Today is the day Doc Brown sent Marty McFly Back to the Future.
I’m not sure how old you were when the 1989 cult classic, Back to the Future Part II first screened, when Marty McFly screeched into 2015 in a time travelling car on this exact date.
Eep! I was 31 and had just given birth to my first child. I didn’t have a cellphone, we had a huge old Amstrad computer with a floppy disk memory, and we had a clunky old TV that took up a lot of room in the corner of the lounge.
It’s hard to believe that some of the once outlandish inventions that the late 80’s movie played are now seen as the norm, such as video conferencing and facial recognition software, and with technology advancing at such a pace, it’s barely possible to know what amazing advancement might come next.
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5 Technological hits predicted by the movie
- Video glasses. With the introduction of Google Glass and Sony Glasstron in 2013, the two modern technologies outstripped the chunky-styled virtual reality glasses featured in Back to the Future Part II. Exciting TV addicts around the world, the devices have the ability to stream channels for a small screen TV experience.
- Flat screened TV’s. Wall mounted flat-screened TV’s were unheard of and seemed only a futuristic possibility in the late 80’s.
- Facial recognition software. Facial recognition was one of the most accurate predictions that the Back to the Future trilogy made. Today’s facial recognition software has a creepy resemblance to the way it was portrayed in the 1989 film.
- Finger print recognition. Finger print recognition is not unfamiliar in this day and age, with most of us unlocking our mobile phones with a single finger tap. New homes have begun to feature a finger print access system, similar to the one in the 80’s film, making our generation just that little bit lazier than it already is.
- Tablet computers. When Marty McFly meets Doc at the famous clock tower, he is holding what appears to be the prediction of tablet computers. Tablet computers are now popular across the globe, where 233 million tablets are predicted to be sold in 2015 alone.
5 Back to the Future predictions that missed
- Expandable pizza. Our scientists may have invented a 3D food printer but we’re still left staring at the oven for a torturous 10-20 minutes. Expandable pizza will still remain a part of our foodie dreams.
- Automatic dog walker. Dog walking is still a chore for pet lovers around the world, and sadly no automatic dog walking technology on the cards for the near future.
- Thumb print payment methods. Even though we can pay for items with our phones, wireless cash, and tap and go cards, thumb print payment methods are still left up to future generations to create.
- Mobile trash cans. Our walks to the bin will continue to be just as gruelling, the streets will not see robotic bins that move anytime soon.
- Dine and exercise. Luckily the prediction of restaurants seating customers on exercise bikes to eat is not a technological advancement we have made giant leaps towards.
New 2015 futuristic outlook on the next generation of TV
I’m always looking for new advancements to help entrepreneur’s and online publishers so I was interested to receive information about Dale Beaumont who launched the world-first, 24 hour small business TV channel in September 2015 called The Business Blueprint Channel. It provides free, live-streaming education to business owners about using and monetizing social media, developing websites, how to work less hours but earn more – plus much more.
What are your predictions for the future?
I reckon our generation has seen some pretty amazing and outlandish inventions and advancements – things our grandparents wouldn’t have believed possible. What do you think about the future – what do you believe we’ll be doing, or using when our grandchildren are grown up?
We loved this trilogy. Scary isn’t it thinking that we are already at 2015. We read George’ Orwell’s Novel 1984 in high school in about 1970 or 71 and we have seen 1984 come and go years ago! . Our own parents saw giant leaps in technological advances, we even have in our own time. The future? Sometimes I don’t want to think about the future our grandies will be living in. It certainly won’t be anything like the world we know today or yesterday. I would like to see advances in cancer and Alzheimer’s research.
It’s so scary how fast time flies Jill! I love your wishes for advances in medicine. Well said x
I loved that movie! I think we’ll be flying to the moon for holidays when our grandchildren are grown up.
Ha Jan! You could be right. I’d love to be a fly on the side of the spacecraft!!