PREDICTIONS & PRESCRIPTIONS

“The McFuture” isn’t just a cutesy name dreamed up while drinking with friends. It’s also a useful way to chart our course towards the abundance we’ve been promised. Whether we get there or not – or whether I’m too old, fat or dead to enjoy it is besides the point. The next 50 years will be wild -pounded, stretched and molded like pie dough by forces of innovation, economics and culture. To anticipate it, will require divergent, unpopular ideas and several kilos of Ayahuasca. Like any responsible shaman, this is where I’ll track the good, bad and ugly of past predictions and prescriptions – and show you the receipts. (You can read more about “Functional Futurism” here.)

Year Made	Our Prediction/Prescription	Status	Category	Type
2007	The End of White Space	Occurring	Innovation	Prediction
2008	The Virtual World Will Be All-Consuming	Occurring	Innovation	Prediction
2009	Dynamic Pricing for Tolls & Other Businesses	Occurring	Innovation	Prescription
2010	Smartphones Will Become Our Unnatural Predators	Occurring	Culture	Prediction
2010	Adblocking is the End of Ad-Supported Sites	Occurring	Innovation	Prediction
2010	Say Goodbye to the Manly Man	Occurring	Culture	Prediction
2011	3D Clothing Without Inventory	Occurring	Innovation	Prediction
2011	5 Ways Microsoft Can Defeat Android & iPhone	Occurring	Innovation	Prescription
2011	Disneyfy Experiences	Occurring	Innovation	Prediction
2011	A Morningstar Rating for Colleges	Occurring	Education	Prediction
2011	Unstable Platforms Will Devour Startups	Occurring	Innovation	Prediction
2011	Only Campaign Contributors Will Matter	Happened	Policy	Prediction
2011	US Debt Crisis Looms	Occurring	Economy	Prediction
2011	Open-Sourced Bio & Tech Inventions	Not Happening	Innovation	Prediction
2011	Social Media Will Make You Miserable	Occurring	Culture	Prediction
2011	Profit from the Maker Wave	Not Happening	Innovation	Prediction
2011	Micro-jobs Are the Future	Occurring	Economy	Prediction
2011	Startups Will Perfect New Ways to Generate Energy From Thin Air	Occurring	Innovation	Prediction
2011	Global Corporations Will Be The Last Power Brokers	Happened	Economy	Prediction
2011	Dollar Will Decline as Reserve Currency	Uncertain	Economy	Prediction
2011	Death of the Smartphone	Occurring	Innovation	Prediction
2011	Companies like Walmart & Walgreens Will Disrupt Healthcare	Occurring	Innovation	Prediction
2011	China Will Lure Scientists & Innovators Away	Occurring	Economy	Prediction
2011	A Reckoning on NAFTA & Lost Jobs	Occurring	Economy	Prediction
2011	The 99%ers Are Coming!	Happened	Economy	Prediction
2011	Your Boss Will Track Your Love Handles	Occurring	Innovation	Prediction
2011	Google Will Know All	Occurring	Innovation	Prediction
2011	Repurpose Housing To Save Dying Cities	Uncertain	Policy	Prediction
2011	Schools and Businesses Should Intertwine to Drive Innovation	Occurring	Education	Prediction
2011	Affordable WiFi For All	Uncertain	Policy	Prediction
2011	Colleges Should Become Incubators	Occurring	Education	Prediction
2011	Your Doctor’s Office Will Be Your Phone	Occurring	Innovation	Prediction
2011	States Will Get High on Pot	Occurring	Economy	Prediction
2011	Paper Money is the Walking Dead	Occurring	Economy	Prediction
2011	Apprenticeship & Vocational Training Return	Occurring	Education	Prediction
2011	Methodical Rise of Influencers	Occurring	Culture	Prediction
2011	Return of “Made in the USA”	Occurring	Economy	Prediction
2011	Social Media Will Elevate Top Journalists	Happened	Entrepreneurship	Prediction
2011	States Will Lose Trying to Lure Corporations	Occurring	Economy	Prediction
2012	Future 3D Printing Opportunities	Occurring	Innovation	Prediction
2012	Neutralize Empty Jobs With Helping Others, Tangibility & Sensory Stimulation	Occurring	Culture	Prescription
2012	How HP Should Reinvent 3D Printing	Happened	Innovation	Prescription
2013	Google Will Make A Killing on Autonomous Cars	Uncertain	Innovation	Prediction
2013	Bitcoin Will Fail As A Currency	Occurring	Economy	Prediction
2013	An Identity Crisis In Twitter’s Future	Occurring	Innovation	Prediction
2013	H1B Visa Threatens Domestic Tech Workers	Uncertain	Economy	Prediction
2014	Eliminate Opaque Pricing Before It Kills Sales	Occurring	Strategy	Prescription
2014	The Only Valuable Degrees Are From “Trade” Majors	Happened	Education	Prediction
2014	The End of Growth	Occurring	Economy	Prediction
2014	All Will Bow to the #iMob	Occurring	Culture	Prediction
2014	Companies Will Audition Talent, Not Recruit for Traditional Degrees	Occurring	Education	Prediction