Robots and laser pistols would be future for me, not contemporary or near-contemporary. Though 'robots' I know is a vague concept too since the Japanese have housecleaning and companion robots on the market now. Robby the Robot and the sorts of entities Will Smith faced in 'I Robot' are not near-future though.<br/><br/>I think Lacuna summed it up well when she said that the technology would not change society much but advance a little in the direction it is heading. One of the nice advantages of 'near-future' (10-20 years hence) is you can add-in small fantasy elements such as safe recreational and sexual drugs or slant society in one major way such as having slavery reintroduced (for reason X).