1987: PREDICTING the Person of the FUTURE | Tomorrow's World | Past Predictions | BBC Archive

[@JonHiddenColey]

Unfortunately, they didn't predict the show would be axed 16 years later. Shame really, it was one of my favourite BBC shows at the time.

[@ZX48K]

I don't think it would have worked today. There has been a slow down in technological advances, Moore's law no longer applies.

[@madm4tty]

BBC Click is the nearest thing to it now

[@doriangray_1999]

@ZX48K Moore's law can't tell us anything in this context. Moore's law was only concerned with storeage capacity of information and the cost of the hardware! We still have the potential for unlimited growth in processor speed and the low manufaction cost Moore talked about. The fact is that the consumer market is 'saturated'. Obtainable gadgets that can do more than we ask for (or know that they can do... 😈). *An iPhone may have been a dream thirty years ago - now many people can't fully use all it's functions* 😳

[@TheTruthKiwi]

​@@doriangray_1999Moore's Law states that the number of transistors on a microchip doubles about every two years, though the cost of computers is halved.

[@dee_-_]

What r they gonna talk about tho. All technology now days are boring and same same. Rectangular phones, no flying cars, tvs looks the same, the same looking soundbars wat has replaced decent looking stereos. Airplanes still use fuel. The list goes on. All in a world where we don't know who we are anymore 😂.

[@petergivenbless900]

1961: the future is... plastic! 1987: the future is... smart plastic! 2023: ... we are drowning in plastic!

[@Sandra-qb4wn]

When plastic first came out I was about 10 or 11 years old I said that it will destroy the world

[@maxslain4543]

Congratulations on living so long - Bakelite came out in 1907 :D

[@BradTheThird]

Give me my plastic straws. To hell with the turtles!

[@JamanWerSonst]

@@Sandra-qb4wn I think government should just be a bunch of 10 year olds who are into science shows. They would make the best decisions. I'm not even kidding.

[@bruceli9094]

Government: support the current thing, the current fear. Give me your taxes. Rinse and repeat forever.

[@hilaryepstein6013]

I remember 1987 as though it were yesterday so it's a bit weird to think I'm now living deep into the future that they were predicting.

[@markmuller7962]

Very deep

[@Caz_2087]

I was born 5 days after this was broadcast, thanks for making me feel old by saying very deep into the future 😂

[@ahronthegreat]

@@markmuller7962no it’s not😂

[@ajs41]

There was an optimistic atmosphere with regard to the future from about 1960 to 2001 which was fantastic to live through, (although I can only remember it from about 1985 onwards). Regrettably a lot of people reacted to the 9/11 attacks in exactly the way the terrorists wanted, by becoming negative and paranoid.

[@rickh3714]

​@@Caz_2087OK Kiddo! Some of us were born 24 years before. No need to rub it in! 🧐

[@barkleybeaver2859]

Its interesting how in 1965, they couldn't predict life in 1987, due to key elements in technological advancements such as the microprocessor/microchips that even the most forward thinking people at the time couldn't predict, but in 1987 they could predict 2009 a lot more accurately due to most of those key technological advancements mostly made in the 70's and 80's.

[@purefoldnz3070]

it was pretty accurate even down to the apple vision pro.

[@benw-l7k]

@@purefoldnz3070 we've had VR far before the apple vision pro you know?

[@Wittgenstein.]

​@@benw-l7kThat's correct but it's the widespread adoption, not inclusively invention, that was predicted.

[@PilotFlight2Mars]

@4:47 “so I can sh!t out the world.” 😂😂😂 Tomorrow’s girl was super flammable.

[@enoz.j3506]

Hot , i would say, no botox or false personality.

[@soundseeker63]

Yeah, hopefully a non smoker! lol 🔥 😱

[@gpo746]

I wondered where the words in disco inferno came from "burn ..baby burn"

[@lazygazzzer]

Just checked. He really said it.

[@eduardoarmenta9232]

I'm surprised how similar the VR headset looks compared to a modern one. If only this show had lasted to this day.

[@hazy33]

Not a VR headset but 3d TV. Sony made a few models like this a decade or so ago.

[@TheRealEtaoinShrdlu]

Imagine printing a whole page just with the letter "k" when you receive a reply to a question?! 😂😂😂😂

[@JasmineSurrealVideos]

It's very meta watching an 80s clip about future predictions in 2023, which looked back with wry amusement at the 60s, which we are doing now at both the 60s and 80s ideas lol. I absolutely loved the male model from the 80s just totally hilarious, and Howard Stableford was always great, very light and funny and slightly bemused about it all. Such a great show as a kid, I loved it, for science nuts like me and yet never alienated the general public, it made tech accessible and fun.

