# What if "Back to the Future" took place in 1990? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [January 15, 2020, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461 "2020-01-15T18:07:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/61 "2020-01-16T22:24:11Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Going from memory I’d agree with you but I rewatched Cheers recently and all through the 80s Sam Malone is drinking bottled water behind the bar because he’s a former alcoholic. So it must have been more common than I remember. Interesting. Was it plain bottled water, or was it seltzer or something like like that? Seltzer is definitely something a bar would have on hand since it gets used in mixed drinks, and if I remember correctly it’s what someone who doesn’t drink alcohol would stereotypicaly order at a bar. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/62 "2020-01-16T22:33:46Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > You’re considering the wrong pop culture. Send back some absurd, super ironic shitpost meme with nine levels of contrivance that references a decade’s worth of previous memes and see what the mullet heads in 1990 think of _that_. Or hell, just try to explain “loss” to them. I’m not sure that’s quite the same thing. Sure, inside humor of the 2020s isn’t going to translate well into the 90s, nor '85 humor into '55. But I’m talking pop culture that is, well, popular. Like ubiquitous stuff you hear and see walking around, even if you’re not the least bit plugged into the world. Popular music is a pretty basic aspect of that. Memes, I don’t think are as much. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/63 "2020-01-16T22:36:30Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > If an 80’s person went back to the 50’s, they would stand because the culture, clothing styles, manner of interactions, etc. was so different. If a 2020’s person went back to the 90’s, I doubt anyone would really notice all that much. Agreed, and I’m baffled by the comments that suggest that 2020 to 1990 is even in the same league of change as 1985 to 1955 was. Let’s look at a single pastime activity: if you play in a band in 2020, you most likely use guitars and basses that were standard issue in 1990: Stratocasters, Jazz Basses etc. Nothing has changed in these in the past 30 years - many players seek older instruments than that to play. Then consider the utter, groundbreaking change that electric instruments, first widely available in the 50’s, had on popular music between 1955 and 1985. I was a kid in the 80’s: we had computer games, portable music, and home theaters with instant access to large movie collections. My 10- and 13-year-olds have no problem hitting the ol’ Commodore 64 for some entertainment, or listening to Radio Ga Ga from a CD. The 1950’s were a different world; the 1990’s are not. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/64 "2020-01-16T22:39:59Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > _shrug_ I’m not the one who first suggested Marty would walk into a coffee shop (or diner or whatever you want to call the place) and order a bottle of water. That was Moriarty in post #46. I assume he made that the setting to mirror the scene in the original BTTF where Marty enters such an establishment and tries to order a Pepsi Free. (“If you want a Pepsi you’re gonna have to pay for it!”) Exactly! I was riffing off the idea that a person might order a drink today that would confuse a person 30 years ago. And, being that I was 12 in 1990, I can confidently say that there was some point in my life when I witnessed a change in society, where water bottles took off (in fact, I’m reminded of a bit George Carlin once did where he asks why everybody is suddenly worried about dehydration). As a kid, I realize that water bottles existed, but it was basically Perrier and Evian. Now, bottled water rivals soda in sales. And google tells me that Pepsi didn’t launch Aquafina until 1994, and Coke didn’t launch Dasani until 1999, so I’m not too crazy to think that it would have been odd to ask for a bottle of water then, whereas now people at least understand that you are trying to actually place an order and not just get something ‘for free’. The suggestion upthread to turn it into a fancy latte order is probably a better one. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/65 "2020-01-17T00:43:13Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > As a kid, I realize that water bottles existed, but it was basically Perrier and Evian. And that just jogged my memory that the joke back then was that Evian was an anagram of “naive.” (Was that part of George Carlin’s bit?) As in you’d have to be pretty naive to actually pay for bottles of water when you can get perfectly drinkable water for free from the tap. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/66 "2020-01-17T00:46:52Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > And that just jogged my memory that the joke back then was that Evian was an anagram of “naive.” While that is true, the joke was “Evian” was “naive” spelled backwards. