History Main / NotSoCrazyAnymore

* A scene Creator/DouglasAdams wrote for ''Literature/LifeTheUniverseAndEverything'', but which didn't make it into the finished book, was written as Arthur's diary, and had him complaining that the pen Slartibartfast gave him kept writing words on its own based on what it thought he was thinking. Yes, Adams predicted predictive text.
** Come to think of it, the titular GreatBigBookOfEverything from ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' series predicted both Website/TheOtherWiki and ebook readers. About the only thing it got wrong was the Guide being a single-purpose device rather than software installed on a portable computer, although there ''have'' been occasional attempts at making a dedicated "Wikipedia browser" device using obsolete PDA and e-reader parts, and it must be said that even with current technology a handheld device storing a complete offline copy of what's implied to be a truly ''enormous'' amount of data wouldn't have the storage space to be useful for much else anyway.[[note]]To put it in perspective, a complete data dump of every English-language article on Website/TheOtherWiki at time of writing is about 200GB including the browser app. Most tablets don't even have half that much internal storage even before being imaged with an operating system.[[/note]] The prop used in the TV series even looks a bit like the early laptop and handheld computers that would become available in the late 80s and early 90s.

* ''Film/DemolitionMan'' presents the absolutely absurd idea that Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger became President of the USA... and when the main character asks how it happened, they say that he became Governor of California first. It's still unconstitutional for an immigrant to be president, though.

* The main reason the 1998 movie ''Film/TheTrumanShow'' was considered a standard comedy back when it first released was because its concept just seemed so absurd. Who would invade the privacy of some ordinary man, and broadcast his entire life, ''even before he was born,'' worldwide without his permission, and all for the sake of turning a profit? Who would watch it, let alone get so attached to the guy that they would start acting like he's one of their actual friends? With the rise of rise family vlogging, and parasocial relationships, it turns out a lot of people would, and nowadays the film is looked upon as a dramedy at best, and a horror-comedy at worst.

* The main reason movie ''Film/{{TheTrumanShow}}'' was considered a standard comedy back when it first released was because its concept just seemed so absurd. Who would invade the privacy of some ordinary man, and broadcast his entire life, ''even before he was born,'' worldwide without his permission, and all for the sake of turning a profit? Who would watch it, let alone get so attached to the guy that they would act like he's one of their actual friends? With the rise of rise family vlogging, and parasocial relationships, it turns out a lot of people would, and nowadays the film looked upon as a dramedy at best, and a horror-comedy at worst.

* The premise of the 2008 thriller ''Film/EagleEye'' centers around two people who are spied on, tracked, and aided, and abetted by an A.I that can hack, and take control of things ranging from phones to cranes to even powerlines. Back then, such an idea was ridiculously, and something could only exist in the realm of fiction. Not only is it now reality, it's actually a big problem that is projected to only going to get worse unless constant, and drastic preventions are taken.

* The premise of the 2008 thriller ''Film/EagleEye'' centers around two people who are spied on, tracked, and aided, and abetted by an A.I that can hack, and take control of things ranging from phones to cranes to even powerlines. Back then, such an idea could only exist in the realm of fiction. Not only is it now reality, it's actually a big problem that is projected to only going to get worse unless constant, and drastic preventions are taken.

* The premise of the 2008 thriller ''Film/EagleEye'' centers around two people who are spied on, tracked, and aided, and abetted by an A.I that can hack, and take control things ranging from phones to cranes to even powerlines. Back then, such an idea could only exist in the realm of fiction. Not only is it now reality, it's actually a big problem that is projected to only going to get worse unless constant, and drastic preventions are taken.

* In the ''ComicBook/{{Tintin}}'' graphic novel ''[[Recap/TintinDestinationMoon Destination Moon]]'', Captain Haddock spends a lot of time ranting about how crazy Professor Calculus is for seriously attempting to send people to the moon. To anyone reading the book after 1969, [[ItWillNeverCatchOn Haddock is the one who sounds foolish]].

* In the ''ComicBook/{{Tintin}}'' graphic novel ''[[Recap/TintinDestinationMoon Destination Moon]]'', Captain Haddock spends a lot of time ranting about how crazy Professor Calculus is for seriously attempting to send people to the moon. To anyone reading the book after 1969, Haddock is the one who sounds like a raving maniac.

See also: AccidentallyCorrectWriting, HilariousInHindsight, HarsherInHindsight, SeinfeldIsUnfunny, ScienceMarchesOn, StrawmanHasAPoint, ValuesResonance, and TheCuckoolanderWasRight.

* How about a ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' sketch about [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK92NYwBMts furries]]? Which was a parody of documentaries at the time about homosexuality using a "ridiculous" invented alternative subculture.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/DocMcStuffins'' revolves around a toy who doesn't want to be taken to the toy hospital because she's afraid she'll get sick there. The other toys reassure her that she has nothing to worry about, as a hospital is a place to help you get better, not someplace where you'll get sick. However, in the real world there's been a deepening public health crisis involving antibiotic-resistant infections people have picked up while staying in hospitals, and the Center for Disease Control estimates there are as many as 90,000 deaths a year from diseases acquired in hospitals. Given this, adult viewers in the know could easily see this toy's concern as being legitimate, especially given that they're taking her to a hospital she hasn't been able to personally check into to see if it's up to standard.

* In a 1998 installment of the web humor column ''The Book of Ratings'', the "Mystical Creatures" rating contains a sarcastic quip about vampires going the way of the unicorn: "If it hasn't happened already, in a few months look for airbrushed posters of sad vampires in Wal-Marts everywhere, and in a decade look for female college students saying to each other "Were you into vampires when you were nine? Me too! We were such dorks!" Yeah, [[Literature/TheTwilightSaga about that...]]

* In a 1998 installment of the web humor column ''The Book of Ratings'', the "Mystical Creatures" rating contains a sarcastic quip about vampires going the way of the unicorn: "If it hasn't happened already, in a few months look for airbrushed posters of sad vampires in Wal-Marts everywhere, and in a decade look for female college students saying to each other "Were you into vampires when you were nine? Me too! We were such dorks!" Yeah, [[Literature/{{Twilight}} about that...]]

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic'', from 1994, includes a quick joke about RidiculousFutureSequelisation. The film in question? ''Film/HomeAlone 5''. ''Home Alone'' (which at the time only had one sequel) hit its fifth installment in 2012, and released a ''sixth'' film in 2021.

* Back in the day, ''Series/TheTwoRonnies'' did a sketch about the absolutely ludicrous idea of people paying money for bottled water, and paying large amounts for "expensive" bottles of water. WhoWouldBeStupidEnough? Bottle water was also popular for centuries during the Enlightenment and Victorian eras. This was mainly because city water supplies were also as bad as dehydration. It was only around the time that water purification was done on a large scale that bottled water fell out of popularity. Or in other words, someone drinking from a public fountain is an example of this.

* The ''Series/RowanAndMartinsLaughIn'' news segment featured news items twenty years in the future. In a late 1968, show they reported (for the lols, obviously) that UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan would be president and that the Berlin Wall would come down. Twenty years later, give or take a month or so, guess what happened.