Parent View: The future is here

We recently marked the day the 1985 movie "Back to the Future" would have visited the future, October 2015.

I was 10 when the movie came out, and the prospect of flying cars and other technological wonders 30 years from then seemed crazy, but also believable.

Who knew what would happen in 30 years? That's when the adults were old anyways. That's when I would be old.

Here I am 40 years old with no flying car in my garage, what a bummer!

I do remember however how one would have to wait by the stationary phone to get that promised phone call. Or the beating, bulging heart of punching in the numbers on the phone and hope, and at the same time fear, that boy would answer the phone. In case he was home, that is.

And what about standing in line at the pay phone hoping you brought enough coins for the call?

You would gladly wait for at least half an hour to see your friend arrive to the designated spot you had decided days prior.

The 10-year-old me would have been so impressed by the technological wonders of today, 30 years later, the ability to check in on one another any minute with no unanswered questions of why are you not here yet? What's taking you so long?

I remember imagining how the stationary phone would look in the future with a big screen so that you would always look at the person you talked to. What would people do to answer the phone if they just stepped out of the shower? What would vain people do? I wondered.

Thank goodness FaceTime is optional today I guess.

By the way even though you can now in 2015 answer your mobile phone in the rest room, doesn't mean you are obligated to answer.

Or what about the windows that would change into TVs at night? Where are they here in the future of 2015? One could argue that the size of flat-screens today being 65 inches or larger are TVs being as big as windows, beautifully hooked up flat against the walls. No big bulky TV furniture taking up half the depth of your living room anymore.

I remember having to stand in line to rent a VHS player and movies 25 years ago. It was so frustrating when the movie you wanted to watch was not available until the next day after it had been returned by someone else.

Now a click on the remote and you have access to hundreds if not thousands of movies and serial episodes. I wonder if anyone other than me has ended up spending the entire evening trying to figure out what to watch and then realizing that it was bed time.

When I was 10 years old 30 years ago I would sit with my tape recorder in front of the TV or radio and record the songs I liked. It took an almost impossible amount of concentration to figure out to press the right buttons at the exact right time to get as little voice-over as possible on your taping, then the holding your breath in order to not make any additional sounds on the recording, and not to mention the fear of having your big brother or parents barging in to your room and ruining your favorite song. And who knew when it would be played on the radio again? Oh, the horror.

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It's almost ridiculous how easy it is in 2015 to find the song you want to listen to. We got the amazing Echo this spring also called "Alexa," and whenever the urge comes to listen to old Sinatra tunes, relive Erasure hits from the '80s, or find that one certain hit by Taylor Swift it's as simple as calling out "Alexa! Play this and that by so and so." If only Alexa could understand my Danish accent.

Now what will be the even more adventurous inventions 30 years from now? I am still hoping for that flying car in my garage.

Siw Maria Sundroos Heede is a stay-at-home mom of two daughters and a part-time research assistant. She lives in Redlands.

Source: Parent View: The future is here