[@fastertrackcreative]

They did note that they'd probably get things wrong.

[@alanpods______8260]

Astonishingly, I remember seeing this live on BBC, some 36 years ago.

[@human7932]

💪🔥👍

[@Stephen_Lafferty]

Very close! The portable printer is now a pdf reader on a tablet; the health monitor is now a smartwatch and app; the video watch is now a smartphone which many people use on public transport. It's great to see yesterday's predictions of what is now and near-now!

[@rRekko]

And the 3D TV is kind of a thing, you have 3D cardboard for your phone, or actual VR for computers, it's just that they're still quite expensive

[@carrot708]

The video watch is an apple watch

[@flybeep1661]

@@carrot708 Oh really?? You watch vids on your smartwatch then huh?? Nope, the video watch is a smartphone and they totally missed the ball by using a watch for that idea. Btw, most people don't wear watches today, only a minority and even those that do don't necessarily wear smartwatches.

[@marcvandervelsen]

The video watch is now Apple Vision Pro.

[@IjRp-b2x]

No, a portable printer exist.

[@BenjyDale]

Although implemented differently, these predictions were pretty close! The fingerprint recognition is a thing now, just that it's called biometrics now. The watch is a smartwatch but uses the internet instead of a satellite link. I did see portable printers in the 2000s, small battery-operated things but they weren't around for that long, as others said in the comments here that transferring of PDFs takes precedent now. For watching TV or movies while on public transport, it would be a phone or tablet instead of a VR headset

[@matix16]

And now we have AR headset - Apple Vision Pro

[@dannymcwilliams422]

And if the tie malfunctioned and told everyone you had the clap, you’d never come back from that

[@GURU-1701]

It’s impressive how close those predictions were. It’s almost like looking at an alternate present through the eyes of the 80’s. It’s a shame the show was cancelled before they could do the 2007 episode he promised.

[@flybeep1661]

Predictions were close?? What are you even talking about, none of this happened unless you start stretching out the definitions of what we currently have in order to fit this narrative. And nope, that's not a smart watch they are talking about, it's way more a phone but at that time they didn't really see portable phones becoming what they are now.

[@kelechi_77]

This is what writer Mark Fisher called "Lost Futures", what happens when all the predicted years of old days come to pass and nothing actually advanced in that direction? The 1950s futurist prediction of flying cars now looks dated and retro, even though at some point it was a plausible prediction for the cutting edge technology of the 21st century.

[@user-221i]

We have smart watches, VR, continues glucose monitoring devices. @@flybeep1661

[@TheUnitedView79]

@@flybeep1661I think it was a sarcastic comment 😂

[@fo4357]

@@flybeep1661 I guess if you mean that this didn't happen by 2007 you're correct. But compared to today, there were some close predictions. The printer in a briefcase obviously didn't happen, because they didn't predict smartphones and small high res screens that would make that obsolete. However, they predicted wearable tech - a smart watch and health trackers, the form was incorrect, but the idea was there. AR/VR glasses/headsets like the XReal, Quest 3, Vision Pro, on which you can watch TV are a currently developing technology that already exists. I'm actually typing this using such a device. Thermosensitive clothing is still in development, but could be here in the future.

[@goodiesguy]

keep it up with uploading in 50p. It's so refreshing to see archival videotape material being uploaded properly and not filmized.

[@MrDaiseymay]

What they didn't predict, was the demise of 'Tomorrows World' so no review in 2007.

[@dg-hughes]

The VR googles, smartwatch were good predictions, and they sort of got the virtual doctor doctor right. A home printer in the mid 1990s was a futuristic thing "desktop publishing" was all the rage. But Portable printers did exist 20 years later in 2007 but people are trying to go paperless mainly using PDFs with digital signatures. Printers are still quite common in the 2023 office. But many organizations leased not owned due to the $100K cost. And even more now have consolidated them to just have one shared printer per floor not dozens per floor.

[@r4zi3lgintoro65]

eink displays are kinda portable printers

[@uru86]

I'm pretty sure he wore the 3d headset backwards

[@hazy33]

Nope. If he had why would the strap cushioning the back of the head be perfectly straight?

