Five Things Experts in 1988 Predicted We’d Have By Now and Three Predictions They Missed

If you haven't heard about this yet, back on April 3rd 1988, the "Los Angeles Times Magazine" had a cover story predicting what life would be like in 2013.  It's now 25 years later, and a class at USC is looking back to see how accurate the predictions were. Here are five things the article got right.

1) Every car would have a computer in it, and be able to drive itself. Cars have had computer systems for years, there are self-parking cars, as well as the Google Car that drives itself.

2) Computer navigation systems for driving, similar to GPS.

3) Video chat systems, like Skype.

4) A, quote, "personal portable computer about the size of a three-by-five card." That sounds an awful lot like a smartphone.

5) Schools with satellite campuses connected over computer networks, and computer screens for walls. Most colleges offer long-distance and online courses now, and wall-mounted "Smart boards" are part of many classrooms.

Now, here are three predictions the experts got wrong 25 years ago:

1) Robot cooks and maids. They thought those would hit the market in the late 1990s and be common by now. Other than Roomba vacuum cleaners, we're still waiting.

2) Hover cars. Experts said that magnetism would be used to lift cars off the road for a smoother ride.  That hasn't quite happened, but apparently the technology is expected to be ready soon.

3) Robot pets made this list too, but there are a few out there.