Most - not all - of these feel obvious. Land lines? Fax machines? They were already niche in 2012. IDK, these weren't (bold) predictions, as much as already established market trends push out 10 years and then deciding how dead they'd be or not.
Side note: In the late 80's, I worked for AT&T in the consumer marketing dept. I remember there was a manager who repeatedly said, "Someday our phone numbers will follow us no matter where we live." Now, he was _not_ predicting the mobile phone, only that if you moved you wouldn't have to change numbers. But that, even then, he was viewed as a mad man. I wonder that he'd say today.
None of them feel obvious. I never would have made these predictions in 2010, 2015, or 2019, and I wouldn't feel comfortable making any of them out until 2030 at minimum (and only for fax machines and spinning drives on consumer PCs).
1 - Effectively, ubiquitous wifi - The obvious direction of technology + market. Something Comcast / Xfinity was offering and expanding.
2 - Mobile devices with better cameras - Both were handheld with similar and overlapping technologies. The obvious direction of technology + market
3 - Landlines - The obvious direction of technology + market. I haven't had one since early 00's, and that was strictly as a back up for business purposes.
4 - Instant on - Who wouldn't want that? TVs do it. The obvious direction of technology + market.
5 - Non-UI UX - The obvious direction of technology + market, ask Siri or Alexa.
6 - SSD / Cloud - HDs are the fax machine of storage. The obvious direction of technology + market
7 - Movie theaters - The obvious direction of technology + market.
8 - Mouse? - See above about voice, and of course there's touch. The obvious direction of technology + market
9 - 3D glasses - Been hyped for the longest. The obvious direction of technology + market.
10 - No remote - Remember the infomercials, "the clapper"? Also, back to voice, or mobile device (see cameras). The obvious direction of technology + market.
11 - No desktops - He was midtaken.
12 - No phone dialing - Most comms aren't via phone number, and if they are no one dials. Ever since mobile devices - even flip phones - fewer and fewer were dialing. Again, the obvious direction of technology + market.
13 - Won't watch prime time - I owned a TIVO (DVR) in the late 90's and the promise of 500 channels is as old as cable TV. The obvious direction of technology + market.
14 - No fax machine - Never really a consumer product. Why would a 9 y/o need one in 2021? The obvious direction of technology + market
15 - No optical media - See SSD / cloud. The obvious direction of technology + market.
Almost all of these were overly optimistic bandwagon riding on replacements for things that already work fine and most people don't care about replacing.
Fax and optical media are the big exceptions; good riddance. SSD/Cloud are being pushed by an oligopoly of mega-corporations and people don't have a choice. And even then, it's not like CDs are rare like Betamax tapes.
And almost of these are "obvious" directions with respect to adoption beyond enthusiast types who like cool high-tech shit (with the above exceptions). They are niche, not poised for total takeover so complete that a child born in the 2010s would literally never experience them once ever.
Don't confuse "hype in tech magazines" with "things people care about or want". And don't confuse "fun and/or useful technology that will gradually increase in popularity over time" with "overnight society-transforming".
No confusion. Smaller? Less expensive? More convenient? Many of them two, or all three.
Keep in mind, per the original article, some of these are biz / enterprise driven. An SSD might cost more up front but over its lifetime, it saves money. That increase in demand lowers prices, to the point that they are consumer friendly.
I think most are discounting how often ppl still bring their work tech into their home.
I was born in 1996 and have never used a fax machine. Unless you live in Japan, you are being extremely conservative with not being comfortable predicting that until 2030.
Side note: In the late 80's, I worked for AT&T in the consumer marketing dept. I remember there was a manager who repeatedly said, "Someday our phone numbers will follow us no matter where we live." Now, he was _not_ predicting the mobile phone, only that if you moved you wouldn't have to change numbers. But that, even then, he was viewed as a mad man. I wonder that he'd say today.