Nicely written essay. I would say future is hard to predict. People in 1960s predicted about space travel but did not predict mobile devices like iphones that have so much compute power with so many apps with location, touch, social, communication features.

140 characters may not have great technology but can be attributed to bring social revolution in so many places.

Ultimately, need is mother of most of innovations. Need leads to demand, which leads to building new solutions.