Next: The Future Just Happened
Encyclopedia
In Next: The Future Just Happened (book, 2001) author Michael Lewis
argues that rapidly evolving technology will upend the power structure of society. It gives power to the youngster who doesn't have preconceptions and entrenched interests. By making information readily available, the internet
erodes the power and mystique of many professions.
Lewis provides examples including:
1. At the age of twelve, Jonathan Lebed
began trading stocks. When he and three buddies did well in a stock picking contest, people began coming to him for advice. By the age of fourteen, he learned that by posting messages in chat rooms, he could affect stock prices. This illustrates how internet chat rooms shifted power from seasoned professionals to a fourteen year old.
2. In the next chapter, the legal profession suffers a blow to its pride at the hands of fifteen year old Marcus Arnold, who became a top-ranked respondent to legal questions on AskMe.com.
3. The band, Marillion
, couldn't get funds for a promotional tour from their record company so they turned to the internet. By connecting directly with their fans through their fan website, they were able to raise money for the tour, then to produce new CDs and to sell merchandise. They are no longer dependent on the normal intermediaries.
4. TiVo
and Replay
allow people to watch TV shows when they want and to skip the advertisements. This changes the relationship between the broadcasters and the viewers. It continues the fracturing of the market observed by Alvin Toffler
in The Third Wave
(1980) and many others. The TiVo and Replay black boxes also transmit information back to the companies. The information on consumer preferences and behavior is valuable to advertisers because they can use it to try to target their ads to the people most likely to buy the product. This further segments the markets. Consumers gain convenience at the cost of privacy.
Lewis argues that elite
s are under attack. The internet makes information readily available to everyone. If nothing is hidden or arcane, the need for professionals is threatened. In a world of accelerating change, “the state of mind demanded by [such] a world… is alien to anyone over forty.”
Michael Lewis (author)
Michael Lewis is an American non-fiction author and financial journalist. His bestselling books include The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, Liar's Poker, The New New Thing, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, Panic and Home Game: An...
argues that rapidly evolving technology will upend the power structure of society. It gives power to the youngster who doesn't have preconceptions and entrenched interests. By making information readily available, the internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
erodes the power and mystique of many professions.
Lewis provides examples including:
1. At the age of twelve, Jonathan Lebed
Jonathan Lebed
Jonathan Lebed is an American notorious for using internet technology to hype stocks.Between September 1999 and February 2000 Lebed made hundreds of thousands of dollars by posting in internet chat rooms and on message boards encouraging people to buy penny stocks he already owned, thus, according...
began trading stocks. When he and three buddies did well in a stock picking contest, people began coming to him for advice. By the age of fourteen, he learned that by posting messages in chat rooms, he could affect stock prices. This illustrates how internet chat rooms shifted power from seasoned professionals to a fourteen year old.
2. In the next chapter, the legal profession suffers a blow to its pride at the hands of fifteen year old Marcus Arnold, who became a top-ranked respondent to legal questions on AskMe.com.
3. The band, Marillion
Marillion
Marillion are a British rock band, formed in Aylesbury, England in 1979. Their recorded studio output comprises sixteen albums generally regarded in two distinct eras, delineated by the departure of original vocalist & frontman Fish in late 1988, and the subsequent arrival of replacement Steve...
, couldn't get funds for a promotional tour from their record company so they turned to the internet. By connecting directly with their fans through their fan website, they were able to raise money for the tour, then to produce new CDs and to sell merchandise. They are no longer dependent on the normal intermediaries.
4. TiVo
TiVo
TiVo is a digital video recorder developed and marketed by TiVo, Inc. and introduced in 1999. TiVo provides an on-screen guide of scheduled broadcast programming television programs, whose features include "Season Pass" schedules which record every new episode of a series, and "WishList"...
and Replay
ReplayTV
ReplayTV is a brand of digital video recorder , a term synonymous with personal video recorder . It is a consumer video device which allows users to capture television programming to internal hard disk storage for later viewing...
allow people to watch TV shows when they want and to skip the advertisements. This changes the relationship between the broadcasters and the viewers. It continues the fracturing of the market observed by Alvin Toffler
Alvin Toffler
Alvin Toffler is an American writer and futurist, known for his works discussing the digital revolution, communication revolution, corporate revolution and technological singularity....
in The Third Wave
The Third Wave (book)
The Third Wave is a book published in 1980 by Alvin Toffler. It is the sequel to Future Shock, published in 1970, and the second in what was originally just a trilogy that was continued with Powershift: Knowledge, Wealth and Violence at the Edge of the 21st Century in 1990...
(1980) and many others. The TiVo and Replay black boxes also transmit information back to the companies. The information on consumer preferences and behavior is valuable to advertisers because they can use it to try to target their ads to the people most likely to buy the product. This further segments the markets. Consumers gain convenience at the cost of privacy.
Lewis argues that elite
Elite
Elite refers to an exceptional or privileged group that wields considerable power within its sphere of influence...
s are under attack. The internet makes information readily available to everyone. If nothing is hidden or arcane, the need for professionals is threatened. In a world of accelerating change, “the state of mind demanded by [such] a world… is alien to anyone over forty.”