Bill Grundmann's Prophecy PageBill Grundmann's Prophecy PageI make no claims about being psychic. These are simply things I've considered are likely to happen. We'll see.
Well, this experiment has been a dismal failure. Only two predictions remain, one year left for electric cars, and we'll need to wait six years for the results on the asteroid. I got a couple of hits on the cat and the lady talking by herself. Maybe I should make up some more predictions and be really vague about details and dates... :-)
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People will discover in 2003 that extremely fast refresh rates will allow much more realistic motion in movies. For example, the image of a moving train in the background seems reasonable until you try to read the words on the sides of the cars: it appears flashing and illegible; this is not the way reality works! Rates of thousands of frames per second will be needed.
Prediction made in February 1999.
Someday, someday. But for now, *WRONG*.
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The electric car will be fairly commonplace by 2004. This will be mostly a good thing except that folks living in the northern climes in winter will not enjoy having to pay for heat in their cars!
Prediction made in January 1999.
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No. The hybrid car has taken hold, but that's not quite the same thing. I don't know if heaters are an issue with these cars.
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1999 will be marked as the year of the great Five Dollar Bill shortage.
Prediction made in January 1999.
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Nope. If anything, there may have been more fives around lately.
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1999 will be marked as the year of the great Dinty Moore Beef Stew shortage.
Prediction made in January 1999.
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There was plenty at my store. I never heard of any shortages on the news. There was very little Y2K-related hoarding of any kind that I saw. That was a surprise. We saw a line at a gas station on December 31, and all the bottled water was gone at the store, but that was about it. A prediction of snow usually causes more havoc around here.
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1999 will be marked as the year of the great Post-It Note shortage.
Prediction made in January 1999.
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Nope. Not sure why I thought this could have happened.
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People will remember the year of 1999 as the most annoying period of time they have ever experienced.
Prediction made in January 1999.
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All in all, this year was one of the better ones that I can recall. I'm glad I was wrong on this one.
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In 2002 virtual camping will be the in thing. It will involve intentionally living at a reduced level of comfort for a week or so, but mostly within the confines of the usual schedule. It will be an outgrowth of people wanting to "rough it" combined with not having enough vacation time or money to actually travel anywhere.
Prediction made in August 1998.
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Nope. Wrong again.
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By October 1999, professionals are going to to say "the hell with 70 hour work weeks!" and tell their employers to shove it.
Prediction made in August 1998.
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I've seen no indication of this being true. It's surprising considering that the employment rate is so high; you would think people would have more latitude balancing their careers with their personal lives...
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In 1999, some genius is going to make cars smart enough to read speed limit signs, and then in 2000 another genius is going to make it impossible to exceed the speed limit by making cars automatically regulate their velocity. Finally, in 2002 a really big genius is going to propose a law requiring that all cars have this feature. The law will first be passed in California in 2003 and eventually all other states except Montana. There will also be a huge black market for software hacks that override the speed control. (I hope I'm wrong on this one.)
Prediction made in July 1998.
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Well, the 1999 portion of this was wrong. But there's still plenty of time left for meddling with our freedom.
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And the 2000 portion of this was also wrong.
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No luck in 2002 either.
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Nope. Just as well. But it could happen someday.
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It will be commonplace to see people walking around in public talking out loud to someone who isn't there. No, they won't be crazy, they'll be on-line or on a cell phone that is so small as to be invisible. The first step to virtual reality for the masses will be "augmented reality" where the person is still interacting with the real world around them, but is also able to easily interact with people anywhere in the world and use "heads up" displays to overlay reality with maps and other information. This will become commonplace by 2001.
Prediction made in July 1998.
In the fall of 2000 I saw a lady at Wal-Mart talking to someone while she was going through pattern books. She was alone. She apparently had a hands-free cell phone. It was a little strange at first, I kept glancing around wondering if perhaps she was talking to someone on the other side of the rack. I've also noticed a few people in a shopping mall talking on a hands-free phone.
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The original home of Digital Equipment Corporation, known as The Mill, in
Maynard, Massachusetts (Minicomputer Capital of the World), will burn to the ground
in 1999.
Prediction made in March 1998.
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Nope, glad to say I was wrong.
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Computer monitors will become obsolete in 2001. This will be driven by portable devices (PDA/cell phone/pagers) first. Instead we will look through the device like a telescope to view a large virtual monitor screen. Eventually this will also evolve into eyeglasses for longer periods of viewing, and will replace all monitors. Prediction made in December 1997.
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Well, CRTs are fading away, but not the way I expected. Flatscreens are becoming a reasonably priced alternative, probably driven by laptop tech. The days of 70 lb. tubes are numbered.
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A truly sentient artificial life form will be created in 2001. The inventors will call it a discovery because certain aspects of it will be accidental or unexplainable. The idea of emergent behavior will play a role here. Prediction made in December 1997.
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Nothing in this area has occurred, or at least no one is telling. :-) I still think it will happen eventually.
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The first cat will be on the internet in 1999. What it will be doing there I don't know. Maybe the owner will be able to call it in for the night, or call it for dinner. Maybe the cat will be able to tell its owner to buy more cat food on the way home from work. Prediction made in December 1997.
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I'm going to claim this was correct. See Petey's Home Page.
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The following are ideas that have occurred to me over the past few years. I marked them with the date that I put them on the Web since I'm unsure of the exact times.
The world will continue to become a more and more peaceful place. The trend has already started and it will continue well into the next century. There will be brief lapses in the trend in 1998 and again in 2004. Prediction made in June 1997.
I suppose the bombing of Iraq could count as a lapse. Oh well, the bombing of Kosovo pretty much invalidated this prediction. 9/11. Afghanistan. And Iraq again. What *was* I thinking?
We will discover that the "hole" in the ozone layer is a natural phenomenon that has been occurring for a long time. Humankind has nothing to do with it. This will be seen in 1999. Prediction made in June 1997.
I still think this will be found to be true. It's taking longer than I guessed.
During 2000 the ozone hole entirely disappeared. Hmmm...
The switch to solar power for virtually everything we do will occur surprisingly swiftly. It will be driven by several third world countries after a major scientific breakthrough. This change will begin in 1999. Prediction made in June 1997.
Nothing I have seen indicates a trend in this direction, but I still think it will happen.
We will make radio contact with life outside our solar system in 2002. We will find that they are very much like us, so much so that initially we will be convinced that we must have common ancestors. Later we will find that it is due entirely to the laws of physics. Want to help? Prediction made in June 1997.
Wrong. But I'm still hopeful that seti@home will find something...
Proof of "remote viewing" will be demonstrated in a scientific setting. It will be found that certain individuals have the ability. The breakthrough will come when it is discovered that some everyday influence can block the effect temporarily. This will occur in 2002. Prediction made in June 1997.
No. But I've seen claims that the CIA and the Army have used this technique in the past. It's impossible to tell if any of this is true as far as I can tell. I suspect this will remain on the fringe for years to come.
A scientifically acceptable explanation for homeopathy will be found in 2000. It will open up a whole new branch of science. Prediction made in June 1997.
Nope. Nothing concrete that I've heard on this... But there seems to be a big market for stuff like this regardless.
A popular band will accidentally discover a powerful acoustic method of mind control in 2001. Once it all gets sorted out, the effect will be a major benefit to humanity. Prediction made in June 1997.
Rats. It really would have been cool if this had happened.
In 2009 there will be a really close approach of an asteroid or comet to the earth. It will scare us all into taking some real action to protect our planet in the future. Prediction made in June 1997.
At least some people are "keeping an eye on the stars in the sky in case one starts to fall."
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