From the bits blog at the New York Times, a list of technology famous quotes which may or may not have been said. Two of which I believe I’ve used before (doh!):
“640K ought to be enough for anybody.” This quotation is attributed to Bill Gates, but Mr. Shapiro suspects that it is apocryphal, and is seeking the person who either said it or first attributed it to Mr. Gates.
…
“I think there is a world market for about five computers.” This is a attributed to Thomas J. Watson, Jr., but Mr. Shapiro suspects it of being apocryphal and is seeking the person who either said it or first attributed it to Mr. Watson.
It wouldn’t surprise me if the “5 computers” remark was traced back to Rear Adm. Grace Hopper. She had a lot of animosity towards Thomas Watson. (By the way, I believe it is Watson Sr. who is credited with that remark as Jr. was the one who pushed for computer development in the face of his father’s opposition.)
From what I heard (anecdotal) someone at IBM made the comment.
Hmm it seems I lost 1/2 the comment.
That was about the “640 Kb is enough for everyone”-quote
Wasn’t the 640k comment due to Bill Gates? Now I’m confused. What were we talking about again? Oh, right, that quote about *real* computers. OK, nevermind. I think I need to give up and go home now.
Real programmers don’t need more than 640K. 😉