The world has changed a lot in the past 25 years and will continue to change. In 1999 we hardly had cell phones, the internet, or computers capable of anything like they are capable of now. We love to predict the future, and sci fi writers try their best all the time, but it's impossible to know exactly what the world will look like.
But while everyone loves to think about what new things will come around in the future, we don't often think about what will go away. With change comes extinction, and plenty of stuff is already going the way of the dinosaur. On Ask Reddit, these 25 people gave their theories for the tech, trends, and phenomena that will surely be gone by the time 2049 rolls around.
1
Hopefully family vloggers.
2
Affordable college. Most degrees don’t need students to be in a brick and mortar building, I hope in 25 years the cost of college is significantly cut down.
4
Hopefully, animal abuse and neglect. I feel like we're moving really slow, but every once in a while there's a big change for the better.
5
The current awful education system.
6
Long commutes, hopefully. Work from home is slowly gaining a foothold in the workforce, and for good reason, but CEOs seem desperate to claw us back kicking and screaming into the office.
8
I hope that loot boxes in video games will become obsolete after several countries change the laws so that a customer should always be able to know what they are buying. So microtransactions would still be a thing but no more buying random items without knowing what you will get.
9
Owning things. Everything is slowly turning to digital or subscription models.
10
56754 different streaming services which amount to more than anyone ever paid for cable.
11
Getting punished by police because you used cannabis will become rare in 25 years. I live in Finland, and here using cannabis without a doctor's prescription can ruin your life in many ways.
12
Single family homes in major cities owned by the middle class.
13
Ordering food and drink from a human in a drive through.
14
I hope it will be single use plastic.
15
At the rate things are going probably being able to use water whenever we want.
16
Broccoli head haircuts. People are totally going to look back at them and laugh or cringe.
18
Octogenarians in office.
19
Young adults having the ability to read and write. Gen Z is functional, but Gen A seems to be severely behind in their academics and they don't care.
20
Fax machine in offices.
22
We’re slowly seeing paperwork die out in hospitals as nurses. I often think about down the line when employees will think it’s crazy I worked when they still used paper. Everything is online now.
24
The current shorelines. The beachfront is going to be moving inland a ways.
