What Every '90s Kid Imagined The Future Would Be

If you were also a kid in the '90s, you probably developed some pretty far fetched notions of what the future would be like. It was a time when technology was developing fast and in increasingly visible ways. Windows was getting updated every year with more and more colors and graphic options. Cell phones had snake on them. GeoCities allowed you to build an actual personal website and you could put GIFs of flying bats or little dancing devils or whatever the hell else you wanted on them. It was pure freedom. And we knew it was only the start of more impressive things to come.

A lot of what we expected, admittedly, was from TV and movies. It was an innocent, impressionable time. One thing the '90s is generally not known for is cynicism, unless of course, you were a Kevin Smith type of '90s. Everyone else was more earnest than that — more Empire Records, everything-works-out-with-a-concert-on-the-roof, for real though, that could actually happen, type of vibe. That's probably why we believed the future was going to be an exact replica of Back To The Future, which, although isn't entirely accurate, does portray some inherent truths about our current reality. Here are eight things every '90s kid imagined about the future.

1. Computer Wardrobe

Any kid in the '90s who watched Clueless (all of us) dreamed of a future where all wardrobes, not just Cher's, came with an outfit matching computer. Hell, I still dream of this. How hopeless the future really is without smart-wardrobes!

2. Hover Boards

Likewise, anyone who watched Back To The Future (again, all of us) thought we'd all be riding around on hoverboards some day. While the hoverboards of today don't exactly hover, they look way more douche-y than any '90s child could have ever imagined. Shattered dreams all 'round.

3. Any Kind Of Flying

Speaking of hoverboards, we also imagined jet packs, retractable wings, and general flying apparatus being available to the everyman in the future. In the '90s, flying, even if only inches above the ground, was the height of future chic.

4. Going Into Computers

I don't mean as a career, but physically being shrunk down and going into computers. I always just assumed this would be a thing, or that by now virtual reality would have at least advanced to a point where it was really real.

5. Nail Polish Machines

I think in the '90s we just thought the future was going to be super campy, because everyone who painted their nails definitely imagined that one day we'd just stick our fingers into a machine and they'd just come out painted.

6. Britney And Justin Would Be Married

If you were a kid in the '90s and didn't dream of Britney Spears' and Justin Timberlake's denim-clad wedding then you weren't really there.

7. You'd Have Bad Luck/Good Luck Again

During the '90s you probably failed to re-send at least one chain letter which guaranteed you bad luck for at least seven years. Being a kid you probably believed this, and dreamed of a future where all bad luck chain mail debts would be erased.

8. You'd Be Rich From Selling Your Beanie Babies Collection

There wasn't one kid in the '90s who didn't truly believe their Beanie Babies would be worth millions one day, and that imagined a future world in which those Beanie Babies were eventually sold (on eBay, duh) to cash in and be instantly rich.

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