More proof of the power of books!

An article from The Smithsonian Magazine on Science Fiction: The literary genre isn’t meant to predict the future, but implausible ideas that fire inventors’ imaginations often, amazingly, come true.

Ursula K. Le Guin, William Gibson, H. G. Wells, Jules Verne, Robert Heinlein, Kim Stanley Robinson, and Neal Stephenson are mentioned and there's a discussion of utopian vs dystopian visions of the future. I love the idea of sci fi authors helping to design the latest techno-gadgets--from the article:

"Microsoft, Google, Apple and other firms have sponsored lecture series in which science fiction writers give talks to employees and then meet privately with developers and research departments. Perhaps nothing better demonstrates the close tie between science fiction and technology today than what is called “design fiction”—imaginative works commissioned by tech companies to model new ideas. Some corporations hire authors to create what-if stories about potentially marketable products."

Link