Fast forward 25 years, what will audio be like?

If history has taught us anything it's that the future is unknowable.

History teaches us its usually fairly easy to see what's coming...

This statement would carry more weight if the poster would provide some examples. Like he said, it should be fairly easy.

Schubert, interesting choice of the cause of WW2. But as an example of foreseeing the future I don't think it's particularly compelling. Basically, France and Germany have been in conflict since the time of Julius Caesar. To predict another conflict between them in recent light of the Franco-Prussian War and the Great War borders on the trivial. The French constructed the Maginot Line because they knew Germany was a serious threat.

It's important to remember that Nazi Germany could have readily won WW2. Not invading the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941 and not declaring war on the U.S. after the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor would have allowed Germany the ability to construct a true fortress Europe. At the time of Operation Barbarossa the German command bravely predicted a quick summer campaign and the rapid collapse of the Soviet foe. After all, that's what happened every time they invaded other countries. I guess they couldn't correctly predict the future either.

Leaders know about the known unknowns, but it's the unknown unknowns that will get you.