The Digital Human: Anticipation

Aleks Krotoski asks why people are always yearning for next technological solution to various problems, and what has driven society to the current, seemingly relentless cycle of innovation. It's not all explained by consumerism, there appears to be a deeper motivation - as if people are already half living in an imagined future of ever greater technological possibilities. Is this how society is evolving, instead of adapting to the world like other species, it is adapting the world to suit itself?