What Back to the Future II's vision of 2015 got wrong
To celebrate the fact we are now in the year Marty McFly was teleported to, yesterday we had a look back at what Back to the Future II creator Robert Zemeckis got right in his look forward to the year 2015 where he envisaged everything from smart homes and wearables to hoverboards.
There was, of course, also a whole lot he got wrong about the future, and here’s a rundown of the things that didn’t go according to his vision.
1. No Internet
One of the biggest boobs that Back to the Future II failed to notice was the Internet and it is conspicuous by its complete absence from the realization of 2015.
2. Fax Machines Reign Supreme
Fax machines have long been replaced by email as a form of electronically transmitting a form and few organizations still rely on them as heavily as the film foresaw, where faxes were spilling out of machines and there is even the mention of dust-repellent paper. Imagine that!
3. The double tie phenomenon and other fashion faux pas
Marty McFly the 2015 edition decided that one tie just wasn’t going to cut it and took to wearing two separate pieces of material hanging from his neck at once that made it look like he was keeping one to give to his friend later on.
It wasn’t just Marty going double with other people donning the same look and it’s something that hasn’t as yet found its way onto the catwalks. Further to that, most of the clothes worn were hideously old fashioned that people in the real 2015 wouldn’t be seen dead in them. Not even the hipsters!
4. Self-tying shoes
Marty only has to tap his shoes to make them lace up and, even though Nike did unveil a limited release shoe based on Marty’s sneakers, it definitely hasn’t started to be the standard way we lace our shoes. We have slip-ons for that after all.
5. Flying cars
Look at most films that have a peek at the future and the flying car is one of the standard components in almost every one. We still haven’t been blessed by the flying car and, even though driverless cars are on the way, we will be putting up with roads for some time yet.
6. Automation and robotics
The arrival of robotics and everything being automated was a huge part of Back to the Future II, however, we haven’t handed over dog walking to robots and litter bins are not remote controlled just yet.
Among the other things Back to the Future II got wrong were the cinemas showing Jaws 19, lawyers being completely abolished, the Black & Decker Hydrator, zappers, x-ray vision and the distinct lack of mobile phones even though they had already been invented in full brick form by the time the film came out.
Take a look at what Zemeckis got correct right here.
Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Net Communities Ltd Publication. All rights reserved.