It wasn&#x27;t really a very impressive prediction though - if it even was one.  I mean, the technical details are all wrong.  The only correct aspect was how people would use video-conf.  But I can&#x27;t help thinking that this is just an encapsulation of a common human desire to connect with friends and family, rather than a prediction of technology (other than perhaps, if we&#x27;re feeling generous, to note that he correctly anticipated that technology would eventually be able to do this).<p>To look at it another way, I wouldn&#x27;t credit the writers of Star Trek for &#x27;predicting&#x27; a transporter if one ever gets made.  Or warp engines, or pretty much any of the high-tech gadgets in the series.  They aren&#x27;t predicting them, they are simply stating that these would be very cool things to have.  The fact that sometimes engineering catches up to human desire is at the same time remarkable, and completely normal.