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 Increases, Privacy Declines” One of the characteristics of the Shift Age is that all of us now live with two realities, the physical  reality and screen reality.

So, the uproar around Mr. Snowden’s disclosure of PRISM and how much the NSA, with …

As anyone who has read my book The Shift Age or has heard me deliver a presentation of the same name knows, Accelerating Electronic Connectedness is one of the three fundamental forces of the Shift Age. Since 2007, I have consistently stated that this force will not only create a global connectivity that will empower developing countries by lessening ignorance and challenging institutional authority, it will also create an extension of McLuhan’s electric global village.

In a recent column titled “Shift Age Forecasts,” I discussed the déjà vu type of reality I live as many of my …

[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 have heard me speak about the Shift Age, know that the accelerating global electronic connectedness is one of the three forces that has, is and will continue to reshape our world.  There are now 4 billion cell phone subscribers in the world.  Facebook has …

China is nothing less than a historical phenomenon. In just 30 years the country has moved from being a closed, communist country with a rural economy to one of the most economically powerful countries of the world.  It is the first country in history to move from the Agricultural Age to the Industrial Age to the Information Age and now to the Shift Age in 30 years.  The U.S took 200 years to do this.  This must always be kept in mind when looking at China.

It would be impossible to move this rapidly without significant problems, disruptions and upheavals.  These …