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One of my biggest beefs with the genre of futurism is that it consists for the most part of people breathlessly telling us about all the wonderful things that OTHER people are going to invent, or which will just 'happen' - while we sit around and watch in amazement. All we need to do to reach the Singularity is let Moore's Law run it's course. In 25 years, we'll all be immortal thanks to medical and cybernetic breakthroughs accomplished by...someone. And so on.
The future is what we make it, with the emphasis on "we make". Sitting around waiting for other people to deliver it to us in the form or technological wonders inevitably leads to the kind of disappointment Simon describes. The "Star Trek" future isn't just about technology - the technology Gene Rodenberry envisioned was made possible because of a transformation in human values, and a shift towards a more compassionate and inclusive society - and that's a future any one of us can bring about by our own efforts.
