The knitting machine was denied a patent by the Queen of England because the invention was too good, and she was worried it would put the entire class of knitting women out of work. "Thou aimest high, Master Lee. Consider thou what the invention could do to my poor subjects. It would assuredly bring to them ruin by depriving them of employment, thus making them beggars." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lee_(inventor)