"That's exactly why I think trying to predict what the world is going to be like in 40 years is just about impossible."

Douglas Englebart had a pretty good approximation of what much of our information technology would be like today over 40 years ago.

http://sloan.stanford.edu/mousesite/1968Demo.html

Of course, this was because he put together all of the necessary underlying technology. I remember reading an interview with him in the 90s, asking him if he was surprised how fast technology was moving. He replied, no, he was shocked how long it took for the things he had working in the lab decades ago to reach the main stream.