Five Things Experts in 1988 Predicted We’d Have By Now and Three Predictions They Missed

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.

(Los Angeles Times)