Book Review: The Shift Age
I’m a technology geek, I have to admit. I take a look back at where we were 5 years ago. High powered laptops were luxury items (heck, desktops were luxury items just 15 years ago), cell phones were a digital voice communication device that worked everywhere, so long as everywhere was near a major highway.
Compare that to where we are today. Looking forward 5 years is exciting! There is no one more in tune with the future than David Houle, a futurist nonetheless.
I stumbled upon David’s blog Evolution Shift over a year ago, and his posts on the future hooked the technology geek.
Evolution Shift has evolved into a recently published book, The Shift Age, and if a look back on the past doesn’t get you excited about the future, a journey through The Shift Age will really open your eyes.
For me, the first dozen pages set the lure. David wrote the book for those whose time is limited, and only read in short bursts. Check. He mentions that most of the columns in his books can be read in 5 to 10 minutes. Perfect!
The beauty in the book is that it’s an easy read on a deep subject with a far-reaching scope. The fact that I finished the book in under a week should speak volumes.
A statistical look forward.
David has gone to great depths researching the manifestation of technology through the last several decades, and has forecast out further penetration of connectedness. As an engineer, “In God We Trust, all others bring data” is a mantra. The Shift Age shows up with the data.
One of the main points of the book is what David calls the “Flow to Global” (click here and let David explain it to you) in which global forces change the environment in which we live, bringing upon a truly global economy.
Through plotting out internet traffic over the last decade, it is easy to see that global connectedness will (and already has) stimulated the flow to global.
Speed of change.
An interesting concept that David brings forward is how rapidly things change in todays environment. From my perspective, most of the older generations today understand change, and they’ve come to accept speed. Younger generations have come to embrace speed, and expect change.
Speed of change is almost a fourth dimension (actually it’s the second derivative of distance with respect to time, or most commonly referred to as “acceleration”). Personally, I believe most humans think in terms of speed, not acceleration. So supporting the concept of the speed of change is eye opening.
Something familiar.
Those who frequent the Evolution Shift blog will find The Shift Age familiar, as it is a compilation of various blog posts from 2005 or earlier up until one year ago. So in effect, The Shift Age is (if you understand the speed of change – you’ll have to read the book), already obsolete.
Never fear though, David has assured me that the follow on to The Shift Age is in the future!
Look for an interview with David Houle soon.
Additional Resources
The Futurist Chanel on YouTube
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