When Theodore Maiman first demonstrated the LASER in 1960 he was laughed at. Nobody could imagine any possible use for such a device. Hmmm... Of course, Tannenbaum is also partly responsible for the creation of Linux. Torvalds would regularly engage in heated debate regarding Minix's non-monolithic architecture.

Uuuugh, so true. Worse still, about 60% or more of those newbie questions remain unanswered years after they were asked!