The word cyberspace is ubiquitous. I don’t think I know of an adult that does not know or use the word. Cyberspace is most often used when talking about all that exists on the Internet, the space/time area of computer interactions. It is a word that has settled into use and understanding around the world. […]
Privacy was clearly a major topic in 2013. The ongoing conversations around the world subsequent to Snowden’s revelations have been extensive and on-going. His recent comments to England on Christmas Day and the recent interview in the Washington Post provoked a lot of commentary at the end of the year. The Center for Internet and […]
The issue of blanket surveillance by the NSA now heads to the Supreme Court. The powerful ruling by Judge Richard J. Leon of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia against the blanket surveillance now means that the issue will be argued before the Supreme Court. This will happen as Judge Leon, while […]
The fast and easy answer is yes. The privacy our parents and grandparents had is no longer. The privacy we still have in pockets of our lives will not be available to our children and grandchildren. The historical definition of privacy that has existed for centuries no longer exists. In the last seven years I […]
[This column first appeared in the Shift Age Newsletter ] People often ask me about what books I read. I sense that they expect some kind of unique or weird answer from a futurist. In addition to this question I am often given books or names of books to read, usually books that have transformed […]
In the middle of the 19th century, the telegraph was the first technology in history to speed up communications between two people or two locations. Prior to the telegraph the speed of human communications was measured in horse days; how far a horse could travel in a day. It always amazes me to think that […]
In the last column here I wrote about the decline in what used to be called privacy. The definition of privacy is mutable, ever changing. What was considered private 100 years ago, even 20 years ago is practically non-existent today. As I wrote in 2006 before the iPhone and all devices that have followed “Technology […]
Now that PRISM has been revealed, there is and will be significant discussions about personal privacy and government monitoring of personal communications. There are several levels or developing issues and trends that this very significant revelation triggers for all of us to think about. Here and in future columns we will look at the major […]
The politically delayed confirmation of Chuck Hagel to become the Secretary of Defense could well be a pivot point, and an essential one, for the future of the Department. It is time for this most important arm of the government to become more aligned with 21st century realities. Much of the thinking in the United […]
We have left the Information Age and entered the Shift Age. This new age is an era of transformation unparalleled in terms of the amount of change that will occur is the next 20-30 years. As long time readers of this column know, I have been writing and speaking about the Shift Age since 2007 […]