As for 1984, I'm not sure how common TVs were in '48 ...but he seems to have predicted fairly well the wide-spread usage of them (telescreens)

Hi fellow denizen,

Yes, Orwell was well ahead of his time on this one. Definitely not straight line prediction.

Two relevant developments at the moment:
1. Widescreen TVs you can hang on your wall
2. Interactive digital TV (what is the US situation here?)
2. Monitoring usage of digital TV through set-top boxes which are connected to phone lines.

So in a sense we are being observed through our TVs.

I would hope that we're moving in the opposite direction of his society in the area of social stratification
Well, Brave New World presents a sharply stratified society, with several levels - and, of course, Huxley is very much making a point. But the gap between the haves and have nots - certainly in global terms - is as wide as ever, if not wider. I also think there's a significant (possibly widening) gap between the haves and the have a lots. Personal impression, though.