The original call
Original year: 2019
2026 assessment
Scorecard verdict: Mostly hit
Mostly hit, with one honest asterisk. Off-site assembly, factory-built homes, AI-driven design, 3D-printed concrete, solar-generating glass and anticipatory smart-building tech are all real and shipping in 2026. The one phrase I would soften is “brick laying robotic masons are everywhere” — they are not everywhere, they are somewhere. Strip that one word and the rest of this paragraph reads like a description of the industry today rather than a prediction from 2019.