If you haven't heard about this yet, back on April 3rd 1988, the "Los Angeles Times Magazine" had a cover story predicting what life would be like in 2013.
It's now 25 years later, and a class at USC is looking back to see how accurate the predictions were. Here are five things the article got right:
#1.) Every car would have a computer in it, and be able to drive itself. Cars have had computer systems for years . . . and there are self-parking cars, as well as the Google Car that drives itself.
#2.) Computer navigation systems for driving . . . similar to GPS.
#3.) Video chat systems . . . like Skype.
#4.) A, quote, "personal portable computer about the size of a three-by-five card" . . . which sounds a lot like a smartphone.
#5.) Schools with satellite campuses connected over computer networks . . . and computer screens for walls. Most colleges offer long-distance and online courses now . . . and wall-mounted "Smart boards" are part of many classrooms.
And here are three predictions the experts MISSED on 25 years ago:
#1.) Robot cooks and maids. They thought those would hit the market in the late 1990s and be common by now. Other than Roomba vacuum cleaners, we're still waiting.
#2.) Hover cars. Experts said that magnetism would be used to lift cars off the road for a smoother ride . . . That hasn't happened, but apparently the technology is expected to be ready soon.
#3.) Robot pets.
