Not to take anything away from John Brunner's 1975 classic, but EM Forster's The Machine Stops[1][2] was even more prescient.
Written in 1909, it predicted (in very rough, general form) something like the Internet, Internet addiction, video chat rooms, and virtual reality.
He also wrote another short story which I consider to be even better than The Machine Stops. It's called The Other Side of the Hedge[3], and while it's not as prescient it's one of my favorite short stories and I would highly recommend it to everyone.
As I read The Other Side of the Hedge (which I agree is better) just after having read Fratelli Tutti[1], the ambiguity of its final possessive is striking.
It's so striking that I've attempted to actively use a second language[2] to reinterpret the final sentence:
Demang me ta finyish leta-kom biya im, im ta du terash ruserux mi fo shelaf fo mi finyish sensa seping biya,
unte detim im du ting, mi ta vide im demang beratna mi.
"The Martian government was directed by ten men, the leader of whom was elected by universal suffrage for five years and entitled "Elon." Two houses of Parliament enacted the laws to be administered by the Elon and his cabinet.
The Upper House was called the Council of the Elders and was limited to a membership of 60 persons, each being appointed for life by the Elon as vacancies occurred by death. In principle, the method was not unlike that by which the College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church is appointed. Usually the Elon chose historians,
churchmen, former cabinet members or successful economic leaders who could offer lifetimes of valuable experience."
Written in 1909, it predicted (in very rough, general form) something like the Internet, Internet addiction, video chat rooms, and virtual reality.
He also wrote another short story which I consider to be even better than The Machine Stops. It's called The Other Side of the Hedge[3], and while it's not as prescient it's one of my favorite short stories and I would highly recommend it to everyone.
[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Machine_Stops
[2] - https://www.ele.uri.edu/faculty/vetter/Other-stuff/The-Machi...
[3] - http://www.101bananas.com/library2/otherside.html