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.  […]

A New Book – “Entering the Shift Age” This has been a year of extremely productive writing for me. Long time readers of this column may question that, as the frequency of columns here has been less in 2012 than in the prior six years.  The reason is that over the last twelve months I […]

Thomas Jefferson and Banks Thomas Jefferson was one of the greatest Presidents of the United States. He helped shape the ideal of a citizen’s democracy for America.  He was a visionary and evidently a futurist.  Here is what he said in 1802 about banking institutions: “I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our […]

Last November, I wrote a column here about the future of cable television.  In that column from last November I forecast: “Cable television subscriptions will experience noticeable percentage declines in the next three to five years.” Last week it was announced that for the first time in history paid television subscriptions dropped 216,000 with cable […]

As a futurist I often feel as though I live in a déjà- vu world. I write about something and then months or years later it occurs or becomes something that is on the minds of a lot of people. This is the first of what may be occasional columns from years past written here […]

[Note:  This is a column reprinted from the current “Shift Age Newsletter” as it is very timely and has already received a lot of positive comment.  If you are not yet a subscriber of the newsletter, please go here and click on FREE subscription] Those of you who have either read “The Shift Age” or […]

It was 20 years ago this week that the demonstrations in Tiananmen Square turned violent.  After days of open demonstrations, the Chinese government had had enough and sent in the army.  This led to one of the most iconic visual images of protest in recent decades: a single man standing right in front of four […]

Growing up as part of the baby boom generation, a distinct memory is the air raid siren tests.  Every Tuesday, if I recall correctly, at 10a there was the test of the air raid siren blaring across the entire city of Chicago.  This was to prepare us for the possibility of a nuclear attack from […]

I have written several columns about cell phones in the past. Each one was due to milestones of growth. The speed of growth in the use of cell phones continues to be astounding. It was announced last week by the International Telecommunication Union that the number of total global cell phone subscribers will exceed the […]

Amazon’s introduction of the Kindle electronic book reader feels momentous. It is the first time that the long anticipated, much debated future of the ‘ebook’ feels ready to begin in a meaningful way. During the past ten years there has been great debate about the ebook.  Generally speaking there have been three points of view […]