The author defines the third wave as the wave of actionable knowledge and argues that this wave would have as big as impact on every aspect of human life as did the industrial revolution.
In my opinion, the author covers the breadth of change that this wave of cyber revolution will bring to the world but overestimates its impact on different aspects of life and on the american dream.
There are two key ideas in this article:
1. Due to the ubiquitous connectivity, information would be readily available. We see that taking place all around us. Generally it takes just a few searches on google to find the information one is looking for. When information is available so readily, the value-chain has shifted from its production to its analysis and customization for individual needs. The author argues that in this third wave highly customized knowledge, the intellectual and property rights have to be redefined as knowledge has become a private good, customized to serve individual needs.
In my opinion, the author's argument is vague at best. It is not clear how demassification of knowledge makes it a private good. With innovation in technology, it is now possible to fetch information from multiple sources and filter it to fit individual needs. However it is still prohibitively expensive to truly create knowledge for an individual. Knowledge assets are still copyrightable and patentable, their customization is only at the level of presentation. For example, I customize my google homepage to get news from CNN mixed in with analysis of the events from my favorite blogger and videos from youtube all filtered to my interests. That homepage is unique to me, yes, but it is composed of knowledge assets that are owned by different sources. Copyright and patent laws still apply. The author does not elaborate how and to what extent the existing laws need to be modifed for the thrid wave.
2. Governments and laws need to be reformed
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