Another Trailer – Seeing a trend here?

Ok, so apparently, I REALLY like scifi.  This little beauty looks wonderful on the small screen so far.  Here’s hoping the story and movie itself hold up to the hype:

One of the draws to scifi, for me, has been the “what if” of the stories presented.  Vernor Vinge wrote a book called “Rainbow’s End” that I recently picked up again.  The premise is a near future story, 2025, and the prevalence of access to the net, data and therefore analysis of said data plays heavily into the storyline.

Nevermind the storylines of some of these scifi stories.  It’s the premises that intrigue me.  As in Avatar, what are the implications, drawbacks, consequences of taking a healthy mind in a broken body and placing it within an “alien” healthy body?  With “Rainbow’s End,” the premise is much more here and now.

Real estate agents are now being pushed into learning that data is something that needs to be gathered, cultivated and analyzed.  If the premise of the book comes true, wearable computers and broadband + speed connections to the ‘net, then on the fly analysis will be a HUGE cottage industry.

What book, scifi or otherwise, has grabbed your attention and caused you to consider the future?

(yes, I am looking for books to add to the reading list!)