'I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.' – Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943
 
"This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." – Western Union, internal memo, 1876
 
"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" – Harry Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927
 
 
"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on its way out." – Decca Recording Company, rejecting The Beatles, 1962
 
"Heavier than air flying machines are impossible." – Lord Kelvin, President, Royal Society, 1895
 
"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." – Ken Olson, President, Chairman and Founder of Digital Equipment Corporation, 1977
 
"Everything that can be invented has been invented." – Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Patent Office, 1899
 
"Airplanes are interesting toys, but are of no military value." – Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre
 
"Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try to find oil? You're crazy." – Drillers who Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill for oil in 1859
 

"640k ought to be enough for anybody." – Bill Gates, Co–Founder and CEO of Microsoft, 1981

These quotes should make it amply clear that human beings, howsoever smart, are poor crystal ball gazers. 

This is particularly so if you are dreaming of a career for your child. Many of the careers that appear great today may become irrelevant in the future.

Consider, for example, the career of a chartered accountant. In about 10-20 years, vastly superior computer-based systems may be able to crunch numbers and easily point out contradictions, prepare online statements for regulators, etc. making the work of a chartered accountant, as we know it now, largely irrelevant.

At the same time, more exciting opportunities may arise to serve the evolving needs of society.

Here is a look at 7 careers your child might have in a decade's time:

Health Informatics Professional: Health Informatics is the intersection of information science, computer science and health care. Health Informatics Professional deals with computers, clinical guidelines, formal medical terminologies, and information and communication systems.

It has fantastic future. Hospitals, insurers, corporate HR managers and other participants in healthcare are all switching to electronic medical records. Doctors will be compelled to move towards evidence-based medicine, using computerized systems to guide their diagnoses and treatment recommendations. More and more healthcare data will be collected to evaluate and enhance quality of care.

A health informatics professional will speak with physicians, nurses, and others to identify their needs and develop a plan for implementation. Hospitals, doctors, corporations and government would seek their help and services.

Special Educator: As more people become aware of perceived disabilities of children and youth because their brains are wired in a different way, the demand for Special Educators will rise steeply. The key factors contributing to this demand will be: willingness among parents to seek solutions for their children's learning problems, large scale migration of rural people to cities and anxiety in nuclear families to ensure their children's future despite disabilities.

Special educators will be in demand to teach life skills to even people with mild to moderate disabilities, using or modifying the general education curriculum to meet the child's individual needs. A special educator is unlikely to be out of demand or job in the future.

Wellness Coach: A Wellness Coach is more than a mere Fitness Trainer. More people are leading increasingly stressful lives in urban agglomerations. They want support in their efforts to eat less, stop smoking or drinking and of course, reduce stress. Wellness Coaches are already catering to these needs, mostly at the level of individuals.

The scope for Wellness Coaches will increase exponentially when corporations, residential communities, hospitals and governments seek their services.

Water Economist: Over 70% of the surface of earth may be just water, lending the characteristic blue colour to planet earth, but usable water is becoming a scarcer commodity across continents. Experts predicts that nations could even go to war in this century over disputes on water rights. Water disputes rage among countries, states, provinces, urban communities and farmers.

Pricing water, assessing government programmes on water management and conservation, working out the impact of land use on water tables below and suggesting policy changes, waste water management plans, feasibility studies on linking rivers, suggesting solutions for urban water management problems, etc are going to be increasingly important. An economist, who specializes in water is going to be in much demand.

Simulation Developer: The Internet and broadband have shrunk the world and made communications faster. This has made it possible to have simulation games and strategies for participants across continents. Governments, for example, will use simulations to predict terrorist strategies. Scientists already use them to predict how synthesized molecules will work. Surgeons use them to learn new techniques without endangering patients. Even schools are moving from the instructor who tries hard to keep students awake to immersive simulations of critical real-world situations.

In business schools, teams of managers are given a virtual company and presented with a series of challenges requiring effective management skills. The key to a successful career in simulation is mathematical modeling skill as well as sophisticated computer programming.

Geneticist: We may or may not have human clones when your child has grown up. But we will have very high capability to tinker with a person's genetic make-up to deal with problems. Behavioural genetics is likely to take off in a major way and might offer cure for anything from depression, alcoholism, low intelligence to propensity for violence—all are known to have a genetic component. Gene therapy is a nascent yet promising field. Researchers who specialize in developing and implementing ethical gene-related therapies should be in growing demand.

Market Researcher / Data Miner: If your child is going to enjoy data mining, using statistics to unearth patterns in data, using increasingly more powerful software, then stop worrying about her future. Businesses will want to know answers to issues like: What products should be pitched to customers and at what price? Which times of the year and for which markets in the world should distribution be aligned? How much will a customer be willing to spend on a new gadget?

Governments will want to know answers to issues like what programmes will keep them in power. Given the overload of information, someone who can make sense of it through Market Research and Data Mining will be in very high demand.

These are only a few of the careers that lie ahead of the curve in the future. There are several more. One way to go about it is to think of your own future and figure out what kind of services you will need yourself in say, 20 years from now.