What does everyone think the real future will be like?
Say in about 30 years. What do you think will be the advancements in technology, social life, history, etc. ?

It would be interesting to see people's thoughts.

Imagine my surprise this morning (err, afternoon) when I logged on to find all these new forums.:D

If I've noticed anything about movies, books, etc which predice the future, they always make it more advanced with ideas (i.e. flying cars) than it ends up being. However, it's also, at the same time, underdeveloped in that it's a streamlined, way futurised version of whatever decade it was made in.

For instance, the Jetsons future is just an advanced 1940s/50s, and BTTF 2's 2015 is a futuristic 80's.

Anyway, if I had to predict 30 years from now (2034):

Computers: We'll probably still have the Internet, but it'll be even faster and more expanded than it is now. It may also have replaced (or taken precedent over) some things, such as library books. Almost all major business will be done online. I'll bet we could even have virtual reality surfing and portable Walkman type PC's. For instance, if we wanted to go to a movie in a theatre, we could maybe just buy our tickets online and make sure the V.R. feature was on. Then we could (almost) have the experience of being there with the crowd and all. We will also be able to play any existing video game from Atari to the present online.

Other Technology: DVD's will probably have retro shops opening, celebrating the good old days of 2000. But they'll still be around to an extent. People will watch TV and movies at home on their computers, possibly as described above. All boomboxes could be computerized too, with satellite radio. Instead of tape decks or CDs, all your favorite music could be stored by the equivalent of an MP3, so you could "record" anything you wanted, anytime.

Household Devices: Just like seen in some futuristic predictions, like the 2015 McFly's house, many things might be automatic reacting (but not all). Forget to shut the fridge? No problem. After 5 minutes of it being open, it would have a timer and shut itself. Also, we might have showers with an extra supply of warm water, so it wouldn't run out in the midde of a shower. :lol:

Music: Me & Alt have talked about this. It's hard enough to know where music is going now (since it's basically the same styles as 1999, just slightly updated). But, if I had to say, rap music may be around, but more space-age/dance sounding. Heavy metal will be mainstream pop music (and noisy metal too, probably like a futuristic version of rep/rock). More and more American Idol type artists will be signed to contracts, via the Internet. Classic and 80's rock will probably be a combo of retro and cool, and extremely revered and laughed at. Even the heavier rock bands of the era (Judas Priest, etc) will probably be played on "soft rock oldies" stations.

TV: We'll have 500 channels or so in normal Cable - if it's still around. Those could range from any kind of sports to entertainment, some of which might never get aired these days. Even things like drag racing. Jerry Springer-ish talk shows will be on syndication on TV Land. Sitcoms will largely consist of reality TV things, instead of celebrities.

Movies: As with music, I can't predict where this is going now either. However, if anything stays relatively the same, this would likely be what would. However, the standards and quality of what will get released will change. Titles will get even more repetitive. And, we might be going to see I Really Continue to Still Keep Knowing What You Did Last Summer...Even though Last Summer was now 37 Years Ago. :P :lol:

Teen Life: By the 2030s, the average teenager will probably have even more control over stuff, and may be able to get credit cards or jobs at, say 13 years old (instead of the usual 16 or 18) - even if they're now not technically considered adults until 21 or 25, etc. As a result, they would be able to, for example, have their own fun with much less parental/authoritarian influence. For fun, they'll probably do alot of Jacka*s type stunts and things you'd see on Survivor or The Real World, only bigger. More typical stuff, like cruisin' in their electric cars.

Medical Advances:

Transportation:

Shopping:

...All coming soon.

It isvery interesting to see your thoughts on the future, Blind Spot. These are all great ideas!

To expand more on the future of moviemaking, I'd think the special effects (3d for instance) Will look like reality, and you will not know the difference. In fact, actors might not be needed. Movies will still be made using people, but they won't be 'needed' for the film.

The storylines will keep coming, but eventually I think Hollywood will just run out of ideas.

On a different note. I reckon that things will be similar to what they are now. Maybe there will be a few advances in home computers possibly cars will be more hi-tech. Personally I would not want a car that drives itself. I enjoy driving and would hate to give it up. Apart from that I doubt that anything will be significantly more advanced. I mean. we were supposed to have colonies on the moon and hovering cars that drove themselves by 2000, and it is now 2004 and we are no closer to either of those things.

^Very true.

My post earlier wasn't very clear on the time period, but I was thinking about 30 years or so.

I mean, if you look at a decade earlier in 2004 the 3D stuff they could do was limited.

Now, it's getting really cool and I'm excited on what is to come.

I'm hoping things will stay the same and not change too much.

But there may be a few surprises along the way. :o

Well I don't think we will have hovercars in a long long time, this is because with a hover car someone could go over and underneath traffic making everything very dangerous.
But the future 30 years from now should be pretty advanced.

in a magazine i read the future about 20 years from now will have roll up tvs and newspapers that rewrite themselves. It also predicted pens that could save something you wrote in them. But those are already out for people to buy :lol:

You must have mis-read what I said. I was talking aboutr hovering cars, they only hover about 2foot off the ground and no higher. I think you may have got confused with flying carsn from the film.