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/67 "2020-01-17T02:34:58Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > While that is true, the joke was “Evian” was “naive” spelled backwards. I remember that from Dennis Miller (“Is it any coincidence that Evian spelled backward is naive?”) but google tells me that Carlin made the reference, too. The Carlin bit about water bottles comes from a special he did in 1996 > [@Mr. Carlin](#): > > And what happened in this country that now suddenly everyone is walking around with their own personal bottle of water? when did we get so thirsty in America? is everybody so dehydrated they have to have their own portable supply of fluids with them at all times? get a drink before you leave the house. > **[GEORGE CARLIN: BACK IN TOWN (1996) - Full transcript - Scraps from the loft](https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/comedy/george-carlin-back-town-1996-full-transcript/)** > > Back in Town is George Carlin’s 15th album and ninth HBO special. It was also released on CD on September 17, 1996. This was also his first of many performances at the Beacon Theater in New York City “Abortion” Why, why, why, why is it that most of... ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/68 "2020-01-17T02:39:31Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > The Cybertruck would be good for this. > > And perhaps instead of needing 1.21 gigawatts, perhaps the latter-day equivalent needs some amount of computing power that is easily achieved today but would be difficult in 1990. Quantum computing? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/69 "2020-01-17T04:30:15Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > Quantum computing? You don’t need quantum computing to outreach 1990. A 50 buck burner phone has more processing power than [a top supercomputer of 1990](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cray_Y-MP). A good graphics card? Possibly more power than every supercomputer in the world combined. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/70 "2020-01-17T04:51:49Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > And perhaps instead of needing 1.21 gigawatts, perhaps the latter-day equivalent needs some amount of computing power that is easily achieved today but would be difficult in 1990. All that easily achievable stuff is missing the point a bit. Remember, while in 1985 plutonium is for sale in every corner drugstore, in 1955 it is a little hard to come by. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/71 "2020-01-17T04:59:45Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > 10 gigabits per second! Great Scott! And hopefully, he would pronounce the word correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/72 "2020-01-17T05:03:46Z")
_“Ha! You 1990’s primitives don’t know about our extreme 2020’s futuristic music! Like Drake! Or Taylor Swift! Here, let me blow your minds with my rendition of Old Town Road!”_ ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/73 "2020-01-17T05:07:43Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > I think it would be funny if a teen from today watched MTV in 1990: > > Today’s teen: “What’s with all the music videos? Don’t they have any reality shows to watch?” > > 1990 teen: “What the hell is a reality show?” It’s 2020. Reality shows haven’t been relevant for more than a decade. In fact, 1990 was only two years away from MTV broadcasting The Real World for the first time. So it’s weirdly enough, more likely for a 2020 teen to ask what a reality show is. Feeling old yet? ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/74 "2020-01-17T05:13:10Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Exactly! I was riffing off the idea that a person might order a drink today that would confuse a person 30 years ago. The problem with the specific joke is that it doesn’t make sense today for someone to walk into a diner and order a bottle of water, and because even 30 years ago people were aware of the concept. It doesn’t work as a ‘confuse a person 30 years ago by using modern lingo’ joke because you’re having them make an order that doesn’t make sense today, and people in 1990 were aware enough of bottled water that references to it in comedy were common. It wasn’t something that completely didn’t exist at the time, unlike the product “Pepsi Free”. > [@](#): > > And, being that I was 12 in 1990, I can confidently say that there was some point in my life when I witnessed a change in society, where water bottles took off (in fact, I’m reminded of a bit George Carlin once did where he asks why everybody is suddenly worried about dehydration). As a kid, I realize that water bottles existed, but it was basically Perrier and Evian. Now, bottled water rivals soda in sales. And google tells me that Pepsi didn’t launch Aquafina until 1994, and Coke didn’t launch Dasani until 1999, so I’m not too crazy to think that it would have been odd to ask for a bottle of water then, whereas now people at least understand that you are trying to actually place an order and not just get something ‘for free’. So you were a 12-year kid at the time, not someone working in the restaurant industry, and you were clearly aware that bottled water was a product that was for sale. Making a joke that’s based around someone who works at a restaurant not having any idea that bottled water was a thing when 12-year-old-kids were aware of it seems pretty off. The reaction you’re trying to make in the joke doesn’t ring true to me at all. > [@WildaBeast](#): > > _shrug_ I’m not the one who first suggested Marty would walk into a coffee shop (or diner or whatever you want to call the place) and order a bottle of water. _shrug_ I didn’t say you were the first, and I don’t see how that’s relevant to… anything really. But you do you. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/75 "2020-01-17T13:27:41Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > If an 80’s person went back to the 50’s, they would stand because the culture, clothing styles, manner of interactions, etc. was so different. If a 2020’s person went back to the 90’s, I doubt anyone would really notice all that much. How about the 20s to 80s? Pat Sajak and Vanna White doing _Wheel of Fortune_, while Trebek is at it on _Jeopardy!_ Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter doing a _Bill and Ted_ movie, with Tom Cruise starring in a _Top Gun_ flick — sure as Patrick Stewart is _Picard_! ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/76 "2020-01-17T14:18:05Z")
I think that the input made on politics by two hick from Arkansas might surprise a 1990’s person. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/77 "2020-01-17T14:20:08Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > You don’t need quantum computing to outreach 1990. A 50 buck burner phone has more processing power than [a top supercomputer of 1990](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cray_Y-MP). A good graphics card? Possibly more power than every supercomputer in the world combined. Yes, but time travel requires \*way \*more computing power than can be achieved without quantum computing. This follows from the same laws of physics governing the flux capacitor. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/78 "2020-01-17T14:38:25Z")
A 1990’s person would have no clue about the phrase “Google it.” ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/79 "2020-01-17T15:35:53Z")
I guess I’m one of the few people who thinks life changed more from 1990 to today than it did between 1955 and 1985. Ubiquitous computing and the internet have revolutionized our lives and we likely take it for granted. Imagine I need to talk with an expert in a particular field of study. in 1990, I had to go to a research library when it was open, leaf through card catalogs and periodical indexes, identify the publications I need, wait for the inter-library loans to make their way to me, read the articles to see if they are helpful, use the name of the author’s affiliated institution to try to contact the author, hope she hasn’t left that institution, and then contact her. Ideally, she’s not off doing research in Asia or on sabbatical at the moment, because reaching her would be tough. Otherwise, this shouldn’t take more than a few weeks. Today, it’s a Google search and some outreach on social media, It’s possible I could do all this from my phone in less than an hour. That is if my internet research isn’t able to just answer the question for me without even asking her. Today’s Marty is always in social contact with any family member or friend he needs. Emergency response is always a phone call away. He has the internet resources to solve problems, including problems that he can’t even imagine because he has never experienced them. He literally has never had to wonder what tomorrow’s weather will be like, when the last train leaves, when the pharmacy closes, the location of the closest machine shop that can mill a cylinder head, the location of the tallest mountain within and hour’s drive, the best route to get from pet shop to the orchard, etc. There is almost no question the internet can’t answer for today’s Marty. Today’s Marty going back 30 years would be isolated in a way that he has never been in his entire life and he will lack all of the tools that he ordinarily uses to solve problems. Today’s Marty will struggle much more in 1990 than 1985’s Marty struggled in 1955. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2020, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/80 "2020-01-17T18:32:47Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > The problem with the specific joke is that it doesn’t make sense today for someone to walk into a diner and order a bottle of water, and because even 30 years ago people were aware of the concept. It doesn’t work as a ‘confuse a person 30 years ago by using modern lingo’ joke because you’re having them make an order that doesn’t make sense today, and people in 1990 were aware enough of bottled water that references to it in comedy were common. It wasn’t something that completely didn’t exist at the time, unlike the product “Pepsi Free”. > … > So you were a 12-year kid at the time, not someone working in the restaurant industry, and you were clearly aware that bottled water was a product that was for sale. Making a joke that’s based around someone who works at a restaurant not having any idea that bottled water was a thing when 12-year-old-kids were aware of it seems pretty off. The reaction you’re trying to make in the joke doesn’t ring true to me at all. So I’m guessing I shouldn’t list you as a reference for that comedy writing gig I’ve got my eye on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461.md?page=5)