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By editorial@silicon.com, 20 June 2001 16:30

COMMENT Thank you Michael Dell. Today the head of the eponymous PC maker put a large stake in the ground with '40 per cent of the PC market shall be mine' written in bold, brassy letters. That's the man's aim, he's gone public with it and like all good journalists we at silicon.com can't wait until he fails so we can dredge up this quote and leave him suitably embarrassed. Except - like most other journalists - having made a mental note of it and filed in that part of the brain marked 'words that will come back to haunt them' we'll promptly forget all about it. In fact in a world of egos and outlandish claims the only really embarrassing prediction anyone can remember is the one from the IBM exec who said there would only ever be a market for half a dozen computers in the world. With this in mind we've been racking our brains and overloading the silicon.com search engine and managed to dig up some gems from the distant, and not so distant, past. So here then is our 'Top 5 Things they wish they'd never said': In reverse order: 5. Larry Ellison, CEO, Oracle
"Internally, the code name for 9i is 'the last database'." (for the full story click here, http://www.silicon.com/a45087)
The 'last database'? Can't wait for Oracle 10i, then... 4. Craig Barrett, CEO, Intel
"Everybody will be an internet company - or you won't be a company." (for the full story click here, http://www.silicon.com/a31090)
Back in those long forgotten days - June 1999 to be precise - when people really did want to bask in the reflected glow of the internet... 3. Jeff Bezos, CEO, Amazon
"I think there's a 70 per cent chance you're going to lose all your money, so don't invest unless you can afford to lose it." (for the full story click here, http://www.silicon.com/a43210)
Unlike his peers it's Bezos' honesty that proves his undoing, this time 'recommending' his own stock... 2. Scott McNealy, CEO, Sun
"Linux is Unix, and Sun is the biggest and best Unix company. We'll be number one in Linux by a long shot." (for the full story click here, http://www.silicon.com/a40546)
Did someone say bandwagon? 1. Bill Gates, chief software architect, Microsoft
"As our witnesses come forward, you will see that the facts simply don't support the government's claims. Now they're bringing up various competitors to make allegations against us, which are simply wrong." (for the full story click here, http://www.silicon.com/a26379)
Gates predicts a quick and satisfactory resolution to the anti-trust case back in... November 1998... So that's our list. The definitive list, unless you know different...