[Spareribs]

Does it seem all that different in 2020 (as opposed to 2003)?

It was different in ways. Back in 2003 teenagers knew what it was like to go to a store and rent DVD movies.

 

[acguitar84]

It was different in ways. Back in 2003 teenagers knew what it was like to go to a store and rent DVD movies.

Very true!
Heck in 2003 I think I bought my first headphones for "audiophile" listening, the SR125 by Grado. I was just starting to learn about flac files. Cell phones were out, but were the flip phones (as seen in breaking bad). The internet was up and running of course. I don't think there was a you tube yet, 2005 right? It just doesn't feel like there have been many advances in the last 17 years though.

 

[CopperFox]

Very true!
Heck in 2003 I think I bought my first headphones for "audiophile" listening, the SR125 by Grado. I was just starting to learn about flac files. Cell phones were out, but were the flip phones (as seen in breaking bad). The internet was up and running of course. I don't think there was a you tube yet, 2005 right? It just doesn't feel like there have been many advances in the last 17 years though.

In 2003 I was listening to mp3 files from a Nokia 5510, which I remember as the first phone in my country to have such a magical capability. It also had a nice physical qwerty keyboard.

 

[soas]

This thread is spooky.

I was too young to think about the world in a broader sense when this thread was made, but post #31 and part of #37 have some eerie coincidences. Not sure if things were simply trending that way, if its pure coincidence, or we had a prophet in our midst.

The UK didn't quite split from the UN, but Brexit is a thing. Lot of the tech stuff ended up happening too.

Imagine investing in Amazon back in the day.

 

[Zambu]

Most people will work from home.

Spot on

 

[ItsThePeanutiest]

What an amazing thread to come back to. It's essentially an intellectual time capsule. I think even being fantastical you couldnt have come up with what 2020 would bring back in 2003.

 

[Spareribs]

2020 is also a special year because Drive in Movies are now back in style. Teenagers will now know what drive in theaters are like.

 

[Spareribs]

But teenagers will not be kissing or making out in the movies because they are addicted to their iPhones

 

[markkr]

Reading this was surreal. I joined HeadFi in 2003, feels like yesterday also feels like forever ago.

 

[Spareribs]

The future has finally arrived in 2020.

Flying cars are now here. People back in the 1930s predicted it, Now Japan has developed the flying car.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/29/us/flying-car-successful-test-in-japan-trnd/index.html

 

[wishbon3]

The good:
- Flatscreen LCD televisions and monitors will be common, affordable and high quality.
- HDTV will finally be viable
- HDVD/blue laser DVD will have launched, be backward compatible with DVD and CD and offer a high resolution audio format option
- The remaining members of the Bee Gees will be dead.
- Trade paperbacks will replace individual comic books, finally
- Iron Maiden will be in the rock & roll hall of fame.
- After a slow economic recovery, attempts will finally be made to grow technologies in telecommunications and ecommerce again, only this time with legitimate business plans.
- New eCommerce solutions will allow users to receive common goods and services in a more automatic fashion. When your refridgerator runs out of water, the web enabled device will add more to your order list. Pre-orders for books, movies and CDs will arrive in your personal entertainment computer the day they are released.

The bad:
- Political unrest will arise after the US and Great Britain split from the United Nations to form a seperate league of nations
- GPS tracking devices in children will be commonplace and parents will opt for the implants willingly for fear of abduction
- Vehicles on US highways will be in a test phase of experimental GPS-based speed zone controls
- The transition from petroleum based fuels to alternative fuels will be slow and daunting. Although the performance of electric cars will be improved, the poor will not be able to afford them. Interest in public transportation will grow.
- All forms of media will be in various stages of development with new digital media management software. This will prevent you not only from copying but also from loaning an electronic book, cd or movie. Industry labels will seek complete control.

The ugly:
- Long term effects of genetially engineered crops will finally become known. Some original fruits and vegetables will be lost to us completely having veered so far from the original plant with no way to go back.
- Famine will sweep through areas that were dependent on these crops and geological problems will make food common today impossible to grow in some areas. Food will become less of a commodity even in industrialized countries.
- Cosmetic genetic manipulation of unborn children will arise and the distinction between classes will now be firmly made as only the wealthy have the appearance of perfection while the poor die of diseases that were absolutely preventable due to lack of parental funding.
- Software patent laws will become so stringent that new businesses have trouble gathering investors causing a further conglomeration of large software companies. Technology stocks will further recess as a result.

This was pretty good.

 

[Strayngs]

Very fun to read this post. Some crazy predictions. They were all right that there would be better headphones, But I think the electronics (specifically dacs) have changed for the better the most.

 

[Spareribs]

In the far future, there will human like figures so life like that men will date them.

 

[footplate]

HD600 and Portapro still amongst 'best in class'!

 

[goodyfresh]

HD600 and Portapro still amongst 'best in class'!

I guess that some things never change