ToldUVaultSome predictions age like fine wine. Others? Well… not so much. From industry experts to billionaires, history is full of people who confidently predicted the future—and got it hilariously wrong.
🚀 Tech Predictions That Flopped
1️⃣ "The internet will catastrophically collapse by 1996." – Robert Metcalfe, inventor of Ethernet (1995)
Metcalfe was so confident in this prediction that he said he would eat his words if he was wrong. Spoiler: He was wrong. The internet did not collapse, and in 1997, he literally blended a printed copy of his article into a drink and drank it. 😆
2️⃣ "There’s no chance the iPhone will get significant market share." – Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO (2007)
Ballmer famously laughed at the first iPhone, saying it was too expensive and had no keyboard, so it had no chance of succeeding. Fast forward to today, and Apple’s iPhone business alone is worth more than Microsoft’s entire company. Oops. 😬
3️⃣ "Spam will be gone within two years." – Bill Gates (2004)
Bill Gates thought spam emails would be a thing of the past by 2006. Instead, we got even more of them—just in different forms. Ever checked your Twitter DMs? 😅
⚽ Sports Predictions That Didn’t Age Well
4️⃣ "LeBron James will be a bust." – Skip Bayless (2003)
When LeBron James entered the NBA straight out of high school, some critics weren’t convinced. Fast forward 20 years—LeBron is a four-time NBA champion and the league’s all-time leading scorer.
Bayless is still making bad predictions to this day. 🏀
5️⃣ "Tiger Woods will never win another major." – Golf Analysts (2014-2018)
After injuries and personal struggles, many experts counted Tiger Woods out. Then, in 2019, he pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in sports history by winning The Masters. Lesson: Never count out a legend.
📉 Business & Finance Fails
6️⃣ "Netflix is a joke, and they should sell to Blockbuster." – Blockbuster Executives (2000)
Netflix once offered to sell their company to Blockbuster for $50 million. Blockbuster laughed them out of the room. Today, Blockbuster is dead. Netflix? Worth over $200 billion.
7️⃣ "Bitcoin is dead." – Countless Finance Experts (2010 - Present)
Bitcoin has been declared "dead" more than 470 times by various financial analysts. Yet, it keeps coming back stronger. Lesson: The future doesn’t always follow conventional wisdom.
🔮 Want to Avoid This List? Track Your Predictions!
The best way to make sure your predictions don’t end up in a blog like this is to track them properly. That’s exactly what Told U Vault is for!
✅ Save your predictions with timestamps
✅ Track your accuracy over time
✅ Share your boldest calls (and flex when you’re right!)
Don’t let your insights get lost—save them now! 👇
👉 Start Tracking Predictions
👉 Global I told U So feed - Find any predictions like above?