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The Third Wave:
The Information Age
According to Alvin Toffler, The Third Wave is generally what we refer to as the Information Age. It arose as a result of advances in computer technology and the advent of the internet. We all have a pretty good idea of what this is about. In 1980 when he published his book, The Third Wave, computers were for the most part bulky mainframe units. Of course, the capacities, capabilities, and sizes have vastly changed since then. What used to take up an entire room now fits in your lap, if not within the palm of your hand.
Computer technology and the networking capabilities afforded by the World Wide Web have totally transformed the world we live in, be it with respect to entertainment (video games, chatting and blogging, etc.), work (word processors, electronic presentations, digitization, speed of information transmission, etc.), or the home (online shopping and banking, new hobbies, etc.).
Unfortunately, along with all the positives from the new technology came a new wave of crime: identity theft, online sexual predation, child pornography, malicious defamation, etc. And of course, also came the cell phone--as indispensable as food to many teenagers.
In terms of Fourth Wave, some have followed in Toffler's footsteps and talked about a greater integration of business and society and more responsible social and environmental roles for the former in general. Others have envisioned such things as biotechecnology and nanotechnology. But nothing significant has happened in those respects, at least not on the scale required to produce transformative change.
For his part, Mark C. Henderson sees the Fourth Wave as an environmental revolution, as The 21st Century Environmental Revolution. Could he be right?
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