Originally published in June 2014.
If you grew up in the 1980s theres a good chance Michael J Fox was your hero.
(Think, McFly, think!)
Scarily, Martys 30 year leap into the future is now almost upon us.
(Whod work in showbusiness, eh?)
Result: lots of disappointed kids, and curses from the telephone-answering staff at Mattel.
But are real hoverboards on the horizon?
How games are actually played in 2015 remains delightfully mysterious.
Weve already got a few options, such as body motion detection and voice commands.
Playstations EyeToy, Xboxs Kinect (and even Wii if we count remote control) have got it covered.
A game which tracks your thoughts?
Is anyone else excited and freaked out?
So when can we get our own flying cars?
Actually,they do exist.
Well, sort of; theyre more small aeroplanes with wheels but its a start, isnt it?
(And how would anyone without a scanner report a car crime?)
(Maybe the hoverboard isnt such a distant dream after all.)
(If nothing else, the film predicted our 21st century eagerness to recycle.)
Fossil fuels are so over.
Incidentally, theres some debate about how the Delorean works.
From the first movie:
Marty: Does it run, like, on regular unleaded gasoline?
Doc: Unfortunately, no, it requires something with a little more kick.
Marty: Ah, plutonium…
Wait a minute… Are you telling me this suckers nuclear?
But for almost-adult teens, really?)
The 80s was a time of speedy convenience, hence the attraction of self-drying clothes which double as hairdryers.
But most importantly, when are we getting self-lacing trainers?
(Incidentally, nobody could have predicted the early 90s trend for wearing plastic dummies.
Most of the male population of Hill Valley rock the double tie and / or double wristwatch look.
Call yourself a BTTF fan?
Lets make this happen!
Weather Control
What the weather service actually does is hotly debated amongBack To The Futuregeeks.
As machinery gets more sophisticated, it will inevitably replace even more of the human beings who require salaries.
Inflation isnt quite as bad as predicted; a Pepsi doesnt yet cost $50.
Apologies for having to split this article over two pages.
As regular readers know, this isnt something we make a habit of.
Heres the rest of the piece…
Food
Boy oh boy, you sure can hydrate a pizza!
At the cafe Pepsi apparently comes in four flavours: Original, Diet, Max and Perfect.
(They studiously avoided alligators as a mascot, naming themselves The Miami Marlins in 2011.)
So, could Chicago beat them in 2015?
Well, the Cubsstillhavent won the World series since 1908.
This anti-gravity magnetic field game was created by Robert Zemeckis, but the planned scenes were never shot.
Next step, humans!
Yep,Back To The Future Part IIgot it right again.
Right idea, just a slight error in choice of gadget.
After all, who sends faxes anymore?
(Yeah, I know: lawyers… aka the Amish of the corporate world.)
It wasnt really until Skype offered the service free that people got excited about face-to-face phone calls.
TheBack To The Future Part IIglasses are actually far less impressive than our 2014 reality.
(A shared landline?
Thumbprints
We all know its inevitable.
Oh wait, weve already started.
The iPhone 5S has touch ID and IBM introduced finger print security to laptops back in 2004.
Finger vein ID cash machines are the latest craze in Poland, Russia, Japan and China.
Best news yet: it doesnt work if your finger is no longer attached.
In your face, thumb bandits!
(And you know what else the film got right?
Media
Disappointingly, the 3-D shark advertisingJaws 19at the local Holomax, has not yet become reality.
We prefer our TV watching (and tab-toggling multi-tasking) on computers.
(This also makes Martys sarcastic watching a little TV for a change?
to his teenage son sound somewhat dated.)
But hang on, werent they all piled up like trash in a scuzzy alleyway?
Digital storage saves so much space why take heavy books on holiday when you could grab an E-reader?
Yep, elderly George has put his back out and arrives for dinner suspended from a hoverbelt.
(Was this a vision of our future?
Truth really is stranger (and more awesome) than fiction.
