That 1999 article about flying cars made me flip my stance on predictions

Oliver Ellis · 2026-09-06T11:10:06.142676+00:00

I used to laugh at all those old tech predictions, thought they were pure jokes. Then last Tuesday I dug up a 1999 CNN piece predicting we'd all have personal hovercrafts by 2025, and it hit me that we DO have drones delivering packages in some cities. The reason I changed my mind is that predictions fail when they assume the WRONG problem gets solved, like flying cars ignore traffic laws and parking. My buddy in Austin says the real future was just smartphones plus cheap sensors, which is boring but true. Anyone else have a prediction you mocked that turned out half-right in a weird way?

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That 1999 article about flying cars made me flip my stance on predictions | Bad Tech Predictions - HW Forums