There have been three major changes, or waves, as the Tofflers like to call them, in human history. The first took place some 10,000 years ago, when certain hunter-gathering tribes discovered agriculture and settled down. The second occurred with the Industrial Revolution 300 years ago. Power shifted from the owners of property to the creators of capital. These voluntary shut-ins are not merely customers anymore but ''prosumers'' using and adding to the daily flow of data.
Synergies run rampant.
The world is becoming the oyster of computer literates. It is not hard to grasp why Gingrich the conservative outsider found this prospective shake-up attractive. Putting congressional proceedings online, which Gingrich has already facilitated, is one thing. Pornography and all sorts of seditious twaddle are online too, where sophisticated children can track them. For all their embrace of cyberliberation, the Tofflers and Gilder have grown rich and famous through that outmoded second-wave artifact, the book.