Somebody said that it couldn't be done,
But He, with a wink, replied:
"My coffee is stronger than yours, my son,
And my chips - they are not even fried.
I have it all here, on some boards in this room,
All fastened together with wires,
So if somebody says that it cannot be done,
Be assured, they are quite likely liars."

But, Somebody said that it couldn't be done,
So He, with a wink, restated:
"If it cannot be done, then what is this, son?
Regard... and production is slated
To commence fairly soon. It is here in this room,
All fastened together with wires.
So, if anyone says that it cannot be done,
Do not listen to those decriers."

Still, Somebody said that it couldn't be done,
And He, with a wink, indicated
That they knew not a lot, yea, barely a jot,
Of the thing that He had demonstrated.
It was there in the room, and not on the Moon,
And it worked, though 'twas not quite stable,
But the fault in it was not designer errors,
Just the wobbly legs of the table.

So, if somebody says that it cannot be done,
Ask them, "Have you even tried?
Do you know what it is that you say can't be done?
Or are you breathing Nitrous Oxide?"
Now, nobody says that it couldn't be done,
For the proof of it was undeniable.
It worked, as was seen by those in the room,
From breadboards standing on a table.

Of course, else I would have provided the necessary link to a source.

Thanks for the reply, Agafaster.

A piece of very ancient history. :-)

motorollin wrote:
Nice! But what was it he built? :-)

--
moto

The OCS prototype, by the sound of it. It was all stitched together on breadboards IIRC...

It's pretty amazing it worked at all :-)

@meega

So, is that what the poem is about then? The original OCS prototype?

It could have changed since you wrote it....