I believe that the author George Orwell did not predict more advanced technology in his book, because 1984 was not a fictional novel, but an honest prediction of what life would be like in the future.  He correctly predicted that the atomic bomb would remain unsurpassed as a weapon (even after 40 years of innovations), but that other inventions would be created to aid and combat totalitarianism (plastic surgery/shock therapy).  However, because he was so convinced that the future governments would be totalitarians, he believed that all innovations in the future would be designed to either aid or combat totalitarianism.  He also believed that the quality of life would deteriorate so significantly, that in 1984, inventions would be destroyed more often than created.  Simply put, George Orwell's fear of totalitarianism severely limited the imaginative process of his predictions for 1984.

Another reason for the...