Fortunately for anyone working today in telecommunications, advice back in the 19th century was largely ignored. “The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not,” declared William Preece, chief engineer of the British Post office, in 1876. “We have plenty of messenger boys.”
Variations of famously wrong forecasts litter history – “the horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty” (advice to Henry Ford from the president of Michigan Savings Bank, 1903) through to the confident predictions that television – and later the internet – will never catch on, vacuum cleaners will be nuclear powered, post delivered by guided missiles, helicopters will replace cars... and so on.
So, pity those charged with advising today’s teenagers about tomorrow’s careers, when we don’t even know what they will look like.
It’s a big ask for teachers to remain up to speed with changing technology and careers while still doing their day job. As London secondary...