The movie Back To The Future was screened in 1985, thirty years ago. And the future date they travelled to in the move was TODAY–yes, 21st October 2015. So I guess that makes today Back To The Future Day.
For me this raises a whole set of interesting issues and questions. How much has the world really changed since 1985? Has the role and place of technology altered our lives the way the movie suggested it would? What was correctly predicted [in 1985] for 21st October 2015? And what was incorrectly predicted?
I’ve listed their top predictions above, and it’s pretty impressive to say the least. I guess the biggest non-prediction was flying cars–that feels like a long way off. And yes, our world has been dramatically altered in so many ways thanks to technology. Which raises the question, “What will the future look like thirty years from now?” And predicting that, I gotta say, is an almost impossible task of imagination and flights of fancy.
Will some of us be living on Mars? Apparently so. Will technological singularity [and artificial intelligence] be a real thing? Apparently so. Will we all be driving [or not driving] driverless cars? Apparently so. Will we all be wearing health devices on our bodies that track every conceivable physiological data point, and alert us in advance in the event that our body is headed towards having a stroke? Apparently so.
And so I look forward to the future, like an immigrant into a new time, because of what lies around the corner, because of what might be, and because of the possibilities that technology makes available for each one of us.
