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third industrial revolution The introduction of steam-powered technology into printing transformed the medium into the primary communication tool to manage the First Industrial Revolution. The steam printing machine increased the speed of printing and significantly reduced the cost. Print material proliferated in America and Europe, encouraging mass literacy for the first time in history. The advent of public schooling on both continents between the 1830s and 1890s created a print-literate workforce to organize the complex operations of a coal-powered, steam-driven rail and factory economy.
In the 1900s, electrical communication converged with the oil-powered internal combustion engine, giving rise to the Second Industrial Revolution. The electrification of factories ushered in the era of massproduced manufactured goods, the most important being the automobile, altering the spatial and temporal dynamic of society. The demand for fuel made the United States the leading oil producer in the world. Families began relocating in new suburban communities, recasting social life and creating a communication grid to manage and market the far-flung activities of the oil economy and auto age.
The Third Industrial Revolution (TIR) The theory argues that conjoining Internet communication technology and renewable energies is giving rise to a Third Industrial Revolution. The creation of a renewable energy regime, loaded by buildings, partially stored in the form of hydrogen, distributed via an energy internet—a smart intergrid—and connected to plug in zero emission transport, opens the door to a Third Industrial Revolution. The entire system is interactive, integrated and seamless. This interconnectedness is creating whole new opportunities for cross-industry relationships. The Third Industrial Revolution brings with it a new era of “distributed capitalism” in which millions of existing and new businesses and homeowners become energy players. In the process, it will create millions of green jobs, jump start a new technology revolution, and dramatically increase productivity, as well as mitigate climate change. references
Text based on the book: Rifkin, J. (2011). The third industrial revolution: How lateral power is transforming energy, the economy, and the world. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.