Challenge: Make the "BTTF 2" 2015 a Reality

This is a Back to the Future 2 related question.

In the 80s, 2015 seemed far off in the future. So the things it postulated seemed resonable. These included an average American home with fax machines everywhere in every room, 40 TVs in on area which the ADD rattled generations which watch simultaneously, the Japanese as a major economic still and expanding to be McFly's bosses, "Dehydrators" which could cook food in a nano-second replacing Microwaves, hover cars and boards, fushion technology where anything can be fuel, 80s nostalgia as strong as the 50s nostalgia then, Vietnam as a travel destination, 19 Jaws films, hologram technology, dust retardant books, a Queen Diana, I believe a female President and so. And fashion consisted of wearing pockets out, double ties, rainbow hats, self tying shoes, and so on.

We are 3 years away from that, and about 90% of it never happened, neither in events or technology. The challenge is to get as close to that as possible.
 
In fact, I'd say it would be the other way around - hoverboards are just a matter of magnetism, which is put into practice even IOTL.

To answer the question, I'd say it would be possible with a 1920 POD, that being the birth of a certain Dr. Emmett Lathrop "Doc" Brown. I always thought it was kind of obvious that he was responsible for hover- and fusion technology, the two main elements of BTTF's 2015.
 
A few of those are pretty straightforward changes - Princess Diana survives her car crash, Hilary wins in '08, the Jaws series keeps producing movies. Hover cars are actually possible and have been since at least '05 - cars would float along above magnetic tracks. It's just damn expensive, and the only people that could pay for it stand to benefit from people having to pay gas prices every day. Maybe a big environmental push in the early 2000s could result in hover cars starting to appear, but I am just spitballing here.
 
I think a lot of it has been realised, either directly or by close analogy.

"These included an average American home with fax machines everywhere in every room".

Well, change fax machine to mobile phone/Blackberry/iPad or other data transmission device and we're almost there.

"Japanese as a major economic still".

The Japanese econmy is now superseded by China but they are still a player. And in the context of BTTF, the rise of China is even more in line with the franchise message of the world being different.

"80s nostalgia as strong as the 50s nostalgia then".

Come to Britain, "we love the 80's" is being done to death.

"Vietnam as a travel destination"

It isn't? I thought it's a hot destination these days.

"19 Jaws films"

The number is an exaggeration of course but the concept is undeniably real - Hollywood stopped having original ideas a decade ago and now basically rehashes everything. It's hard to name a movie that hasn't gone down the franchise route.

"hologram technology"

It exists, just not yet to the level of Star Wars sophistication.

"a Queen Diana"

Can't blame the writers for not predicting a car crash. Still, her son is the popular choice for next monarch.

"a female President"

At one stage the last US election looked like it could have been between Hilary Clinton and Sarah Palin. So though it didn't happen a female President is now not the radical idea it was in the 80's. It's accepted.

"fashion consisted of wearing pockets out, double ties, rainbow hats"

Well, I've seen pockets out and rainbow hats. Thankfully they didn't seem to take off as a fashion, but are they any weirder than ugg boots, jeans worn halfway down the arse or the current tattoo craze?

Overall I'd say their prediction scorecard is quite good.
 
Technological progress would be helped out a lot by a United States government that's actually interested in investing in it. Unfortunately, that means that you've probably got to avoid the insane spiral into budget deficit hysteria during the 1980s and 1990s to get a government willing to spend money on that kind of thing.

When was BTTF made? 1985? Maybe Mondale beats Reagan in 1984, or Dukakis beats Bush in '88 and makes big government liberalism respectable again.
 
Just have Doc miss rescuing Clara Clayton in 1885, genius scientist who has completed his lifelong goal is gonna have a lot of time on his super smart hands lol.
 
The prices of BTTF 2015 (roughly ten times OTL) are doable, although this requires a complete economic reworking.


Hoverboards and Flying Cars are going to need to be rethought. While the discovery of Neodymium_magnets is enough to plausibly get and keep things flying, something magnetic and powerful enough to send someone flying around is also strong enough to crunch them pretty hard as well.


Flying car technology is something that has been considered for decades, but to make it entirely dominant, it would have to be invented in 2000. It might be more plausible to do something like have helicopters proliferate. At a third of a million dollars, Helicopters are impossibly expensive for the masses today, but it might be possible for heavy government investment and a means to develop a cheaper, safer model.


So Doc Brown appears in 1985 with a Time Machine Helicopter.


Mr Fusion? Not happening. A nuclear fission reactor based on salts and stone shells for containment is plausible, powered by thorium.


Inside out pants? Cultural PoD. Self-adjusting clothes? Cultural PoD. The people of 2015 aren't going to look like tattooed guys with crew cuts and slangy messages on T-shirts; they're going to have their pants inside out, with brilliant colors.


Much of the home technology is odd as well. Multiple TVs at once is conservative, instant Face to Face communication is as easy as Skype. Walking upside down is harder to see, though. Hydrating food for quick production--been tried, although I think the results really wouldn't look like BTTF2.


So, I think it could be more like BTTF 2. That said, the reverse question--of getting BTTF 2 to take place in OTL 2015--has interested me as well. Marty goes to a Starbucks; Griffin and his gang drive around in a Hummer. Instead of a sports almanac, Marty buys an Ipad 4 and that application on it.
 
I can't address the technological questions, but I can change a major cultural element. In 1991, the MLB expanded, adding 2 teams to the National League so as to balance out the size of the leagues. There were originally 10 cities vying for the slots, which were narrowed down to 6 in 1990: Buffalo, Denver, Miami, Orlando, Tampa/St. Pete, and Washington, DC. OTL, the Denver and Miami bids were accepted, and the Rockies and Marlins came about. BTTFTL, the winning bids are Tampa and Denver, resulting in the Rockies and Rays' being the two teams coming into play in 1993.

With Tampa already an NL City, when MLB expands in BTTFTL 1998, Miami and Phoenix are the winning bidders. Miami, now 5 years later, decides to take Miami as the team's geographic indicator instead of Florida, and they adopt Gators as the team name. They develop slowly, but by BTTFTL 2015, they are a powerhouse in the American League, and face off against the surprising Chicago Cubs.
 
The movie was set in 1985, but the movie came out in 1990 and made in 1989 and by then the cracks in the marriage between Diana and Charles were clearly visable. But hey, its a nice gesture from Hollywood "See? We dont only have american stuff in our movies"

I was more disturbed in the movie by Martys girlfriend beeing left in a alternate 1985 and waking up in the original 1985

The TV screen Marty Jr uses is a tech that could be avalible now.
 
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