Predictions made in 1999.
| Submitter | Predictions | Commentary |
| Yi He |
Handheld computing device annual sales will come close to 25% of PC sales. A
typical device will contain a wireless modem, has the functions of a
wireless phone and what PalmPilot has today. In other words, both voice and
data can be transmitted to and from these devices. |
For 2003, shipments of handhelds hit 10.4 million units while PC shipments hit 164 million units which is closer to 6%. |
| 35% of American households will own a wireless phone. | In October of '03, roughly two thirds of American households had cellphones. |
| The DOW will not stay below 7000 for more than a month | The DOW hasn't been below 7000 since 1997. |
| The US dollar will stay below 90 Japanese yen for more than six months | Looks like the US dollar hasn't even hit 90 yen :) |
| Microsoft will NOT be split into several companies | It's still (relatively) intact. |
| Inge Vander Horst |
A Litre of gas will cost $.80 (Currently around $.64) |
On Sept. 2, 2004, Toronto gas prices (according to torontogasprices.com) range from $.724 to $.899, which averages out to about $.81 |
| Communism will be re-established in Russia. | Maybe next year :) |
| We will know of (or at least have heard of) someone who has a flat screen TV in their home. | We don't have one, nor do I know anyone who does, though I've been watching the prices drop. |
| People will be able to take short flights (very short!) into space for around $1,500 a go. | Still have a little ways to go yet.
Take a look at the progress being made by a Canadian Organization striving for the X Prize. |
| Andrew and I will own a home (with NO purple coloured rooms - no offence Purple-D) with at least 3 bedrooms and a garage, damn it! | Check. |
| Purple and Alice will have two children (maybe a third on the way) and be back in Canada, cursing the taxes but loving the relatively low cost of living. Alice will miss Pottery Barn and Nordstroms, but will be loving whatever replaces Eatons. | Yes we have two children, but there are no plans for a third. (In fact, plans to absolutely prevent a third are in the works...ouch!)
We're also still happily situated in the land of the free, though on the other side of the Bay. |
| We MAY have a kid, but no promises there. | Should have made the promise :!) |
| Hopefully I will be gainfully employed in an archives-related job and Andrew will still be (or be back to) contracting for an American company (from distance). | |
| Alice Lewsey |
Virtually everyone will have high-speed, 7/24 Internet access |
Not quite. Even among internet-connected homes (3 out of every 4), broadband penetration has only recently passed 50%. |
| Cars will come standard with cell-phones | Again, not quite. Almost true for DVD and MP3 players, though :) |
| Joanne Tenenbaum |
DVDs and videotapes will be obsolete because everyone will be able to view any film or show ever made whenever they want to by interacting with their tv-like device to specify the program or film and the date and time they want to view it. |
Not quite, but as a loyal, 1 year+ Tivo owner, I can definitely envisage a decline in sales of physical media such as DVDs and VHS tapes in favour of PVRs stuffed with one-way-or-another downloaded content. |
| Wall-size flat screen tv will be the standard household viewing medium. | Again, not quite, but plasma is sure to be king this Christmas. |
| All television media will be owned by a single worldwide corporation that will control the content. TV news will be indistinguishable from gossip shows. | There is still some semblance of a competitive marketplace in terms of the TV content providing conglomerates, and they do still seem to at least attempt to cover truly newsworthy stories.
However, there did seem to be excessive coverage of the Jackson/Timberlake incident, and far too little probing into the justification for invading Iraq (before the invasion) by the media. |
| TV receivers will be mandatory in new construction housing, and the network will be able to turn on your TV for the nominal purpose of keeping you informed of emergency and disaster information. | |
| People will learn the hard way that CDs only last 10 years; those who jettisoned their photo albums when they scanned their family photos onto CDs will be inconsolable. | |
| Organ farms will clone and propogate major organs for transplant; old people will be around even longer, making life for the relatively fewer young people even more difficult as society reflects the conservatism of the elderly's opinions. | |
| Juanita Mercado |
We will have a single handheld device to control anything electronic. It will incorporate the organizer (known today as the Palm
Pilot), and the phone/answering machine. It will function as a remote
control, thus allowing a person to program selections and have the option to
download a synopsis of programs they have missed viewing for one reason or
another.It will be the garage door opener, electronic car key, a control
for household timers (for lights and water systems). It allow you to check
the status of each appliance in your house. This way a person can check if
any appliance with a heating element is left on. It will also have
full-fledged word-processing capabilities, graphics for creating electronic
greeting cards, spreadsheets with built-in metric support for tracking
anything from investments to much water is being used in watering plants.
It will be voice-activated, but will still use a stylus as a pointing
device. Phone lines will be passe. |
That would be one mighty device! Where do I get one? :) |
| Brassieres will underdo a revolutionary facelift: Women will be
able to purchase gel-filled bras that can mold to their individual shape,
won't be itchy, won't have straps that slide and can even add a cup size if
a woman so desires. These will adapt to body temperature and won't need to
be washed. | Someone's going to have to fill me in on the results of this prediction, 'cause I'm afraid I haven't a clue. |
| Books will predominantly be in electronic format. Instead of
purchasing a best seller, a bookworm can subscribe to a service to download
books. Offices will be paperless, same with newspapers and magazines, as
trees will be on the endangered specie list. | Well, the eBook thing seems to have risen and fallen, and judging by the reams of printer paper piled up in the office I work in, I think we'd better hope that recycling is at least working. |
| No new construction or remodeling of of houses will
use wood in California. The price of existing wood-frame houses will be
exorbitant. | I still see plenty of wood frames going up and house prices are certainly exorbitant, but I think it's more a question of space than materials. |
| The new cars sold in California will be fueled by alternative power
other than gasoline. California will only allow gasoline engines for work
monsters such as heavy duty trucks and other heavy equipment. | I think it's going to be a while before we see the end of gasoline in California, but at least we're trying to get auto makers to ensure that it's put to cleaner use. |
| Derek Lewsey |
PCs will still exist, and will come standard with a 17" flat-screen, 2 Gig of RAM, a .25 Terra byte hard drive and Windows '02 |
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| DVD rentals will be on the verge of outpacing VHS rentals. | |
| The DOW will have had its biggest single-day point drop in history at some point in the previous 5 years and will also have crossed the 15,000 mark. | |
| Late-night talk showhosts will still be making jokes about Clinton's antics, past and present because whoever will be in office at that time will be dead boring in comparison. | OK, so the war and the election have pretty much eliminated any chance Clinton had of remaining in the spotlight, despite having come out with a tell-most autobiography. |
| The peninsula will NOT have broken free from the rest of California to become an island as a result of a massive earthquake. | True. (Although now that we've moved and both work in the east bay, it might as well have as far as we're concerned :) |