Douglas Adams predicted a fair few things. He loved technology and it's sad he died so young (only 49!). He did achieve a lot in his life though. I've got a book of his archives to read some time.
I know a lot of translators and interpreters fear for their jobs with this sort of tech. A friend of mine is in that business.
I wonder if it's a self-fulfilling prophesy.. Perhaps people like Adams are great visionaries and plant the seed in the minds of people that eventually become engineers and scientists and eventually "invent" the stuff. Much like Starwars and Star Trek had iPads and iPhone-like devices way back in the day