HTML, as it stands, I don't think will "die" for quite awhile. It might be an obscure reference, but many said Punk, Hard Rock, Metal, et al. would "die" many times over. Instead, they've just changed and evolved (for better or worse).
HTML, in that vein, will (and has) change(d) and evolve(d) into other variants (XHTML, for instance). The big hope was for XML to take over. But
some experts have called it a failure.
Personally, I've switched over to hand-coding XHTML transitional and CSS. I haven't even opened GoLive in some 3-4 months. I prefer the markup, cross-browser support, and standards-compliant behaviour that modern-day browsers exhibit when pages are coded with proper,
standards-compliant XHTML.
The future of the web is separating style from content. What one person will see on their top-of-the-line home computer system w/the latest and greatest browser - another person will see on their cellphone, PDA, etc. and while both will deliver identical
content, the style (appearance) will be altered for the medium it is being delivered on.
Man, I've been studying this shit for too long. That sure was geeky. But, hopefully informative.