It’s wild how quickly stuff changes. Just ten years ago, people were still using iPods and saying “YOLO” unironically, but now, we have 15 streaming subscriptions and phones that unlock with our faces. Here are twelve normal things that we’ll think are weird in 10 years. Which of these do you think will be the most surprising?
Featured Image Credit: Stock-Asso/Shutterstock.com.
Buying Cow’s Milk From the Grocery Store
The grocery stores have whole fridge shelves dedicated to oat, soy, almond, coconut, cashew, and pea milk, yet we’re still out here chugging milk from cows. That might not stick around. Climate concerns and the sheer popularity of plant-based options mean old-school dairy might start to feel outdated.
Eating Food in Packaging That Doesn’t Biodegrade
We see non-biodegradable packaging all the time, like sandwiches in a plastic triangular box and chips in a crinkly bag. However, many companies are starting to use stuff that melts or dissolves, perhaps even grows out of mushrooms. In 10 years, throwing plastic into the trash after one snack will seem so wrong.
Tapping a Card
Tapping your card feels futuristic to some people, since you don’t have to swipe or put in your chip. But in a few years, you probably won’t be tapping anything. You’ll just grab your stuff and leave, then the store will bill you automatically when you’re done. You won’t even think about “paying” because that step will be gone entirely. Some stores are already doing this.
Buying Clothes That You Know You’ll Only Wear Once
People buy outfits just for one night or one event, then forget about them forever. Nobody really questions it. However, the rise of tech-driven clothing rentals and AI-styled virtual wardrobes means wearing something only once will seem ridiculous. You won’t need a wardrobe full of random items anymore because you can rent the perfect thing instantly.
Pulling Out Your ID to Prove Your Age
You have to show a physical ID when you buy alcohol or go through airport security, but not for much longer. Facial scans and digital IDs will likely become part of everyday systems, which will make pulling a plastic card out of your wallet seem rather awkward. Just hearing “Can I see your ID?” will sound like a joke.
Printing Your Boarding Pass at a Machine
Speaking of airports, people poke around on a touchscreen at the check-in desk and print out a boarding pass before a flight. While that works fine, biometric gates and app-based boarding are already starting to replace paper, so that whole process will feel clunky. Future travelers won’t believe we used to stand in line to print something we had on our phones.
Taking Off Belts and Shoes at Airport Security
But that’s not all. Taking your shoes off, removing your belt, and dumping your laptop in a bin at airport security will be a thing of the past. Newer scanners are able to handle that stuff without making people undress, and they’re already around in some places in Europe. In ten years, the whole strip-down routine will feel ancient.
Keeping Your Car Keys in Your Pocket
Every day, people walk around with a key fob, or worse, a full metal key, in their pocket. But as cars get more connected to our phones, that’ll all change. We might even use our faces to unlock our cars, meaning that carrying a separate object to start our cars will feel silly. It’ll feel like carrying a remote control everywhere you go.
Manually Driving In Urban Areas
You’re in traffic and you’re stressed as you’re inching forward while trying not to spill your coffee. And yet, for some reason, you’re the one driving. Give it another decade, and this will look ridiculous because self-driving cars will be the norm. Once people realize how much faster and cheaper it is to just let the car do the work, driving yourself downtown will seem so strange.
Clicking “Skip Ad”
Everyone’s trained to spot that “Skip” button the second it appears, but it won’t be for much longer. Video platforms are killing it off, and AI-generated ads are becoming part of the content itself, so you can’t ignore them. In the future, the idea that you could tap a button and dodge an ad will sound made-up, like some weird loophole.
Using Separate Apps for Everything
You scroll through your phone flipping between calendar apps, food delivery apps, ride apps, email apps, as well as like six different messaging ones. It works, but not for much longer, as most of that will get folded into one system. You’ll say what you need or think, then AI will pull the pieces together, which will make switching between apps to do basic stuff feel bizarre.
Waiting Days for Online Orders
Whenever you order something online, it could be in stock 10 miles away, but it’ll still show up three days later. However, the logistics world is moving fast, with warehouses becoming more common, and same-hour delivery is already happening in some areas. A few years from now, you’ll be able to order your groceries in bulk and get them delivered in 20 minutes.
Disclaimer: This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.
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