Vernor Vinge's three years older story is much shorter and, by Gibson's high standard, lacks the richness of character development, scenario painting and plot complexity. But clearly they are still talking about very much the same thing, ideas that survive surprisingly well more than twenty years later.

Yet neither of them was really trying to predict, just to tell a story set in a more than credible near future. It may have only been when a few of those who were trying to invent parts of that future picked up on the respective stories that they gained the import they are now granted.

The problem I have with others who promote themselves as futurists is that they start from a present which never truly existed and remain stuck on the same vector no matter which breeze reality catches. It's much easier to stay relevant when you aren't weighed down with the weight of past expectations.

Meanwhile, I suspect that the current incarnation of GoogleBase will not do anything to significantly expand cyberspace.