Future what if 1990

[mattep74]

Today is january 1 1990. What will the future have in store

Will Soviet Union break apart in several smaller pieces or will Gorby go the hardline way and force the republics into line

Who will follow Reagan. Will George Bush follow him as the new president or is it time for a democrat?

Is the worlds economy going to remain stable or does a depression lure around the corner?

Will we get to Mars before 2010?


ooc: and how many future what ifs can we do, there is 1910-20-40-50-60-70 left and 1500-1600-1700 ;)

[Gamingboy]

I predict that this "Personal Computer" thing may have a future, once we find a way to put everything we can find up for auction on a "internet".

[KJM]

Who would have thought that the U.S. and Soviets would be almost allies at this point? I'd say the Cold War is over.

Unfortunately, I imagine this will bring new enemies to the forefront.

[Justin Pickard]

I predict that this "Personal Computer" thing may have a future, once we find a way to put everything we can find up for auction on a "internet".

What is this "internet" of which you speak? Short for internal network, I presume, in which case, how would you be able to auction things? What? I'm confused.

[csa945]

Today is january 1 1990.
Who will follow Reagan. Will George Bush follow him as the new president or is it time for a democrat?

Bush was elected in 1988.

[Stalin]

Today is january 1 1990. What will the future have in store

Will Soviet Union break apart in several smaller pieces or will Gorby go the hardline way and force the republics into line

Is the worlds economy going to remain stable or does a depression lure around the corner?

Will we get to Mars before 2010?


ooc: and how many future what ifs can we do, there is 1910-20-40-50-60-70 left and 1500-1600-1700 ;)


Well, I'd say that the Soviets are going to implode. They're already nearly bankrupt and most of their old client states are gone. I think that the world's economy is going to be fine in the long run, although the S&L crisis seems like an indicator that we may be approaching a major recession. As for Mars: I doubt it, people still haven't really gotten over Challenger, and the space program has been on the decline for awhile IMO.

Overall, I think this decade is going to be pretty peaceful. Although I do think that the 21st century will be a time when problems like environmental destruction, terrorism, Civil Rights issues (racial and sexual), etc. will intensify.

[mattep74]

What is this "internet" of which you speak? Short for internal network, I presume, in which case, how would you be able to auction things? What? I'm confused.

Internet existed in 1990 because it was created in the 1960ths but didnt become popular until the mid 1990ths

[Gamingboy]

I got a few sports predictions:

My super bowl prediction: I predict the Bills will absolutely CRUSH the Giants on January 27th this year. Heck, I doubt Norwood will even have to kick a field goal.

I also have to say that Jose Canseco is the greatest Baseball player of all time, and will by 2000 have easily overtaken Hank Aaron's HR record. I mean, look at the guy, he's got total natural ability! And I mean, it's not like he's cheating. EVERYONE knows you can't cheat in Baseball, unless if those bats he's using are corked.

[DMS]

will spend the next decade in absolute stagnation, never recovering from the Tokyo real estate and stock market crash.

[Justin Pickard]

Internet existed in 1990 because it was created in the 1960ths but didnt become popular until the mid 1990ths

Yes, but that doesn't mean that I've heard of it, as a member of the public.

[Max Sinister]

I say we're facing unintersting times (forgive me the pun). Communism broke down, the days of ideological fights are over. Of course, there are ecological and economical problems to solve, but who's going to challenge democracy now that she's won over all the place?

[Hendryk]

Well, if that scholar Francis Fukuyama is to be believed, we are witnessing no less than the End of History--that's what he called his book. In a nutshell, he argues that history, defined as the strugle between competing metanarratives, is over now that the liberal metanarrative ("liberal" in the true, not the American, sense) has defeated the communist one, which was the last serious competition it faced on an ideological level. I for one am skeptical; paradoxically, his theory rests on the classic Marxist/Christian idea of teleological millenarism. Personally, I think we'll have history as long as mankind is around, with all the troubles that go with it.
I also think the former Soviet sphere of influence is in for some rough times. Communism was like a giant freezer, it maintained in deep freeze countless feuds and ethnic rivalries that, like so much rotten meat, are now thawing up. No bonus points for guessing that the Balkans will soon resume their old habit of civil wars--already that Milosevic fellow is stirring up trouble in Kosovo, claiming it's the birthplace of the Serbian nation or whatever. Fortunately, with European political unification now around the corner, we'll be able to keep things under control.
Also, I think the next couple of decades will witness America's belated awakening to the Islamist threat. For several years we Europeans have had to put up with terror campaigns, bombs blowing up in our streets and our airplanes, while the US State Department was blissfully subsidizing those so-called Mujahideen in Afghanistan just to piss off the Russians. Well, mark my words, what goes around comes around.

[zoomar]

Yes, but that doesn't mean that I've heard of it, as a member of the public.

Besides, it was called the gorlink, an abbrevation of "Gore Univac Link" after it's founder, Albert Gore. With the development of the small personal univac, called the "minivac", in 1980 and the "crab" pointing device by Coleco engineer William Gates in 1982, people without access to mini card punchers could access the gorelink in a matter of mere hours instead of days. Soon, public gorelink booths began to sprout up all over the nation to satisfy the people's demand for fast and reliable electrocoms. And the rest is history.

[Stalin]

I say we're facing unintersting times (forgive me the pun). Communism broke down, the days of ideological fights are over. Of course, there are ecological and economical problems to solve, but who's going to challenge democracy now that she's won over all the place?

With the USSR in decline, think that a massive political and military power vacuum could result. If that proves to be the case, I expect that the Islamic extremists (Iran and terrorist organizations) and the Chinese will be presenting the West with major problems in the near future. The Koreans, Iraqis, Syrians and other "Rogue nations" could present us with unanticipated problems too (especially North Korea, now that they don't have the Reds backing them up).

[Gamingboy]

Besides, it was called the gorlink, an abbrevation of "Gore Univac Link" after it's founder, Albert Gore. With the development of the small personal univac, called the "minivac", in 1980 and the "crab" pointing device by Coleco engineer William Gates in 1982, people without access to mini card punchers could access the gorelink in a matter of mere hours instead of days. Soon, public gorelink booths began to sprout up all over the nation to satisfy the people's demand for fast and reliable electrocoms. And the rest is history.


Al Gore? The Senator?

[BCO]

Yes, but that doesn't mean that I've heard of it, as a member of the public.

I believe the he was describing the civilian version of the Arpanet, which allows universities, government agencies and some companies to connect by email, discussion groups and file transfer. While it is a useful data resource, it certainly is not used for auctions or for sales purposes. I think that would be a violation of its charter.