[@TheTruthKiwi]

Every clip I've seen of this show had surprisingly accurate predictions. They must've had good researchers. It's also incredibly important to treasure these shows so we can see how far we've come. It's so easy to take for granted that I'm watching this on my 7" smartphone, listening with my true wireless earbuds and I can cast the video instantly to my 65" TV. Because the tech has developed over time it's not like we've suddenly got all these cool gadgets, it's taken a few decades to get here.

[@johnp139]

No

[@paulcalvert8105]

The tie would have worked well during covid. Lol

[@sammemrys8195]

Fun to look back to see people trying to look forward.😊

[@Sniffley1]

I love how he was getting close with "any information I want" in reference to his watch and proceeded to whip out a printer

[@lazygazzzer]

A printer made from bits of cardboard and bacofoil

[@ProjectCreativityGuy96]

1987 was the coolest year of modern times!

[@meagain3876]

I used to love watching Tomorrow's World - a wonderful part of my childhood. Lovely to watch clips of it again - even the ones when their predictions were wide of the mark. Their 1987 predictions were really good.

[@Dan23_7]

3:15, Howard the secret metal head 😈🤘🏼🤘🏼

[@lotuseater7247]

It's hard to predict the future on a technological level because it doesn't take into account social changes which influence and are influenced by it. Things which are not entirely controllable or predictable.

[@simonjones7727]

The irony is that those that 60s fashions are not a bad approximation of what the look of the early 21st Century has been, with a very bold use of pattern, elaborate hair and make up, and even the "Bluetooth" earrings are not so far off. The 80s love of texture, layering and neutral colours looks much more dated.

[@whiteonggoy7009]

I remember one show explained velcro and ask will it catch on.

[@AtheistOrphan]

Quite literally!

[@warrpedd]

Velcro has me hooked!

[@cambs0181]

In 1987 the BBC couldn't even predict a large hurricane heading straight towards them across the atlantic, let alone what we'd be wearing in the twenty first century.

[@gpo746]

😆 Yes , Don't forget they DID know about the '87 Hurricane as Michael Fish said : " Apparently , a woman rang the BBC and told us there was a hurricane on the way...don't worry, there isn't" So, it was pompousness and ignorance that put lives at danger . Cheers BBC ..

[@Caz_2087]

5 days after this was broadcast I was born. I can safely say, bring back the 80's, the best decade in every way

[@GeeEee75]

So you lived through 3 years of the 80s, which you likely do not remember, and can safely say that it was the best decade? I lived through it all, and can safely say that it was not.

[@Caz_2087]

@@GeeEee75 What a silly thing to say. One can only judge how good or bad something was if they were there to remember it? I am an 80's baby through and through. I grew up all things 80's - music, comedy's, movies. It doesn't matter one bit if it was the 90's by the time I got to know the 80's. You are talking to a complete geek here, I've watched pretty much every Margaret Thatcher documentary there is on here. I know my stuff. The 80's was amazing. The technology revolution paved the way for what we have now. I can certainly agree with you that the 80's had it's bad, Thatcher being one of them but the rest imo was pretty good, I'm a millennial, there's Gen Z's born way after me gushing about the 80's.

[@GeeEee75]

​@@Caz_2087​@Caz_2087 The decade that brought us AIDS, mass privatization, the greed is good attitude, Reagan and Thatcher, famine across Africa and Stock, Aitken and Waterman. I stand by my assertion. If you weren't there, you don't really know what it was like.

[@GrilledChickenRamyun]

That ear bud prediction is amazing

[@Wiki7202]

if only the BBC would bring this back!

[@babyrakes]

I love how these shows always predict 20 years in the future will be some dystopian futuristic alien landscape when in reality just our clothes and haircuts are different

[@Larry]

That's great, a tie that can tell everyone around you how sick you are :D

[@RUSH2112RUSH]

"...you could make notes all over yourself..." well they were certainly correct with the rise in the popularity of tattoos.

[@vanessahawarden9028]

@Geddy lee Hammersley…Brilliantly said!

[@afonline2004]

4:39 He put the "3D TV" goggles on the wrong way round!

[@speedbird737]

he didnt

[@hazy33]

Nope. If he had why would the strap cushioning the back of the head be perfectly straight?

[@xdasdaasdasd4787]

Please get this show rebooted

[@PocketProjects]

At 4'45 in we can clearly see the genius of Tomorrow's World for predicting the Meta Quest 3 all those years back - shame they couldn't predict which way round users would have to wear it tho 🙄

[@hazy33]

He put it on the correct way round. . If he had why would the strap cushioning the back of the head be perfectly straight?

