The future ain't what it used to be ...

[CountryGent]

... to quote the late Yogi Berra.

Something I heard on the radio the other day sparked a lengthy discussion with my better half on what films, books, television shows, et al., of decades past got right and got wrong with respect to, well, the future. Here we are circa 2025 and some such media were surprisingly prescient, while others hilariously wrong.

So, what say you: what fictional works in the past century nailed it? Which got it really wrong? Any major surprises?

Cheers.

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[MTpockets]

In the et al. category ...Still waiting for my flying car that converts into a handy briefcase....

 

[Alexx1401]

View attachment 2081772
In the et al. category ...Still waiting for my flying car that converts into a handy briefcase....

I have laughed at that many a time too! Often though someone else will say "look at how morons drive on the road. You want them in a car that flies?"

 

[CountryGent]

I have laughed at that many a time too! Often though someone else will say "look at how morons drive on the road. You want them in a car that flies?"

Or the idea of the Ford Nucleon. A car powered by a small nuclear reactor in the rear. What could possibly go wrong?

 

[Alexx1401]

Or the idea of the Ford Nucleon. A car powered by a small nuclear reactor in the rear. What could possibly go wrong?

View attachment 2081777

My favorite was the one they tried with a turbine engine. Problem was the hot gas coming out. As in where to aim it. If they pointed it down it would start to melt the blacktop when you were stopped.

 

[albin25]

- Most accurate movie is "Idiocracy"

- most accurate book looks like it's gonna be "Revelations"

 

[rambler]

Accurate book: Ayn Rand "Atlas Shrugged"

 

[MTpockets]

I have laughed at that many a time too! Often though someone else will say "look at how morons drive on the road. You want them in a car that flies?"

Well, with the way that self-driving cars are advancing, I wouldn't be surprised if the "morons" were prescribed WAYMO rides to treat (punish) them for their aggressive driving syndrome. I've been wanting to try WAYMO, but I don't have a Goo-Gling account. I believe they're integrated with EwwBurr, but I don't have one of those accounts either.

Sometimes WAYMO travel in packs....especially after large events downtown.

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When I am sitting at a light next to one, I wonder how much of my information it is able to collect.
When I'm moving in traffic near one, I can't help but wonder if it sends a message to my insurance company that I veered too close to the lane markers.

My favorite was the one they tried with a turbine engine. Problem was the hot gas coming out. As in where to aim it. If they pointed it down it would start to melt the blacktop when you were stopped.

And that Chrysler lacked the wings to fly

 

[RedRover]

These bubblegums were supposed to be roving the planet by now...


They got these right, though...

 

[saxon]

Remember the nexus 6 came out 9 years ago, "more human than human"

 

[66PonyCar]

 

[gmerkt]

In the et al. category ...Still waiting for my flying car that converts into a handy briefcase..

The way things are going, you are more apt to wind up with Fred Flintstone's car than one that flies.

 

[L84Cabo]

Whelp, the Simpsons and South Park have a surprising prognostication accuracy rate. Probe the Google machine, and the lore of yesteryear for both of these fortune tellers, can be easily found.

 

[VinnieBoomBah]

 

[VinnieBoomBah]

I wonder how many of the predictions that writers got right came about because some nerdy kid read the story and though "Oh, cool! I want that!" and then went into the field that helped lead to the development of those things.

 

[Char77]

I wonder how many of the predictions that writers got right came about because some nerdy kid read the story and though "Oh, cool! I want that!" and then went into the field that helped lead to the development of those things.

Still waiting on those dinosaur clones...

 

[made in china]

Or the idea of the Ford Nucleon. A car powered by a small nuclear reactor in the rear. What could possibly go wrong?

View attachment 2081777

Let's see:

First owner takes a massive depreciation hit.

Car ends up at a "Buy here Pay here" lot for weekly payments of just $200

New owner makes a few payments, fails to keep car registered and insured, gets ahold of a bad batch of fentanyl and next thing you know there's a mushroom cloud on main street.

 

[made in china]

- Most accurate movie is "Idiocracy"

- most accurate book looks like it's gonna be "Revelations"

Whelp, the Simpsons and South Park have a surprising prognostication accuracy rate. Probe the Google machine, and the lore of yesteryear for both of these fortune tellers, can be easily found.

Idiocracy and South Park have pretty much nailed it over the years.

I'm pretty sure we'll soon see the "IT Bike":

View: https://youtu.be/fGKR1Z1lRik?si=zye93LbyS8uaChqw

 

[edzz]

View attachment 2081926

Not what I imagined for the Seattle center...