Customer Reviews

Powershift: Knowledge, Wealth, and Violence at the Edge of the 21st Century

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Simply, the most comprehensive and clear view of the possible future I have ever experienced. I read the book in 1992 after having it sit on a bookshelf and collecting dust for over a year. I waited too long! This is one of the most powerful studies of the future which we are now experiencing. Many of the phenomena taking place around us are foreshadowed in this comprehensive and easy to read volume by Heidi and Alvin Toffler.

Clearly, they have looked into the future and given us a road map through which to navigate the post cold war information society which has grown like a virus out of control.

From economic boom (unparalleled post world war II economic expansion) to the rise in religious fanaticism and terrorist activity (including domestic terrorism as witnessed by the Federal Building, the World Trade Center and the attacks on numerous women's health clinics)to the acceleration of the information-communications driven economy ( the internet and its impact on wealth creation was no surprise to Powershift readers).

While many of the things that are foretold in this volume have come true, the open ended nature of those things is what makes reading this now so compelling. The advice and knowledge to be gained here is still valid. We are only in the top half of the first inning but the runs are being scored like mad!

This book serves as a great underpinning of understanding of the dynamics of the new world. Read this and you will be fascinated and energized by the possibilities of the future. The reading is easy and the writing is tight enough to give you the basic ideas and to allow your imagination and view of the future take flight.

Alvin augments our vocabulary with terms like "info-warrior", "eco-spasm", "super-symbolic economy" and "powershift." He examines the relationship between violence, wealth, and knowledge and concludes that an entirely new system of wealth creation is emerging, as well as entirely new approach to information dissemination that places most of our command and control, communications, computing, and intelligence (C4I) investment in the dump heap with the Edsels of the past. He anticipates both the emergence of information wars at all levels, and the demise of bureaucracy. He cautions us about the emerging power of the "Global Gladiators"-religions, corporations, and terrorists (nice little mix) and concludes that in order for nations to maintain their strategic edge, an effective intelligence apparatus will be a necessity and will "boom" in the 21st Century, with the privatization of intelligence being its most prominent break from the past.

I was fortunate enough to have been given this book to read almost 15 years ago. I was unfortunate enough not to have taken full advantage of the information inside it. I basically predicted Walmart's advance using the lowly Barcode, and the current problems that we are experiencing in the middle east due to fundamentalism - not moslem fundamentalism or christian fundamentalism, fundamentalism as a result of our fear of the inevitable pace of change as it increases evermore. The book is still relevant and I find my self quoting it and Mr. Toffler in discussions with friends and family on world affairs.

The text has much to offer. I think Toffler has made some very important points that everyone can find use of in some sense or other. The fundamental criticism I have -- if I must offer one -- is that regardless of Toffler's having been an English major in University, and a pro writer I find his writing style clumsy and near unintelligible. Toffler's writing is difficult to follow, disorganised, and he uses many terms to decorate his views that merely confuse rather than intrigue the reader. If Toffler could learn to write clear and concise prose, he would be twice as popular as he already is. Good read nonetheless...

Amazing insights .... coupled with relevant interlinking between the socio- eco - political environment ..... makes it an interesting reading. Did someone say its all about paradigm ? Guess YES.

Power shift is a fantastic read, if you're trying to make sense of the new world that is slowly (or quickly) beginning to form. It brings to the forefront all the jumbled thoughts and threads that do not seem to make sense, enabling you to see the emerging patterns. It's sometimes scary, but not without hope. As good a read as future shock and The third wave, if not more relevant today.

All of Toffler's books are amazing. I can't say enough good things about them. Those who do not like his books are clearly just those types who hate anything that becomes too popular. Someone should explane to them that just because something is well-liked doesn't mean it suddenly lacks value. Toffler has predicted so much that has become true. His great ability to use social science to show us the future is beyond impressive. Future Shock, The Third Wave, and Powershift. Read all three.

The power of prediction of this book is pretty amazing in the light of what is now happening in Kosovo, having been written in 1990. The dynamics of the modern world are explained if a little imperfectly, but then who can? All in all, a worthy read.

Powershift is one of the best readers' books on new transformation at the edge of 21st Century with 25 assumptions on power, knowledge, wealth and violence. It serious has predicted the contribution on new forces arise to tower over the earth and recognized the potential of using information as a fighting tool, published the initiative to make command, control, communications, computers and intelligence (C4I) systems responsive to the fighter; to field these systems quickly; to capitalize on advances in technology; and to shape our doctrine to reflect these changes. Alvin Toffler has drawn the roadmap on how the societies speed toward their collision with tomorrow. The enduring success of nation in the 21st Century is assured by its inherent ability to capture change. This book `must read' for everyone who want to know the possibilities of the future.

Why should you read a book written almost 30 years ago? Because there are special people like the Toffler's that can see the future. This book I read when it was released and just re-read it. When I read it for the first time, my painful conversations with my blue-color friends, on why it was okay to be in a service economy vs.a manufacturing economy led to a painful breakdown on why we were moving toward a knowledge economy. This book needs to be read, so that, we all can understand, that just as it is ignorant to forget the past, it is just as erroneous to ignore the future. Toffler's book is an amazing seminal reading of how special people can see into the future. When you read it you will be amazed as to how almost everything predicted happened over the last 30 years did happen in retrospect. And it will lead you to understand why time is being compressed and what took 30 years to unfold will likely happen in 1/10 of the time.