[@MiceOnParole]

Lovely Maggie Philbin 😍

[@suspectdown5133]

Not to mention the Ai putting a video on your personal device for you to watch.

[@khanhkhanh1060]

3:51 He is right!

[@yoyo1poe]

Everything went better than expected

[@CaesarAugustus.]

The earrings was actually pretty close to earbuds.

[@budsio]

And the headset TV is like VR today.

[@harvestcanada]

The reason why they got the future wrong, is because they did not look out for the trends that was apparent right in front of them. They did not take into account the the exponential power of the digital realm, which gave use the Internet and smartphones, the cultural impact of global music which affects fashion, climate change, war, and retro culture and traditional fashion from other countries such as Japan, China, Nigeria South Korea, and African America.

[@simonjz05]

No one ever said the woman of the future was an undateable nightmare. Thats a lose then for TW.

[@markmuller7962]

The portable printer puzzles me, can someone explain? Edit: Maybe the lack of internet so they had to print stuff?

[@davidpanton3192]

There were no flatscreens then; the crude laptops of the time had small LCD screens so I suppose they thought portable printers were the future!

[@r4zi3lgintoro65]

they also don't mind cutting trees

[@markmuller7962]

@@r4zi3lgintoro65 I wish that was the reason why we print less today

[@GeeEee75]

If you wanted to send a document back then you had to fax it, which involved paper at both ends.

[@johnp139]

Just plain IGNORANCE!

[@leejohnson3209]

He put his 3d TV on back to front.

[@Jay-O_Carlow]

How ever did the fashon for the girls not take off LOl

[@angeladawn805]

3:20 😂 Greetings 20th century people. (Very Bill & Ted)

[@smithmr1]

Brilliant. Execution-ally different but conceptually close.

[@der.Schtefan]

The mobile printers were a thing for a long time in the 90s

[@dmitrykuznetsov9798]

At 02:08, close-up of the presenter's hand. It is evident, this woman has a cat. ))

[@AtheistOrphan]

She also had Keith Chegwin for a husband.

[@Candywarhol]

But no hoverboards!

[@elipaynter]

I love that 10lb portable printer

[@drebone1986]

3:06 that girl outfit was definitely the 2000s supermodel look even down to her makeup, that's the most accurate but I just assume because it already existed and never stopped since that time. The rest of the predictions are a given because that's where we were headed anyway back then to the point that somebody would always make an advertisement of please make this thing soon every year and the only difference would be how it looked but it'll always be: Smartwatch Portable computer Internet/Connectivity Smart clothing Video conferencing Virtual reality Robots Smart vehicles A.I. It's easy to predict this future cause frankly they never stopped trying to manifest it since the 60s really. They might not had known what it'll look like, what it'll do to society or how it'll work but it was on the list fasho and I'm glad I live in this timeline to finally check off that entire list even though A.I. is still the baby of the group, it is here so ✅

[@simonjones7727]

Exactly!

[@AlexAzzurri]

he was right apple vision is here

[@digitarts6085]

He's wearing VR backward....

[@ramonmontes6414]

The internet and its applications were out of the radar then. Although it already was in very limited use, the current role was totally missed. And the social and behavioural consequences. Apart from that, great leaps have been taken in all existing disciplines in science, engineering, medicine and more.

[@khanhkhanh1060]

4:53 🤩🤩🤩

[@soundseeker63]

That 80's equivalent of a smartwatch is actually pretty cool! And many of the features of the health monitor can now be found in... the smartwatch of today. So they were actually pretty much on the money with this one. Even those ghastly Meta VR headsets bare a striking resemblance to that 3d personal TV. I'm impressed how close they were with this one. The only thing they hadn't picked up in then, surprisingly, is how the internet would soon change....... EVERYTHING!

[@truth-12345.]

Well, 1987 predictions are somehow close to what we have now.

[@johnp139]

Wrong

[@The44kGaming]

Apple Vision Pro. 4:50 😅😅

[@johnschaefer2238]

Pop e air? A raincoat is a Macintosh? That coat didn’t look like a stereo receiver to me?

[@fastertrackcreative]

That headset isn't far off but it's the wrong way around kind of

[@wattooz]

You don't need to carry a printer if you have LED Screens ranging from pocket size to the size of a large window

[@topologyrob]

VR was already a thing in 1987 so the headgear isn’t much of a stretch. Ditto for the wireless internet

[@therealknapster]

Didn't predict tomorrow's girl saying ' like ' every other word & being larger from fast/ processed food

[@IjRp-b2x]

3:01 wow that guy look like someone from present time. 😮😮

[@lukemorris9066]

Carrying a printer to get messages and a tv to watch..... I think a smart phone might be a bit more practical lol

[@gemmrk]

Even a year ago we didnt know AGI would exist. It exists now and is about to be released. The world is about to change drastically. You will see.

