

There are three things one should never trust in technology – obsolete hardware, pirated software and predictions.

AD: What's that you're staring at?

BC: It's a Mayan calendar.

AD: Why, aren’t there enough dates in the Gregorian calendar?

BC: No, I was just trying to figure out when the world was coming to an end...

AD: What?

BC: Didn’t the Mayans predict that the world would end in 2012?

AD: Listen, the end of the world has been predicted many times over... only, it's yet to happen.

BC: Aren't you glad?

AD: No, I don't believe in them... Would you believe me if I told you that starting 2012, computers will never suffer from virus attacks?

BC: That's wishful thinking...

AD: What would you say to a person who, in 2004, said that the problem of spam would be solved in two years?

BC: He has no clue about technology.

AD: What about the person who is reported to have said that there was a world market for only five computers?

BC: Absurd!

AD: You've just called Bill Gates clueless and Thomas Watson, ex-Chairman of IBM, absurd.

BC: Wait, I didn't call them anything. I just reacted to what they said!

AD: And how would you react to someone telling you that iPhones will never get impressive numbers in the market?

BC: Well, he's got the wrong number, for sure...

AD: You’ve just hung up on Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft.

BC: The press must have had a ball about IT bosses going famously wrong...

AD: Don't know about that, but way back in 1966, the press did get it wrong about online shopping - a magazine had famously predicted that 'remote shopping' would never be a hit.

BC: Must have been a magazine that wasn't in with the times.

AD: It was TIME magazine – are you calling them outdated?

BC: No, I was...

AD: Speaking of online shopping, in 1999, a famous personality doubted if Amazon could ever make substantial profits by selling books online.

BC: Must have been someone who never bought books.

AD: If he never bought books, it was probably because he was too busy writing them... It was Thomas Friedman, a much-published author and journalist.

BC: Isn’t it ironical that even buying an old-fashioned book requires a computer and an internet connection at home?

AD: And what if a technology leader states that no one would want a computer in their home?

BC: You mean someone other that Thomas Watson said that?

AD: Looks like there were quite a few people who were as sceptical about technology as you are.

BC: Look, don't start this all over again...

AD: I didn't, Ken Olsen, founder of Digital Equipment Corp did. But this was back in the 70s when home computers weren't around...

BC: So how were they to know…

AD: Absolutely! Three years ago, if someone had predicted that over 400 million people would log in to a particular site and post over 250 million photos day after day, would you have believed them?

BC: 400 million users... It has to be Facebook! I've seen a graphic which says that the site gets almost 700,000 status updates each minute.

AD: Accept it, technology is impossible to predict.

BC: No way, I can make two accurate predictions, both involving technology...

AD: I'm waiting...

BC: One, I will forever be trying to convince you about our overdependence on technology. And two, you will continue to disagree with me.

AD: Cherish this moment, because... I agree!