The Third Wave

April 15, 2016

Most people have probably heard of America Online and its role in the development of the Internet. Fewer, though, may recognize author Case, America Online's cofounder, as its principal architect. The title is homage to that of an earlier book of the same name by Alvin Toffler. For Case, the Toffler book provides the schema for the development of enterprises that are tech/electron oriented. Part autobiographical, the work details Case's entrepreneurial development from his school years through college and early years with Procter & Gamble and Pizza Hut. He divulges a few valuable lessons. First, one has to make sense of the landscape. In this instance, Toffler's volume provided the overall guidance. Second, while understanding technology is important, one need not be a tech expert. Third, while the digital world may rule, the natural environment plays a critical role. Case acknowledges the function of government, other tech enterprises, and the bonds of community. Finally, he demonstrates how a small start-up can leverage its resources with larger partners, and, just as importantly, when a good deal is not such a good deal. Contains a foreword by Walter Isaacson (Steve Jobs). VERDICT This should be on the reading list of those who want to be at the helm of the next big technological breakthrough.--Steven Silkunas, Fernandina Beach, FL

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2016
The founder of America Online outlines some of the potentialities he sees emerging in the "Internet of Everything." Case now invests in startups through his company, Revolution, but he also served as chairman of AOL-Time Warner and was the founding chair of President Barack Obama's Startup America Partnership. This veteran of the earliest generation of Internet architects--along with Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Andy Grove, and others--still seems well-qualified to forecast what's ahead. He offers his own business history, primarily based in marketing and dealmaking (at both Procter & Gamble and Pizza Hut), as evidence that he knows the ropes. He identifies three sectors of economic activity as foci of the coming "Third Wave" of the Internet: health care, education, and food production, processing, and transportation. Each of these represents a partnership between government and the private sector aimed at achieving some public good. Case puts himself forward as a facilitator for future entrepreneurs to find their ways through the related labyrinths of political disputes and regulatory entanglement. "Successful engagement with government will be difficult, and it will take a willingness to listen, a foundation of respect, and a lot of patience," he writes. "But it can work. It has worked. I know from experience." Case's vision of the future is compelling, but he may be overreaching when he emphasizes functions for third-party apps that could undermine professionally qualified expertise and challenge employment, earnings, and benefits. Case sees such apps being able to track the health care data of individuals. The danger is that they make use of previous public investment in the Internet to undermine existing regulatory structures and labor practices. New labor legislation will need to be overhauled, he writes, in order to make the envisioned changes possible. Opportunity beckons, and Case ably describes the possibilities, but the price of the chase may harm as well as benefit.

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