A Roadmap to the 21st Century

Here's a link to Peter Pesti's Detailed Roadmap of the 21st Century. Pesti describes its purpose, "...To allow us to evaluate predictions in context of other predictions; evaluate their credibility in view of the big picture; and finally, to enable us to better plan and prepare for the coming years."

This kind of tool would be most effective as a way of presenting conflicting technological predictions alongside planned completion/release dates for major engineering projects and product rollouts. For example, just when the next generation solar panels or zero-emission vehicles are supposed to come out is critical information. Personally, I believe such a timeline would be most effective if it further included critical milestones relating to, say, the environment, as well as other details like resources, population and economics.

To get a fully effective predictional tool, you would want to cross-reference anticipated techological innovations with anticipated environmental changes, shortfalls in resources, and so forth. By looking at a much broader set of data, you can look at not just how one technology effects another or fails to materialize, but also the natural, social and economic forces that may drive or derail future research.

Pesti clearly leaves interpretation in the hands of his readers:

Since the goal is to provide an overview of predictions, the list contains no original research or predictions: all listed advances are marked with their sources. When time ranges are given in the original sources, the most pessimistic (ie. latest) predictions are used. While the compilation aims to be comprehensive, it does not aim to be coherent: it is up to the reader to resolve conflicting predictions by trusting one (or none) of the sources.

Future Imperative