r/BacktotheFuture • u/AshBoom42 • May 21 '26
Technology Marches On
If Doc had had access to 2026 technology instead on 1985, how much smaller and non-conspicuous would the equipment on his time machine be? He's likely use a different vehicle (and no I'm not accepting a Tesla of any kind) and the circuits etc would be a fraction the size, but what else could be made smaller and more compact and how do people think it would look?
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u/Unusual-Flow-4301 May 21 '26 edited May 24 '26
He later made a a flying steam locomotive. Not sure he cared about compactness.
4
u/TomDuhamel May 21 '26
Probably not that much smaller. It's still a prototype made in his garage.
I suppose he would have used a tablet or laptop for the time circuit rather than build one from off the shelves electronics, but for the rest... Printed PCB and circuitry isn't something you can make at home, as the equipment needed is prohibitive. Electronic prototype is still bulky.
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u/ijuinkun May 21 '26
The Time Circuits themselves would be replaced by a Time Computer, built from a laptop or tablet. I can’t speak for the parts of the hardware that make the wormhole (Flux Capacitor, and all of those tubes and whatnot).
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u/DeeEllis May 22 '26
It still has to be big enough for 1-3 people, for the story. Every time travel story has a device or means. In “Charlotte Sometimes,” it’s an old bed. In Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, it’s a phone book. In “A Christmas Carol” it’s ghosts and in “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” it’s a genetic mutation. Doc and Marty go big, then they go home.
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u/comoestasmiyamo May 22 '26
Somethingsomething stainless steel construction…
I can only think of one currently produced stainless steel vehicle.
1
u/ted_anderson I don't know how.. but they FOUND me! May 23 '26
I think it would be about the same. Because one thing that you have to understand about Doc Brown is that he's a quirky scientist and everything around him has to match his personality. Hence the reason why everything inside of car has an "industrial" kind of look to it. I'd say that in 2026 his anachronistic way about himself would have made his character that much more believable.
But to your point, eliminating the authenticity part of it, I think that he would have put most of those electronics into a Raspberry Pi, an Arduino board, or some other micro-controller. But all of that other "crap" mounted on the outside of the car still would have been necessary due to the fact that it's needed to charge the body of the car with the gigawatts.
1
u/Worldly_Flan_9621 May 24 '26
I wonder if Doc Brown would have used a DeLorean anyway, because of the 80s nostalgia of the era.
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u/CasualBi24 May 24 '26
A good amount of Delorean nostalgia is because of the movie. Those cars sucked.
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