[@myself3209]

I like how normal the guy speaks

[@sonofsilverbullet5860]

Hand and face recognition it accurate

[@chrisodonnell7252]

That tie is sick!

[@jeffwelshJedidivemaster]

Bring back tomorrow's world

[@xayyay]

Just like micro chips It was imposible to guess the cloud at that time, on the other side, watching this after apple vision pro recently came out I got goosebumps. I guess the concept was always there but not technologicaly posible.

[@ryanmcbride2695]

I really wasn’t expecting to hear King Tut by Paul Hardcastle in this

[@RussellGi]

The 80s predictions are actually pretty good! Although it is somewhat hilarious when he pulls a printer out his bag! Shows how limited our perceptions of the future are by limited by the technology of the present day. Things like touchscreens, wifi, mobile data or tiny wireless headphones are ubiquitously amazing in 2024, but would have been considered magic rather than advanced technology (a wee Arthur C. Clarke reference) in 1987.

[@ChatGPT1111]

A lot more time has transpired since 1987 than the time prior all the way back to the original show!

[@thehiddenplace]

Smart watch... check... mobile printer... we were so innocent back then.

[@keurikeuri7851]

Did the 1960s prediction predicted DriFit clothes we have today when they say people are going to wear plastic clothes

[@wplegend]

Predicted the apple vision pro

[@TotemoGaijin]

Some of them aren't too far off from what we got, but I'm not sure what their obsession is with clothing. The cotton/poly blend seems decent enough.

[@bricktasticanimations4834]

Fingerprint recognition does indeed exist and so do smart watches and virtual reality. It's cool that he also predicted the mobile use of the internet, a network of computers indeed!

[@johnp139]

I only use facial recognition. Where was that?

[@bricktasticanimations4834]

@@johnp139 3:42

[@twisterwiper]

Funny. Why would you want to print the message you received? They were so printer happy back in those days 😂

[@GeeEee75]

Boomers. They cannot receive a document without wanting to print it out.🙄😂

[@gracielasaenz9300]

The most realistic. assertion Of future. Living Tom Cruise The Minority report. Sci fi came to life with AI. Neuro science. 1987. everywhere. access TV. was a dream. ...lol we evolved into the future. Fun to look back. ✌️

[@seanys]

How am I going to operate my digital watch, now?!? (that I no longer have to wear a watch)

[@mariohw8562]

I always wonder did they forget to cgi to tie to change color?

[@simonhawking9757]

Because of the pace of developments these days, I suspect Tomorrows World would literally mean tomorrow’s world, if it were ever rebooted

[@chrisnewman7281]

plastic is a curse of the modern age with now moved into the disposable clothing age culture of buying clothes that are disposable you buy them, wear them a few times and then discard them

[@supernoob9001]

Imagine wearing this tie to work and everyone sees that you're one sick f.

[@BaileySendja420]

Ppl in 1987 : people will casually drive in a flying cars Ppl in 2024 : plastic in the ballsack

[@alexthomas5838]

0:57 Kamela used these to cheat in the Debate

[@TheDevilsAccountant]

Tbh honest they got alot right. "Carrying my office with me" is basically laptops /tablets ....We do have smart watches that connect to everything and those 3D glasses are here aswell.

[@Osamabahudila]

ما كان حلم اصبح حقيقة واقعة. المخترع د-اسامه باهديلة

[@TechGamesAU]

Mobile printers are going to take the mobile phone market by storm

[@PhilTaylorTBH]

Thermosensitive suit. Absorbs heat to keep you cool, releases it when your cold. A bit like my storage heaters at home. They don't flipping work, the suit won't either!

[@johnp139]

EXACTLY!!!!! STUPID IGNORANT CONCEPT!!!! DEFIES PHYSICS!!!!

[@Teeveepicksures]

better than google glass

[@CM73878]

I can’t remember when I printed anything.

[@SL2K2000]

i not been able to catch a bird withuot the beer rings that used to hold a 4 pack together.........starving

[@giulioluzzardi7632]

Tomorrows person became an avid consumer of todays mass-produced souless trends.

[@InspireRise300]

They got the lashes right