Here's a prediction. By the time you read this, I will have just started my maternity leave. That’s right—I’m writing this letter in mid-October, as we prepare to go to press, and I’m due to have my first child (a boy!) on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. (Here’s hoping my little turkey comes out fully baked.) In light of that news, I know 2019 will be quite a year for me. Though I think it’s safe to say it will be quite a year for all of us. The pace of technological and social change is only quickening. Every time I envision the future, I imagine the scene from Steven Spielberg’s 2002 film Minority Report, in which Tom Cruise is bombarded by a series of personalized ­augmented-reality ads that materialize from the ether. While we’re not quite there yet, a host of changes are coming down the pike in the new year. To get a head start on them, read “9 Hot Topics