REPORT
Back to the Future Day:
How has the real October
21, 2015 measured up?
T
hey had such high hopes for October 21, 2015.
Back in 1989, the makers of Back to the Future
sent its lead cast Marty (Michael J. Fox) and Doc
(Christopher Lloyd) hurtling into the future, and they
landed on October 21, 2015 in a world filled with hoverboards, flying cars and shoelaces that tied themselves.
But we can't say we completed disappointed 1989.
Here's a lowdown of what we have managed to invent
and push into the mainstream:
1- We got drones.
In Back to the Future, everyone's got a drone buzzing
over their head. In 2015, we have drones taking pictures
of us at shaadis, delivering our Amazon goodies, and
picking up our laundry, if you believe this Time report.
2- Video calling: Been there, done that... since 2003
Back to the Future imagines that we'd be video conferencing on 60'' screens, but since the invention of Skype
and its many successors, we've been waving 'Hi!' on our
computer screens and cell phones.
3- Video glasses are also a thing, thanks to Google
Video glasses was the Gameboy for Back to the Future
2015 kids. Marty and Jennifer's kids studiously ignored
their family, and chatted on the phone and watched TV
on their video glasses instead.Google may no longer
be selling Google Glass, but you can still buy a pair on
eBay and watch videos, record images, and search the
internet.
4- 3D movies are so common, we're bored of them!
While we haven't had the pleasure to see 19 installments of the Jaws series (maybe that's a good thing),
there's never a time when there's no 3D movies screening in the cinemas.
5- Pepsi Perfect exists... for a day!
Never one to miss out on a marketing stunt, Pepsi is
selling limited edition bottles of Pepsi Perfect, the vitamin-infused soda of choice in Back to the Future. And
fans are getting them cheap! The bottles, which were
sold in the film for 50 bucks, cost only $20.15 as a nod
to the year 2015.
PS: Although not as ubiquitous a sight as the makers
of Back to the Future would have liked to believe, hoverboards exist (they're just not very good), as do flying
cars and Nike had plans to roll out a self-lacing version
of Air Mags this month. So we're not that far behind!
23 | BOOM