You can predict all you want, but everybody knows what predictions get you.
Let there be a special place in Hell for pundits who make predictions.
For me personally, the technology that has taken the most unexpected turn in my lifetime is what I refer to as 'the device formerly known as the cell phone.' I still remember many predictions that by 2000 there would only be about a million cell phone users. Boy, were they ever wrong!
When I look into the Ericsson's mobility report that has predictions till 2018, the majority of people having mobile broadband by 2018 will be on 3G.
To the extent that you can find ways where you're making predictions, there's no substitute for testing yourself on real-world situations that you don't know the answer to in advance.
I'm generally considered a conservative in my predictions for disease.
