How did the fantastic become mundane?

I was looking at digg and followed a link to this video. It is visually stunning and I loved it. Right with it is this video, which is the making of the previous video. And as stunning as the visuals were, the process behind it is more so, namely in the revelation of how much is CG. The short answer is all of it. But while you are watching, the only reason that you know that what you are seeing is CG is because it is impossible. And so, my question from the top.

I wonder about things that my nephews have now that I could not fathom when I was a child. The personal computer was a new concept when I was a kid. So were car phones. The internet was unheard of till my teens. We still have some VHS tapes lying around the house. It's not simply that all of these things simply appeared but within half a generation, they became commonplace and orders of magnitude better. How did all this become normal? There are places, many places, most places, where running water and electricity are non-existent.

I realize that this is not a new idea, the craziness that is our modern existence. Sometimes it just hits you: we live in the future.

P.S. Still waiting on a hovercar and robot.