Back to the Future: What the 1989 classic got right (and WRONG) about today

 

Back to the Future Part II sent Doc Brown and Marty McFly to October 21st 2015

VIDEO CALLS are commonplace but self-adjusting jackets and shoes have yet to make an appearance on the market.

 

Back to the Future Part II was a hugely influential 80s action adventure film.

The sequel rocketed Doc Brown and Marty McFly to the then-futuristic year of 2015.

But how accurate was the 1989 vision of today?

Well, it turns out the Robert Zemeckis film was eerily accurate at times – and miles from the mark at others.

NewsNewsBlog.blogspot.com has taken a look at what Back to the Future Part II got right and wrong.

 

What Back To The Future Part II Got Right About October 21st 2015

Smartwatches: When the DeLorean duo travel to 2015, they encounter people getting to-the-minute weather reports to their wrists. Well thanks to the Samsung Gear S2, Apple Watch, LG Watch Urbane and myriad of other Android Wear devices there are plenty of people wandering around today who are glancing at their wrist for weather reports, news flashes, Facebook updates and more.



Marty McFly and his famous Mattel hoverboard helped the film become the 3rd highest grossing in 1989

Hoverboards: Granted, nobody is flying around on hoverboards – although there are special skate parks where that sort of thing is possible. But for everyone else, hoverboards are the increasingly-popular Segway-like devices which users stand-on and move by shifting their weight.

Video Calls: It was just a dream in the pre-mobile telephone 1989 but we can now make video calls from our smartphones, tablets, TVs and computers. Even better than the vision shown in the film, Skype has now developed real-time translation software to allow people to hold live video conversations in different languages from the other side of the globe.

Smart Glasses: Admittedly, smart eyewear is not as mainstream as it appeared in Back to the Future, but between the soon-to-re-emerge Google Glass, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive that could be about to change.

Pepsi Perfect, which made a small cameo in the film, is becoming a limited edition reality

Pepsi Perfect: To quote Dr Emmett Brown, this one is a slight paradox in the "space-time continuum". The soda shown in the 1989 film will become a reality on October 21st 2015, but only for one day. Pepsi is selling 6,500 limited edition bottles for an extortionate $20 per bottle. 

Pick Your Own Scenery: The team behind Back to the Future reckoned we'd all have windows with pick your own scenery – and they were (almost) right. LG and other technology firms are currently hard at work producing screens as thin as paper – which can be hung by magnets throughout the house – and used to display animated scenes, like those bundled as screensavers with the new Apple TV.

What Back To The Future Part II Got Wrong About October 21st 2015

Flying Cars: These airborne machines played a key role in the 80s film but despite many of us dreaming of the day we would commute through the skies – it has yet to happen.

Self Drying Clothes: Despite it being October 21st 2015, we still have to dry our soggy socks on the office radiator. The closet we have come to developing self drying clothes is a series of smartphone apps which summon dry cleaners to your location in a matter of minutes.

Doc Brown uses a modified DeLorean to navigate the skies of 2015, which are clogged with traffic

Food Hydrators: Pop a tiny pizza into the food hydrator and within seconds there is full-sized snack ready and waiting. At least that was the dream we were sold back in 1989. Granted, we do have microwave pizzas but we'd rather eat a lump of cardboard than those soggy monstrosities. Still, at least we can order a takeaway from our smartwatches.

Jaws 19: As McFly wanders through his local town in 2015, the latest blockbuster advertised at his cinema is Jaws 19. In reality, the franchise stopped at 'Jaws 4: The Revenge'. However Universal has released a trailer for Jaws 19 to celebrate the Back to the Future anniversary, which helpfully recaps what happened in Jaws 5 through to Jaws 18.

 

Self-Tying Shoes and Fitting Jacket: It's the ultimate in laziness, just pop your feet in your trainers and let the power laces do the rest. Nike are believed to be developing a pair, but at the minute you're just going to have to use your fingers. As for the jacket? Well, it appears we will have to make do with changing rooms and sizes for now.

 

Marty McFly does not have to bother with sizes in his version of October 2015