In 1989, we went to our local movie theater and saw our future life portrayed on the big screen (at least what Hollywood thought our future would be) with hoverboards, hologram billboards, and self-tying shoelaces in Back to the Future Part II.
In the movie, Marty McFly travels to the future, October 21, 2015, to save his children. We smiled, laughed, and had fun conversations with our family and friends as we talked about the fantasy portrayed on screen.
Tomorrow, October 21, 2015 marks that special day when Marty McFly and Doc Brown travel to the future in Doc’s special DeLorean time machine car.
Many people will celebrate the day by watching the movie at their favorite local theater or at home.
Again, they’ll laugh at the predicted technology changes and how we interacted with everyday items.
But, how close did Hollywood predict our future life?
In this infographic from HubSpot, you might be surprised to learn how closely some of Hollywood’s predictions came to our life today.
While some predictions were way off target, others are very close to the technology we use daily.
Take a look at the infographic, or if you prefer, read the text version.
Source: Back to the Future: How Accurate Were the Movie’s Predictions for 2015? [Infographic]
How Accurate Was “Back to the Future” In Predicting Our Future?
October 21, 2015 marks the date in the future that Marty McFly and Doc Brown visit the year 2015 using Doc’s time machine car in the 1989 film Back to the Future II.
According to the film, life in 2015 is filled with flying cars, hoverboards, robot waiters, and self-tying shoes.
In some cases, these predictions weren’t too far off. In other cases, they were way off the mark. (Ahem, fax machine?)
How accurate were Back to the Future II‘s depiction of reality in 2015?
The Definitive Ranking of the Movie’s Predictions for 2015
Payments Without Cash/Card
- In the movie: Buff uses his thumbprint
- In 2015: We use payment apps like Apple Pay, Venmo, and the Starbucks app
Post Offices
- In the movie: Post offices exist, but Doc says they aren’t very efficient
- In 2015: Post offices are still around, but they aren’t exactly thriving. The U.S. Postal Service continues to lose billions of dollars each year.
TV Video Calls
- In the movie: Marty’s future self receives a video call from his boss directly on his TV set
- In 2015:: We video chat using Skype, FaceTime, and other apps
Voice-Activated TV
- In the movie: Marty’s future self turns his TV on and changes channels by talking to it
- In 2015: Companies like Samsung offer smart voice control for turning your TV on and off, changing channels and volume, and so on—although usage is not yet widespread
Thumbprint Access
- In the movie: Marty unlocks the front door of his house, the police ID Jenny, and Biff pays for his taxi—all using thumbprints
- In 2015: We use thumbprints to unlock our iPhones and iPads. Some companies even require employees to use thumbprints to clock in and out of work.
Drones for News Cameras
- In the movie: Operator-less news cameras fly onto a scene to take flash photos for newspapers like USA Today
- In 2015: In 2015, news stations and civilians alike use drones for aerial photography and filming
No More Paper Goods
- In the movie: Marty learns no paper books are sold in the future. He gets the Sports Almanac from a vintage shop.
- In 2015: Many readers are choosing to replace paper books with Kindle, audiobooks, and podcasts
Hologram Billboards
- In the movie: 3D hologram billboards are everywhere, including one advertising the movie Jaws 19
- In 2015: We don’t have 3D hologram billboards, but digital billboards are everywhere. Some American airports hae 2D visual assistants programmed to answer basic questions.
Robot Waiters
- In the movie: When Marty goes to a café, he’s waited on by a robot. (Although it looks more like a TV that rolls over to his table to take his order.)
- In 2015: In some restaurants, patrons can order and pay using Ziosk tablets, eliminating the need for a human waiter
Instant Food
- In the movie: Marty’s Pepsi is delivered to his café table via pneumatic tube. Later, he cooks dinner by putting a mini frozen pizza into a “hydrator” that cooks it instantaneously.
- In 2015: We’ve come a little closer to instant food with food deliver services like Foodler, GrubHub, Blue Apron, and Graze
Self-Tying Shoes
- In the movie: Doc gives Marty the laceless shoes that are so popular in the future
- In 2015: Nike plans to release a new line of Nike MAGs, coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the original Back to the Future movie
Robotic Gas Stations
- In the movie: “Havcline” stations employ robots to fill people’s cars for them
- In 2015: Filling your car with gas is still a manual process. But some entrepreneurs, like Tesla CEO Elon Musk, are inventing ways to make it automatic in the near future.
Hoverboards
- In the movie: Hoverboards, which look like skateboards but hover above the ground, are a popular way to get around
- In 2015: Hoverboards haven’t hit the market, yet. But several companies, like Lexus and Hendo Hoverboards, claim to have models coming soon. Until then, electronic skateboards and water hoverboards it is.
Blying Cars
- In the movie: Flying cars are the norm
- In 2015: Flying cars still don’t exist (unfortunately), but there’s talk that they could be coming as early as 2017. Until then, self-driving cars are the next driving revolution.
Lawyers Abolished
- In the movie: Lawyers have been completely abolished by 2015, and Doc tells Marty that the “justice system works swiftly.”
- In 2015: Lawyers are still an integral part of the justic system. (Whether the justice system works swiftly is up for debate.) But the Wall Street Journal reported the number of people applying to law school is down 8.5 percent in 2015.
Inside-Out Pants
- In the movie: Everyone wears their pants inside out
- In 2015: We don’t wear our pants inside out…but we’ve come close with the saggy pants trend and Kriss Kross’ backward pants.
As for fax machines and phone booths? … There’s still time for them to make a comeback.
