I'm pretty catholic about what constitutes science fiction.

The future depicted in a good SF story ought to be in fact possible, or at least plausible. That means that the writer should be able to convince the reader (and himself) that the wonders he is describing really can come true... and that gets tricky when you take a good, hard look at the world around you.

I was thinking of writing a little foreword saying that history is, after all, based on people's recollections, which change with time.

You don't think progress goes in a straight line, do you? Do you recognize that it is an ascending, accelerating, maybe even exponential curve? It takes hell's own time to get started, but when it goes it goes like a bomb.

People as me how I do research for my science fiction. The answer is, I never do any research.

My first thought was always a cigarette. It still is, but I haven't cheated.

You can't really predict the future. All you can do is invent it.