Smartphones aren't the only technology leaping forward: Computers, networks and sensors, artificial intelligence, robotics, biotechnology, 3D printing, nanotechnology, human-machine interfaces, and many other tools are also advancing exponentially. For instance, genetically engineered crops are the fastest-adopted new technology in the history of agriculture. By 2015 biotech rice could help feed 1 billion poor people in Asia alone.

In the near future, these technologies will enable most of the world to experience what only affluent societies have access to today. Even better, the new tools themselves are not the only agents of change in play.