'Back To The Future Part II' Predicts Future? 2015 Predictions Made In 1989 Film Partially Correct
Part of the cult hit "Back to the Future Part II" was set in 2015. With the dawn of the New Year has come renewed interest in the film which premiered in 1989 and predicted how modern society would look like 30 years later.
Comparing the predictions made in the film to what current technology and gadgets allow us to do now, it is safe to say that some of the predictions hit their mark while others have yet to happen.
Among the predictions that the film got right were flat screen televisions, which the lead character Marty McFly also used as a communication tool as it was tied into the AT&T network and allowed for video conferencing. This system, many have noted, is quite similar to services offered by telecom companies such as Skype. Also in the video conference, the caller's food preferences, his children's names and even his hobbies are shown across the bottom of the screen which strangely predicts how Facebook and other social media sites collect information.
The use of biometrics in 2015's everyday life is another thing that the film got right along with high tech spectacles that look very much like Google Glass. Like their modern counterpart, the spectacles shown in the 1989 film had a camera and had the ability to magnify objects and access a database.
However, the film made some big misses in terms of future technology. These included the failure to track the evolution of mobile phones, which were just being launched in 1989. Also there are no self-lacing shoes in the marketplace today. However, Nike is planning to release a similar kind of footwear this year; hence the film at least partially got its prediction right.
As for transportation, the film wrongly predicted that flying cars would be commonplace by 2015 along with flying hoverboards that McFly used for transportation.
Another major misfire in the film was the abundance of fax machines and phone booths which have long since been replaced by email and mobile phones.