When Your Cool Future Is Obsolete Before You're Even Finished Writing It

When you decide to write a story set in the near future, or speculating about things that might happen, you're running the risk of looking like a jackass. Nobody expects a science fiction story to predict the actual future--not if they know anything about science fiction, anyway. But given how slowly publishing can move and how fast the world changes, your story can look outdated before it even sees print.