SF author Bruce Sterling wrote a really interesting nonfiction book called Tomorrow Now in which he speculates about the development of technology we might see over the next fifty years. It isn't just a list of predictions; it's also a bit of historical anthropology, examining how technology has developed in the past, and how people have coped with and adapted to it. The idea is not to provide a specific series of items to look for so much as it is to provide a guide to help the reader look at new technology and think about how the world is changing around him.
That said, one of Sterling's neatest predictions is a computerized toilet. No, seriously, listen to this. The idea is that every time you use the john, microfilters and biochips will do a detailed analysis of your discharge and provide you with a snapshot of your health at the moment. Evidence for many diseases, particularly liver and kidney dysfunction but also including some cancers, shows up in urine and stool, so the toilet would give its users a running commentary on their physiological state. Personally, I think that's a legitimately plausible use of high technology.
Mostly, I have no idea what might be coming (I'm in my mid thirties and I'm fairly confident I'll be dead before anyone goes to Mars), but I'm pretty sure it'll be really, really interesting.
It's a great time to be alive.
Well, except for all the fake tits. Those suck.