Well, I thought I'd reply in an old topic that is practically dead because I think this could be really interesting.

So, I thought I'd reply by telling you about two things that one of my teachers told my class last year.
First he told us about little 'tablets', so they are called, that are apparently in development that we use for school, instead of books, it's just an A4 sized, flat computer type thing that we type everything into! If this is correct then these are meant to come out around 2007/2008, thereabouts.
The second thing was T.V's, and some apparent research into making what we see 3D holograms, so basically, we could just walk straight through them and look around at them if you want. This one, I'm a little bit more sceptical about, mainly because of all the technology that would be needed to make one of these!

I think I've wrote enough for now. :P

^ Yeh those tablets are already in use (as a pilot scheme) in some UK schools. Personnaly I have never used them, but they must be pretty awesome.

^ Oh, cool! I wish they could tried them out on us. Apparently, from what I've heard, if everything goes well they should be in full use by the year 2007! :D

I've seen those tablets in use, not in UK schools (I think its more of a hopeful myth) but they are in existance and in use. For the sci-fi buffs among you, if you've ever watched Stargate Atlantis they have a heap of them, they use them for the mission briefing scenes mostly.

I found a random pic on the net of some guy who is using one, is this the tablets that you're talking about?

^ I don't know, I can't see the pic. I doubt it would have been much use if I could anyway because I've never seen them, just heard about them. Thanks, anyway.

^Lol its working again now... I think? Hurry, it might disappear though! :lol:

^Lol, yeah, I can see it. But like I said it doesn't help much, I've never seen one before.

Id like to think there would be flying cars in the future and hover boards that would be cool. I also think that in the future there will be re makes of the BTTF movies :martyjr: :docs2:

I think if a time traveller were to come from 30 years in the future and tell us what it's like, without saying they're a time-traveller, their proposal of the "future" would probably be seen as the most far-fetched and yet most conservative 'guess' at the same time.

I still can't figure out how iPods work. They'll probably invent something even more confusing by then.

Cars will be getting uglier.

There will be thousands more of crappy tv show and movie remakes.

Kids will be having sex at even younger ages.

We'll have about a million TV channels, but nothing to watch, because the majority of TV shows will be complete crap.

There will be more political correctness, thus more restrictions.

The Cubs will still not win the World Series within the next 30 years.

I know this may lead to a little controversy, but I would like to think that some of the old styles will make a comeback in the future. Like, I'm currently working on a fic where the hippie movement has made a revival in the 2040s. I know some may rather just have new non-crappy fashions and music, but the nostalgic part of me really would like to see some of these old fashions and music styles make a comeback.

For example, let's say we have a new band that emulate's Led Zeppelin style. Led Zeppelin fans may be a bit divided on the idea. Some (including me) are such big fans of the style that they would be more than happy to see a new Led Zeppelin. Others may not like this new band, though - and just accuse them of being a Led Zeppelin rip-off. I guess it all depends of you look at it.

As much as I like the 80s, I hope 80s clothes and 80s hairstyles NEVER come back.

What about Marty's hairstyle? I don't think that was '80s specific. Anyway, I do like jelly bracelets. What I really like are colourful clothes? Was that more hippie era, though?

I could deal with Marty's hairstyle. And by colorful clothes, do you mean the clothes Screech wore in Saved by the Bell? I do like how 60s clothes made a comeback in the 80s. I like Birkenstocks.

They have no need to invent TV's where you can watch six shows at once because we have TiVo.

I never understood how one could watch six TV channels at once. I can imagine that it could be hard on the eyes and ears.

I can't even handle watching two shows at once.

Right, or listening to two songs at the same time. ;)

The future clothes are pretty tacky, but that's a common theme in movies that take place in the future.

I wonder when clothing styles seemed to diverge between the BTTF Universe and "our" universe. Also, wasn't Marty and Marty Jr pretty hot in that jacket? It seemed like everyone else was wearing cool clothes. Then again, maybe that jacket helped to stabilize body temperature - just as it would adjust itself and dry by itself.

The huge pile of used Laser Discs would be considered outdated by now.

That's true! Around what year do you suppose the BTTF Universe would start to diverge from ours, with regards to technology and fashions? I know you hate SUV, but I do wonder if there were any flying SUVs in 2015 of the BTTF Universe. BTW, what is the difference between an SUV and a minivan?

SUV's almost always have 4 wheel drive that could be used on snow and dirt. They also almost always have a 8 cylinder engine which requires so much gas.

Minivans are usually 2x4 and usually only have 4 cylinder engines, which of course, requires half as much gas. That's pretty much why I would prefer a minivan over an SUV even though minivans are kinda dorky.

I'm sure there would be flying minivans. As for SUV's, this makes me think. They would either be owned by people who could afford to pay for a lot of gas, or they would be banned due to the already inflated gas prices.

Do you think a lot of what exists in "our" universe would also exist in the BTTF Universe by 2015?

I believe so.

I think that due to the inflation, most families in 2015 would resort to one car per family, which would also save a lot of gas, though I do hope they find some sort of fuel alternative.

It kind of looks like they did have some some alternative source of feul in 2015.

That's true. But I still think most people will still stick to one car per family because of the inflation. America really needs a new economic adviser in 2015.