This is about more than just being sufficiently prepared so that things go smoothly. And being prepared for me is a precondition for feeling confident and communicating with depth and understanding. I don't envision one particular technology having a singularly positive impact on the world, but rather technologies and concepts combined in innovative ways. For example, think of what it could mean to combine the Cold War concept of Radio Free Europe with Internet email, handhelds and wireless in a country run by a totalitarian regime. Imagine an ISP outside of the dictatorial control of Burma's leaders, coupled with cheap and widely distributed palmtops used for wireless email service that could wrap the country in a mesh of communication outside of government control.
History provides useful models.
Technology and the economics around technology can confer great leverage on those and emerging models. In terms of negative impact, the evolution of technology makes it that much more powerful to those who use it. And, technology ends up being particularly punishing to people without fundamental skills such as literacy. These two effects amplify each other and can widen the gap in our society. In the US, the industrial age set the barrier to entry into the middle class at a moderate work ethic and basic literacy - kind of a high school equivalency.