| Submitter | Predictions | Commentary | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Derek Lewsey | Tom Green will have a dramatic, starring role. | Tom who? :) Looking on his website it looks like he's currently shooting a new movie, Freezerburn, in Alberta, Canada. Something tells me even if it's a starring role, it's probably not particularly 'dramatic'. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| All of my MP3s will be on one machine simultaneously accessible. | Nope. Theoretically, I probably could fit them all on a single machine, but when you're saving up to buy a new house, MP3 real estate is not exactly a priority :( | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Karen McCulloch | Derek and Alice will have 2 more cars. | We don't have two more cars, but we did replace my Honda Civic with what is now Alice's Toyota Sienna. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Linux will be the dominant OS | Perhaps the dominant alternative OS :) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| US and its allies (at least some of them) will be in a long term war with the Middle East. | Long term war - check. Allies...? | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Hybrid cars will become mainstream. | I Guess it depends on your definition of 'mainstream'. Hybrid sales are predicted to reach over 2% of overall sales by the end of the year. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Andrew Kerr | The whereabouts of Osama bin Laden will still be unknown. Al Qaeda will still exist, and will have committed at least one more terrorist attack against the U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| DVDs will be heading towards obsolescence. More and more competing digital formats will be attempting to replace it. | I think DVDs still have some life left in them. If the industry had settled on one or the other of Blu-Ray or HD-DVD, I think things may have been different by now, but until the bulk of the hardware supports both formats, I suspect DVDs will remain a viable contender. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Email spam will be so overwhelming that many people will have given up email altogether. | Not just yet.
Much like the ebb and flow of viruses, I think it will simply continue to be a back-and-forth between those who create the spam and those who filter it. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| The U.S. will have invaded Iraq. | Right on! | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Cloned meat will be commonplace. People will shrug their shoulders, not care, and dig into their Big Macs. | I think we've got a ways to go on this one. First it has to become economically viable. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Derek and Alice will still be in sunny Californeyeay, but will have changed homes. | Correct on the first point, and as for the second, if all goes well it will pan out by the end of the year. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Andrew and Inge will still be in Ottawa, but will have started looking for a new house. | Andrew...Inge...What say you? Are you looking? | |||||||||||||||||||||
| The technology sector will still be suffering. High-tech salaries will have declined dramatically, with high unemployment in the sector. Outsourcing to countries such as India will be extremely common. | Unemployment in general is very low, and thanks possibly in part to a down-turned real estate market, money seems be flowing specifically into IT. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Inge Vander Horst | EnviroMission's giant solar tower in New South Wales, Australia, the biggest renewable energy plant in the world, will be almost operational, producing enough clean, renewable energy to supply 200,000 households. Projected cost: $440 million (US$?). Predicted actual cost: $700 million. Projected completion: 2006. Predicted actual completion date: 2008. | Well, it certainly appears not to be completed. The company's own website has very little to say on the project. Also, it sounds to me like a bit of a bid to simply cash in on government subsidies. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Coyopa Rum (from creator of Grey Goose Vodka) has just come out with the first animated bottle label. It's back lit when picked up and highlights images of dancers, making them look as if they are moving. This kind of labelling will be commonplace in five years, but only for higher end products (like $40 bottles of booze, some CD and/or DVD packaging, car sales, etc.). | Can't say I've ever run into the like. (But then, I don't think I quite qualify as a high-end consumer :) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Bottled natural coconut water dents the sports drink market. Promoted as the perfect beverage - better than water. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Edible food wrap, food trays, cartons, etc. will be commonplace (e.g. instead of a styrofoam tray under your take home entre, it will be a soy-based or plant-based product that you can break up and eat with your meal). If you don't want to eat it, that's okay because it's still 100% biodegradable. Food wrap will be available in different flavours too. | Can't say I've seen this one yet. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Andrew and Inge will still live at 9 Keefer Street. Derek and Alice will still be in California, but not at Madison Lane. David and Stephanie will still live on Sara Drive, the arrival of their third child keeping them (read: Steph) too busy to contemplate moving house. | See Andrew's prediction, above. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| David Wilson will be living in sin with a voluptuous, intelligent older woman. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Drug delivery systems that are implanted in the body will be fairly common. They will include a microchip that tells the device when and how much medication to dispense. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Products made with deep-sea water, particularly bottled water, will be available and considered part of the health food boom. Deep-sea water can be found at depths of more than 300 meters. Because sunlight penetrates to a depth of only 200 meters, deep sea water contains no bacteria. The water does contain about 80 minerals, including nitrogen and phosphorus. The mineral content of deep-sea water is similar to that of body fluid, leading medical researchers to believe it has health-giving qualities, such as purifying blood. | I'd never heard of it, but it seems to be a growth industry for Hawaii. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Biodegradable food and beverage containers will be commonly used, including cups of various sizes and food containers, such as sandwich boxes, carry-out salads, and fruis & vegetable containers, These products will be made from corn and perhaps other grains as well. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| I'll still be working for the federal government, but not necessarily Agriculture. Andrew will have caved and become a slave to some corporation (i.e. will not be consulting anymore). We will have joined the 21st century to some extent (i.e. will own a DVD player and a digital camera). If we own a second car, it will likely be Honda's Civic Hybrid. | Andrew...Inge... how's this one panning out? | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Federal politics: the Liberals may be in power, but it won't have been consecutively since 2002. Paul Martin will have replaced Jean Chrétien as leader of the party. | Paul Martin did replace Chrétien, and Stephen Harper (Conservative) succeeded Martin becoming the 22nd Prime Minister. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Yi He | Dow Jones Industrial Average is 11,000-12,000 | The DJIA ranged between about 13,000 and 14,000 throughout the month of September, 2007. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| China's national GDP is #4 in the world, following U.S., Japan, Germany. | As of 2006 (according to Wikipedia) this was true for 2006:
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| The TV broadcast signal is NOT all digital because of consumer complaints of obsoleteness of analog TV sets. | All Digital isn't here yet, but it's still on its way. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| The total number of U.S. software developers has decreased by 30% compared to 2002, with 65% of decrease moved to India and 10% moved to China. Like manufacturing a decade ago, the export of software jobs is permanent and accelerating. | Not quite, fortunately. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 10% of new cars (not trucks, SUVs or Vans) sold in the year are hybrid. | Not quite. See Karen's prediction, above. |