Futuristic Tech

Flying cars. Jetpacks. Rocket boots. Just some of the many predictions for future tech that the predictors and science fiction got slightly wrong. However, there are some predictions for the future that have indeed come to pass. So what are the ones that they got right, what are the ones they got horribly wrong and what are the ones that still could yet come to pass?

Right On

Going to Mars was always seen as the next challenge to overcome after NASA managed to make trips to the Moon pretty much a routine thing. And whilst it’s not something that has happened as soon as predicted, there are currently plans afoot to put humans on Mars. Mars has become somewhat of a staple with science fiction going back as far as 1897, with H.G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds featuring the Martians as the antagonists. Also, there have been films depicting astronauts on Mars including 2000s Mission to Mars and 2015s The Martian, and even a short-lived LEGO series. So what of the current plans? Well, Elon Musk’s Space X have plans to land on Mars as early as 2024, and NASA is aiming to enter Mars’s orbit but not land with a four person crew in around 2027.

But getting back to terra firma, what are some everyday predictions that have come true? We have Tomorrow’s World to thank for our high aspirations for the future. And whilst it was, by its very nature, hit-or-miss, there were some ones the BBC programme got right. Just take a look at this clip showcasing the mobile phone, as early as 1979. In a lot of science fiction, the prediction has been made that humans would be more reliant on technology; and looking at all the electronic equipment we all have in our houses, it's hard to disagree. And because there is a lot of it, collecting it all adds up cost-wise. Thanks to these AO.com voucher codes though, you won’t have to worry about that. Get everything you need for less to make the technological future your technological present.

Left Behind

For as good as predictions can be, some real clangers can be dropped. It’s easy to look back and ridicule people for their lack of vision, but take a look at some of these whoppers. Just look at what Martin Van Buren, who was later to become President, wrote in 1830: “‘Railroad’ carriages are pulled at the enormous speed of 15 miles per hour by ‘engines’ which, in addition to endangering life and limb of passengers, roar and snort their way through the countryside, setting fire to crops, scaring the livestock and frightening women and children.”

However, it’s not just the uninitiated that can make mistakes regarding what the future will look like. Even great visionaries like Nikola Tesla got a few things wrong. For all his foresight of pollution becoming a problem and believing in renewable energy, he predicted something would be invented that he called ‘The Machine to End War.’ According to the man himself, it would “revolutionize the relations between nations. It will make any country, large or small, impregnable against armies, airplanes, and other means for attack. My invention requires a large plant, but once it is established it will he possible to destroy anything, men or machines, approaching within a radius of 200 miles.” Safe to say, no giant plants ending wars have been invented yet.

Hanging On

There are still a few predictions that we’re yet to see some to full fruition, but we’re not that far away from. Having robot servants was the dream of most post-war visionaries, and they were expected to take the pressure off to cook, clean, and do washing in the home so you didn’t have to. And whilst we’ve invented things since like the dishwasher, a multitude of food processors, and even automated vacuum cleaners, there hasn’t been a robot companion like one seen in the Robin Williams film Bicentennial Man. However, now you can buy a robot that’ll be your friend, so you can get your hands on that automated companion you’ve always dreamed of. And with technology developing every day, there will surely be more and more things turning from fantasy into reality. All we need is patience.