Supposedly a true story.

Seymour Cray -- chief designer of the Control Data Corporation CDC 6600 and most related computers of that family -- had for years resisted adding error-detecting parity bits to data values on his computers, saying "Parity is for farmers".

Later he changed his mind, adding SECDED bits (single error correction, double error detection) to memory words in the newer machines. When asked about this change, he quipped that "More farmers have computers now".

Now farmers -- like nearly everyone else -- have computers.