One of the salient qualities of science fiction is that it talks about things that might happen, but have not yet happened. This distinguishes it from fantasy, which talks about things that can never happen.
But one odd thing about predictions of the future is that they sometimes come true. The geosynchronous satellites that Arthur C. Clarke described as a possible future because the actual geosynchronous satellites of a later time.
Similarly, Captain Kirk’s amazing pocket communicator became the SmartPhone of a later age. There are lots of similar examples.
I wonder which science fiction visions of today will become the ordinary of tomorrow. I also wonder whether there is any better way to predict this than simply to guess.
I always find the comparison between Star Trek communicators and cell phones lacking. Kirk and crew can go where no one has gone before and still make peer-to-peer calls with anyone in range. Cell phones rely on huge networks of infrastructure to create that illusion. They are terrestrially bound and just barely work when you’re in an airplane. Your cell phone isn’t going to be useful when you visit the moon or even the ISS. Cell phones are simply unreliable landline phones with less cumbersome tethers.
Not only that, but 2020 transporter technology doesn’t even let us beam up to the mothership. Dude, where’s my replicator? 😉