Back to the Future II - Are We There Yet?

In 1989 Marty McFly traveled back to the Future to 2015.  With 2013 coming to an end how do we measure up with the 1980's vision of the future?  

Flying cars: 

Not there, and do we really want to be?  I'm not sure if we are ready for this.  Though after experiencing Los Angeles traffic last week, we might want to hurry up this process.  Imagine if highways could be two levels.  Also think of the tax money we would save with a decrease in road repair. One question - what happens when you run out of gas?

Weather Service can determine the weather to the minute:  

Ha!  The weather report is about 50% accurate if it will even rain during that day.  Maybe in another 30 years.

Clothing that adjusts to our size, power laces on shoes and clothing dry mode that automatically dries when wet: 

Why don't we have this?  We need to refocus technological abilities on this area of advancement.  Plus this could lead to self-heating or cooling clothing.  Imagine actually feeling warm outside during a Chicago winter.

Fashion sense:  

Well we all saw went on in the 80's, I guess this would have been a logical assumption of the direction the fashion industry would take.  Let's just all celebrate the fact that it didn't.  

 

Courts trying cases in hours, lawyers done away with:  

This might have been a pipe dream. Little did they know that in 1990 a show called Law and Order would come into the scene with such a following.  This would lead to more shows about crime and lawyers, forever sealing their place in our society.  

Hoverboards:

Still waiting.  You've got a little over a year future.  I want my hover board!

3D Ads: 

As seen when Marty McFly is walking down the main street in Hill Valley.  Ads are seen as digital 3D images coming off of buildings.  We see a 3D shark pop off of the movie theater and attack Marty promoting Jaws 19. 3D movies had a swing of popularity during the 80's and 90's.  One popular feature were images that seemed to be flying at you, so why not bring it out of the theater.  Without us wearing 3D glasses everywhere, I'm not so sure this one is possible.  Plus then we would have to put laws into place about billboards on roads.  People would be crashing their flying cars too much trying to dodge ads coming at them.

3D Ad - Cubs win world series: 

Hope is timeless, I guess.  

Video game without hands: 

Whenever I would watch this movie and would hear, "you mean you have to use your hands, that's like a baby's toy," I aways wondered what did he mean?  Playing games with your mind was all I could come up with, but thought this was to crazy to believe.  Today we do have video games you don't need your hands for, with motion sensors picking up you body movements. 

Computer/robot waiters:  

When Marty walks into the The Cafe 80's to order his Pepsi, the waiters are computer screens with the digital images of an actual person talking to the patrons.  (One is even Michael Jackson).  Our computers can talk to us now, and we even have voice commands.  Computers and robots make our lives easier, but they haven’t made it into our restaurants yet.  (I still don't understand what the purpose of the exercise bikes are in the Cafe).

Futuristic binoculars with a camera:

Doc uses these to check out the building when Griff and his gang crash into it.  I think we've one-upped the future, with not only cameras that can zoom like binoculars, but can do so much more.  Who would of thought of smart phones during the 80's?  It would be like the superman of devices, something our past selves would think too fantastical to believe.

Traffic board with times on highways:  

We do have ones that are available once you are on the highway.  But I think we have something event better - Thank you traffic apps.

The smart home

Thumb print house entry and cab payment:   

We see Jennifer enter her house and old Biff pay for the cab with their thumb prints.  This might not be too far off, and who knows we could see this by 2015.  We now have this to unlock our smart phones and for secure entry onto some computers.  We’ll just have to see how far this goes. 

Voice activated house commands:  

I’m guessing the writers were using their Clapper (1986) when they thought of this.  If lights could go on with sound, why couldn’t we have voice commands in the future.  Today we do have voice activation in the car, for phones, and I’m sure there is some app in the works for this to happen.  Let’s just hope no one turns on the oven accidently. 

Scenery channel, big flat screen TVs and being able to get multiple shows on the same TV:  

We did it future!  We now have flat screen TVs, picture in picture and also the ability to upload photos to our TVs or computers. 

Dehydrated food and the hydrator: 

The microwave oven gained popularity in the 1980s.  Though many improvements to the microwave have been made, we have not reached hydration level. This would save a whole lot of room in the freezer and make carrying grocery bags a lot easier.

Glasses that are phones, TVs, other digital items as well as act as rear view mirror glasses for driving:   

I think we are just about there – Google Glass. By 2015 these could become mainstream. 

Video phone calls:  

Older future Marty is seen talking to Needles on a video call.  I actually remember having a video phone in the late 80’s.  It was a special landline phone that had a little video screen.  You could only use this if the person you were calling had the exact same phone.  My parents got one for us and one for our grand parents.  Beyond that, it didn’t really catch on.  Today, however, we have Facetime, Skype and more.

Interfaced scan from a device in a briefcase:  

Future Marty scans in his card to seal a deal with Needles. Today we have something even better - laptops and tablets.  We now have scanners that can be used in the home as well.  

Home Faxes:  

We see a home Fax spit out a page which says Marty is fired.  Many businesses had faxes at this time, but having home faxes in every room would be a vision of the future.  Unfortunately this vision has come and gone, as the home computer and scanner has made faxes a thing of the past. 

We've come a long way in 30 years, and have achieved or exceed many of our 1985's expectations of the future.  We still have a little bit to go by 2015.  Seriously - let's get on this hoverboard thing.