As futurologists in 1988 represented the 2013th

25 years ago, Los Angeles magazine presented what the world would look like in a quarter of a century. In which they were right, and in what they did not, drawing pictures of future possibilities and limits of humanity?

The main article of the magazine dated April 3, 1988 portrayed the futuristic center of Los Angeles, crossed by multi-level highways with a multitude of self-managed electric vehicles. The article talked about the fictional Morrow family from the suburb of Granada Hills, which was described in 2013 by the science fiction writer Nicole Yorkin.
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A week ago, the LA Times, together with the University of Southern California, reviewed the archive to assess the accuracy of the predictions made. It is noteworthy that the magazine had extremely optimistic views on the future of the print media, but did not predict its closure in 2012. :)

So, in what they were right, and in what - not:

Smart home (right)

The Morrow family begins every morning with the revitalization of their smart home: “In the kitchen, a coffee machine starts to make aromatic coffee, and the oven is already baking a fresh portion of cinnamon buns.”

Of course, while this is not an everyday practice, but over the past few years there has been a serious turn in the field of home devices. Today, more and more devices are connecting to the Internet to be more flexible and work fully per person, and not vice versa. It is prosaic, but it is coffee makers and bread makers with a timer in use with us for a very long time. :)

Newspapers printed right at home (not true)

The article also predicted that every morning a family laser printer would automatically print the most interesting set of news for them. The process of receiving news has indeed become more personalized, but smartphones, and not printers, have become the platform for this. But today there are miniature printers that print tiny newspapers of your choice. :)

GPS and computerization of machines (right)

Writers unmistakably predicted that in 2013 the machines would be equipped with computers that would control most of the parameters and a GPS system for navigation. They also predicted self-driving machines, the wide use of which, as Google promises, is just around the corner.

Ubiquitous robots helpers and robo-pets (not true)

While we are still far from this. Yorkin describes how Morrow’s son greets his robot dog every morning, and a robot with a “southern accent” makes the bed. Unfortunately, digital pets have not had any special results since the days of Tamagotchi, and robots at home today can vacuum up the floor.

In the full version of the article , you can also find both accomplished sketches of digital training classes, and failed predictions about how Los Angeles will be drowned in crime by the future.