Intel has a guy whose job is to predict the future of computing! So how can you tell if he's doing a good job?

Weather reporters on the local news try to tell the future a day in advance. When they're wrong, which is all too often, they get hell for it. There is a guy at Intel who's job it is to predict what it will be like to live in 10 to 15 years. Once that time comes around, everyone will have forgotten your predictions to be mad at you!

Intel's Futurist helps the company anticipate where technology is headed in order to start building the future of processors and computing. Predicting the future of computing has been a large part of the company since its co-founder, Gordon Moore, predicted the number of transistors of an integrated circuit would double every couple years.

The Futurist position is likened to science fiction writers Jules Verne and H.G. Wells.

Current Futurist, Brian Johnson, is working on Intel's CPU circa 2019. That is some serious forward thinking. Intel also has the Tomorrow Project that promotes public discussion on where the future of computing is headed and what its impact on society might be.

It's clear that to be successful in the technology industry, you can't live in the moment—instead, you've got to live far, far in the future.

(Source)