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HomeShop at BookSurgePetsThe Shift Age |
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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 12 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
 The handbook for the future Feb 12, 2008
By John A. Hennessey
As a regular reader of Davis Houle's blog (www. evolutionshift.com),
I immediately ordered his newest book when publication was announced.
His latest offering, "The Shift Age", is the handbook for the future.
The touchstones of this Age may not have much relevance in the next.
The Middle East morass, the loss of U.S. influence in the
world, vanishing jobs, wealth transference, the disappearance
of the middle class, dwindling fossil fuels and global warming
are but a few of the current problems with which we are transfixed
when we should also be looking over the horizon to see where
all these events are taking us and how they will impact the
future of our civilization.
David Houle has been doing just that! Houle is the Alvin Toffler
of the Shift Age who is thinking about where we are headed and what
we should be doing now to prepare for it. I highly recommend his book
to anyone who believes in advance notice because David gives you plenty!
John A. Hennessey
5 of 6 found the following review helpful:
Just ordered more copies Jun 11, 2008
By Ginny Moffat
The Shift Age is one of the best books I've read this year, and I read a lot of non-fiction. I just ordered more copies to give to my friends -- I can't imagine anyone not getting some good ideas from it. What I liked the most about it is how Houle brings together research, historical perspectives, and very current political and economic issues as a basis for his "Shift Age" premises. From a snapshot of our lives in the mid-1980s to a review of the Agricultural and Industrial Ages to a look at the immense changes we're experiencing today, Houle's writing is thought-provoking and engaging. I found myself thinking and talking about his ideas and statistics days after reading a section. And that's the other thing I liked about it: he has structured the book so it can be read in relatively brief chunks and still be provocative and interesting. I just don't have time to sit down and read huge pieces at once, and Houle has recognized that fact as part of the age we're in.
Interestingly enough, the other book I've been reading the last few weeks is a wonderful account of Lewis and Clark's expedition, by Stephen Ambrose (Undaunted Courage). As Ambrose talks about life 200 years ago, it's striking how much it dovetails with Houle's points about how fundamentally different the speed of change is now. Ambrose and Houle both point out that 200 years ago, NOTHING moved faster than the speed of a horse: not information, not people, not goods. Ambrose's account, as a history, leaves the point there. For Houle, that's a jumping off point in contrasting the instantaneous transmission of information today and the impact it has on all of us.
So, I'll stop. But if you have any interest in thinking about history or where we're going next, I'd buy a couple copies of this book. You're going to want to give it to people.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Welcome to Another Planet Jun 27, 2008
By Katherine MacMillin
I found "The Shift Age" strangely comforting. As I spin forward in my life, reaching for my cell phone while speeding along a highway, or sipping my morning coffee while reading about Earthlike worlds in the universe, or dismantling my computer with the help of a woman on the phone from India -- who calls herself Shirley, author David Houle gives me something to hold on to.
He compares what we are all experiencing to a kind of psychological earthquake - a shifting under our feet that we can't control. But to counter our concerns, he gently takes us into the past to anchor us to our humanity and then through a series of topics (technology, economy, environment, media) into a future which offers "a great transformation for us all."
Houle is an optimist with a plan; I guess that's what a futurist is. Writing about space exploration Houle says: "While it is important to search for other places than earth that might be hospitable for human life, it is even more important to look for life as we might not know it." Welcome to "The Sift Age" because living life as we might not know it is here to stay.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Couldn't Finish Jan 02, 2011
By Rocket
I picked up this book as I had heard favorable comments regarding the author. I intended to read the book in it's entirety but after 90 of 216 pages and right before the chapter on global warming I decided to cut my losses. The beginning of this book outlines the various eras of mankind's existence - agrarian, industrial, and information which lead up to the current age which the author coins as "the shift age". Now at least 3 years have passed since this book has been published and except for this book I have never heard the term shift age used anywhere else. The first part of the book was interesting however the second part was a compilation of blog postings with an enormous amount of repetitive information. I agree with the author that the proliferation of the cell phone has transformed communication but this fact and others are repeated numerous times. I started to wonder if I had lost my place in the book and was reading it over from an earlier point. My apologies for submitting a review for a book I didn't finish - I just couldn't.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
The Examined Life May 02, 2008
By George Rosenbaum
Illumination in a world shifting around us -now every twenty years or
even more quickly- is the genius of Houle and mission of the futurist.
Evolution Shift is a powerful navigational tool that tells us where we are and where we are heading. Don't leave home without it.
See all 12 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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