8 90s Predictions About the Future You Can Laugh at Because None of Them Were True

Ah, the 90s. Like every other decade in the past, the 1990s can be an extremely nostalgic time for many to remember. From classic Friends sitcoms to the catchy hits of the Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys, the 90s gave us so many gifts. But besides being a great era for pop culture, not everything from that decade has stood the test of time. Some predictions made in the 90s might also be fun to look back on.

Inspired by a 2000 newspaper article titled "Internet may be just a passing fad as millions are giving it up" that went viral on Twitter, we began to unearth other ridiculously inaccurate predictions from the past. While these claims about the future didn't ring true, they are certainly fun to read today.

Enjoy this comic list we've put together.
8 PHOTOS

1. “In two years the spam problem will be solved” - Bill Gates, 2004

2. “I don't believe that telephone directories, newspapers, magazines or video stores on the corner will disappear as computer networks spread. I also don't think my phone will merge with my computer to become some kind of information device." "Video on Demand, that killer communication tool, will remain a dream." — Clifford Stoll

3. In 1998, FourFourTwo magazine predicted that David Beckham would be like this (left) in 2020. Here's what it actually looks like

4. "You will never make money from children's books" - JK Rowling's advice from Barry Cunningham, editor of Bloomsbury Books, 1996

5. - "I suspect that Big Brother will have a hard time tracking us down. … Our privacy will be protected, as it always has been, by simple obscurity and the high cost of disclosing information about us.” — Clifford Stoll, 1995

6. “The idea of a personal communicator in every pocket is a pipe dream driven by greed.” — Andy Grove, then-CEO of Intel (1992)

7. Clifford Stoll is skeptical about online shopping, which, in fact, everyone now does: “We are promised instant catalog purchases - just point and click to get great deals. We will book flights online, make restaurant reservations, and negotiate sales. contracts. Stores are outdated. So why does my local mall process more orders in a day than the entire Internet process in a month? Even if there were a reliable way to send money over the Internet - which there is not - the most important component of capitalism is missing: merchants.

8. In 1993, Internet expert John Allen told the CBC that he believed our own moral code and internal rules would keep people from doing terrible things online. “There is not much cursing or swearing here. One would think that if you are anonymous you can do whatever you want, but the people in the group have their own sense of community and what we can do.”