Predicting the future

The Government report on the rollout (or lack of it) of the national broadband network (NBN) today  has provoked a stream of twitter comment:
“Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.” Lord Kelvin, British mathematician & physicist Royal Society, 1895
“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” Ken Olson of DEC, maker of mainframe computers, arguing against PCs in 1977
“X-rays will prove to be a hoax.” — Lord Kelvin, President of the Royal Society, 1883
“Television won’t last. It’s a flash in the pan." Mary Somerville, pioneer of radio educational broadcasts, 1948.

Malcolm Turnbull, Australian Communications Minister