Robert Metcalfe, founder of 3Com, 1995

In addition to being a legendary tech visionary and the man widely credited with having , Bob Metcalfe was also . And it was in that column that Metcalfe made what must have been the most regrettable comment of his career; indeed, he even promised to eat his words if his augury turned out to be wrong.

To his credit, Metcalfe made good on that promise in 1999 during his keynote speech at the International World Wide Web Conference, where he blended up a copy of his printed column with some liquid and drank it down before a crowd of onlookers.

Foolish Tech Predition 6

"Apple is already dead."