Fun with Old Sci-Fi

I like sci-fi books. I know, it's akin to admitting that I'm a nerd, but I have no problem admitting that. One of the funnest things in sci-fi that I've started to read are collections of short stories. There are lots out there, under titles of "The Best of Sci-Fi 2006" or whatever. The best ones are the old ones you can find in used book stores. Find the best sci-fi of 1942 and read that. You'll see what people were worried about then projected into the future. Imagine space settlements under the direction of the Third Reich. Hey, that's a good idea, I'd read that story.

I'm reading a book currently called 2041. It's a collection of short stories written in 1991 about what the world will be like 50 years into the future. You remember 1991, right? End of the Cold War. Stealth technology debuting in the first Gulf War. PCs were becoming common in the home, but no one had the internet. Fax machines and car phones were new, cell phones weren't around yet. Neither were digital cameras, GPS devices, DVDs, or LCD screens. The cassette tape was being phased out for the CD, and Windows 3.1 was the cool new thing that replaced DOS.

So what does 50 years into the future look like in 1991? Computers will have replaced teachers in the schools. Everyone will have a fax machine in their car. We'll watch books on CD-viewers. And we'll have space settlements on the moon and Mars.

It's easy to imagine improvements to existing technology. Computers will be faster, TVs will be bigger, thinner, and more life like. Your mp-3 player, cell phone, laptop, GPS, and portable DVD player will all be combined into one small hand-held unit with a virtual reality interface. But what's the next big thing?

Isaac Asimov was writing about robots and space settlements before there were personal computers or manned space flight. Star Trek, the original series, showed voice controlled computers, personal communication devices and teleportation.

I suppose we're still trying to create some of the technologies foreseen by these early sci-fi geniuses, but I pose the question: What's the next big thing? Is there any author today who can match Asimov's creations from the 40s and 50s? Let me know what you've seen, because I want to read it, and live it.