Asimov was one of my favorites as a kid, though I read it without getting as much hype (still some, but this was pre-internet and I was a kid). And yeah, his vision is now so clearly an alternate timeline, it's hard to imagine anymore.

If you haven't read I, Robot (the short story collection that forms the foundation -- sorry -- of his robotics concepts that in turn are the core of the Robot series), I do recommend it, even if it's dated.