Editor’s note: The story has been updated to correct a minor typo in the third paragraph.

Michael Saylor is regarded as one of the most influential advocates of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), and his firm MicroStrategy Inc. ( MSTR ) has evangelized the digital asset with its continued purchases.

The entrepreneur's ultra-bullish forecasts about the digital currency have been taken with a pinch of salt. But do you know he made similar bets on iPad and tablet computers when it wasn't even a thing?

What Happened: Exactly 12 years ago on this day, Saylor called iPad, developed by Apple Inc. ( AAPL ) , the "most underappreciated or underestimated new technology."

He famously said that iPad was the first device in history that completes directly with paper, and believed every literate person would "inevitably" end up with an iPad, or similar tablet computer. 

The MicroStrategy ( MSTR ) co-founder then predicted that there would be around 250-300 million tablets in the market by 2015. Well, the reality exceeded his expectations, as the number soared to 840 million by 2014, and 1.28 billion by 2021, according to data from Statista. 

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Why It Matters: Saylor's optimistic forecast on tablet PCs highlighted his long-sighted view on emerging technologies. 

He has expressed confidence that one Bitcoin would be worth more than a million in the near future, famously saying, "If Bitcoin's not going to zero, it's going to a million.”

His bullish sentiment has driven MicroStrategy's ( MSTR ) Bitcoin corporate reserve strategy, as a result of which the tech company is the world's largest owner of the digital currency, with holdings worth $13.41 billion at the time of writing. 

Price Action: At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $59,231.08, up 3.06% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro. Shares of MicroStrategy ( MSTR ) closed 0.89% higher at 1,301.77 during Tuesday's regular session. 

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