Just how near is the Singularity?

The Singularity, technologically speaking, is a theoretical point of time in the future when, having developed even slightly superhuman intelligence, humans will reap the benefits and/or fallout of computers/machines that can recursively augment themselves into increasingly greater intelligences.

Optimists think that this will serve as a jumping off point to rapidly accelerated advances in a variety of areas of medicine and science, changing the proverbial everything.

Pessimists point to such a development as likely contributing to some catastrophic disaster (the Terminator world as one such example).

Some don’t think this point will/can ever be reached.

Primarily, I’m interested to know both if and WHEN people think we will see such a point, with the potential benefit or cost being a secondary question to this.

Thanks.