What are some notable blunders in history that resulted in huge loss?
What are some notable blunders in history that resulted in huge loss?
Loss in terms of money or efforts. Could be recent or ancient.
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In terms of money and business, my fav is how Xerox didn't know how to market/capitalize on what was effectively the first personal computer before personal computers were even a concept, which is estimated to be a $1.4 trillion mistake.
This Xerox Alto restoration series is a really interesting reflection on that. Here's the point in the series where they finally get it running. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OQMhvArI9g
Yeah, Xerox made revolutionary progress. But it appears that their proximity to a viable consumer product is a bit exaggerated. It really did still take another set of eyes and minds to wrangle it in. I think if they did release it sooner, and without the leaks, the next competitor still would have seen that and soon come along and done a better enough job to nullify their first-mover advantage.
Those days were chock full of companies that ended up just contributing to the zeitgeist of computing without themselves reaping in the glory.
I think Steve Jobs' comments about what Xerox could have been... Is largely him stroking his ego that he and Apple pulled off what they couldn't.
I don't think Xerox would be the Mac of today in most timelines.
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https://piped.video/watch?v=9OQMhvArI9g
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Thanks for sharing, I remember this from a documentary on Steve Jobs.