20 Silly Future Predictions From The 90s That Seem Hilarious Now - 1

20 Silly Future Predictions From The 90s That Seem Hilarious Now

Have you ever made a prediction about the future? For example, when you were asked to write an essay about 2020 back in the year 2004, did you write about flying cars and conquering Mars? Human imagination is quite amazing but who knew that the year 2020 would actually be the year in which a microscopic virus affects the whole world.

Nobody can really predict the future but some people try. And it’s funny to look at their predictions years later just to find out how they failed miserably. Recently a Twitter thread went viral as it dug up some hilariously wrong predictions from the 90s. Scroll below to see the things that were inaccurately predicted in the past.

#1

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“You’ll never make any money out of children’s books” – Advice to JK Rowling from Barry Cunningham, editor at Bloomsbury Books, 1996.

#2

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In 1998, FourFourTwo magazine predicted David Beckham would like like this (left) in 2020. This is how he actually looks like

#3

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#4

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“…Apple [is] a chaotic mess without a strategic vision and certainly no future.” (1996)

#5

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This book from 1999 thought this was gonna be space in 2010. Needless to say, that didn’t happen.

#6

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“The whole way that you can check somebody’s reputation will be so much more sophisticated on the Net than it is in print today” – Bill Gates

#7

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“Two years from now, spam will be solved” – Bill Gates, 2004

#8

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“I don’t believe that phone books, newspapers, magazines, or corner video stores will disappear as computer networks spread. Nor do I think that my telephone will merge with my computer, to become some sort of information appliance.” “Video-on-demand, that killer application of communications, will remain a dream.” – Clifford Stoll

#9

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#10

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Jeff Bezos in the late 90s, describing Apple Computer as an “true American tragedy”, among other choice quotes of what caused Apple to bite the dust

#11

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“No matter how inexpensive the machines become, I still can’t imagine the average user taking one along when fishing.” – Erik Sandberg-Diment

#12

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#13

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“I suspect Big Brother won’t have an easy time tracing us. … Our privacy will be protected, as it always has been, by simple obscurity and the high cost of uncovering information about us.” – Clifford Stoll, 1995

#14

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“The idea of a personal communicator in every pocket is a ‘pipe dream driven by greed’.” – Andy Grove, then CEO if Intel (1992)

#15

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“HANGING OUT IN THE YEAR 2020” Trapper Keeper from 1993

#16

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Clifford Stoll being sceptical about online shopping, which is basically how everyone buys stuff now: “We’re promised instant catalogue shopping–just point and click for great deals. We’ll order airline tickets over the network, make restaurant reservations and negotiate sales contracts.

Stores will become obsolete. So how come my local mall does more business in an afternoon than the entire Internet handles in a month? Even if there were a trustworthy way to send money over the Internet—which there isn’t—the network is missing a most essential ingredient of capitalism: salespeople.”

#17

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In 1993, internet expert John Allen told CBC that he believed that our own moral code and internal rules would stop people from doing horrible things online.

“There’s not a lot of cursing, or swearing. One would think if you’re anonymous you could do anything you want, but people in a group have their own sense of community and what we can do.”

#18

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Virtual reality, 90’s perspective

#19

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#20

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“When high-bandwidth links allow every home to access animated, talking, holographic computerized encyclopedias, I can’t help thinking that kids still won’t use ’em.” – Clifford Stoll

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Saumya Ratan

Saumya is an explorer of all things beautiful, quirky, and heartwarming. With her knack for art, design, photography, fun trivia, and internet humor, she takes you on a journey through the lighter side of pop culture.