dletter: Looking over them, I think they got barely 50% right.

Interesting that none of these ever predicted that magazines and newspapers would become nearly obsolete ;)

This. "Scary Accurate" is apparently a 35% or 45% accuracy rating.

dletter: Walker: 500 million people in the US - FAIL
The American will be taller - What a shocking prediction, people in 1900 were taller than people in 1800
There will be no C, Q, or X - FAIL
Hot and cold air from spigots - FAIL
No mosquitoes nor flies - FAIL
Ready cooked meal paragraph - FAIL
No food will be exposed - FAIL
Coal prediction - OK
There will be no street cars and cities will be free of all noises - FAIL
Photographs will be telegraphed - OK

I'm not doing them all, but he got more wrong than right. I'd say 80-20.

I think you are being a bit too literal in your judging here.... remember, there was no "Home heating/cooling" systems in 1900 beyond throwing logs into the fireplace and running a ceiling fan if you were rich.... so, yes, we don't get it from "spigots", but, they were basically just predicting that by now we'd have some "automatic" way to regulate temperature in the home, which we certainly do now. Although, they predicted no chimneys, not predicting that people would just want them for show.

"Ready cooked meals".... um, isn't that just them predicting fast food? So, they basically got that one right.... remember, in 1900 you didn't even have the concept of the grocery store like we have today.

There really boned on the "noiseless city" though.

Air spigots being air conditioning is alright. They said it would be centrally produced and put through pipes to houses though, which was way off. I fail to see how that would make any sense in terms of efficiency.

The ready cooked meals part isn't anything like fast food. Frozen tv dinners perhaps, but not fast food at all. They have those Swanson trucks that deliver frozen dinners, but those are pretty much dead. More of an early 90s thing.

The coal prediction wasn't close at all. A vast majority of the world's power is still coal and is no where near running out. You don't throw coal in the oven to cook, but you use electric generated by burning coal.

They were way off on water power too.

dittybopper: Walker: Hot and cold air from spigots - FAIL

Really? I get hot and cold air from vents in my floors, fully controlled by me from a thermostat. It's not literally a spigot, but functionally it is pretty much identical to the description. I'd have to give that one the thumbs up.

If you choose to ignore that they said all these spigots would be connected to a single central production facility in every city...

If you ignore half of any prediction it will probably be right...

Bullseyed: dittybopper: Walker: Hot and cold air from spigots - FAIL

Really? I get hot and cold air from vents in my floors, fully controlled by me from a thermostat. It's not literally a spigot, but functionally it is pretty much identical to the description. I'd have to give that one the thumbs up.

If you choose to ignore that they said all these spigots would be connected to a single central production facility in every city...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_steam_system

Tax Boy: Bullseyed: dittybopper: Walker: Hot and cold air from spigots - FAIL

Really? I get hot and cold air from vents in my floors, fully controlled by me from a thermostat. It's not literally a spigot, but functionally it is pretty much identical to the description. I'd have to give that one the thumbs up.

If you choose to ignore that they said all these spigots would be connected to a single central production facility in every city...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_steam_system

and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_heating

Bullseyed: If you choose to ignore that they said all these spigots would be connected to a single central production facility in every city...

You heat your house with gas, good sir?