Are Big Wave Surfers Behind the Unrest in the Middle East?

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn., Feb. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Middle East. Uprisings. Turmoil. Is this what happens when the innovators and networks of the new world of technology hit the networks of the old world order? Is this the inevitable result when protestors using Google, Twitter and Facebook - all technology brought about by Big Wave Tech Surfers - meet the tide of current events?

Three years ago, an economic wave hit the world. Now we are seeing a second wave, but this wave is political.

Ken Thurber , author of Big Wave Surfing: Extreme Technology Development, Management, Marketing and Investing, sees this as a normal evolution: "Technological change has crashed upon the world political scene. Like any wipeout it isn't always pretty, but it's the inevitable result of forces that have been forming for years."

Such changes have occurred in the past. 1968 was a particularly tumultuous year in America with riots, assassinations, and the Tet offensive in Vietnam, which caused iconic CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite to break with and publicly criticize President Lyndon Johnson and his handling of the war.

The difference now is that technology has made knowledge and events almost instantaneously accessible to a much wider audience. News travels across the world without censorship.

In fact, in Egypt, a big-wave tech surfer like Wael Ghonim , a Google executive who helped plan the protests, is now seen as one of the leaders in the pro-democracy movement that is sweeping through the Middle East and North Africa.

Thurber observes, "The people are restless. In Thailand last year we saw the pre-cursor to this when people sacked the building that housed the Thai stock exchange."

Thurber goes on to say we have fissures bubbling beneath the surface of American society as well. "How well we deal with these stresses and embrace the next wave, the innovation economy, will determine whether profound structural changes will occur in American society." The effects of rapid communication can already be seen in the state of Wisconsin as it struggles against the fiscal excess of the past and tries to balance its budget. Protests erupted quickly and were coordinated in hours.

The Internet, with its social networks, has just started to tap the power of people for both good and evil. The tempo of social change will only increase. Are we ready for what will come next? Big Wave Surfing answers that question.

About the Author: Kenneth J. Thurber , Ph.D., is a renowned computer architect and has developed technology and systems worth billions of dollars. He developed the concept of "technology big wave surfing" to empower readers to understand and harness the opportunity of an ever-changing technological world.

Readers are sure to enjoy exploring the present and future possibilities described in Dr. Thurber's Big Wave Surfing!

See and read more at: http://bigwavesurfingbook.com

Order the book at: http://www.bigwavesurfingbook.com/ordering

Readers should bookmark this page for the official launch on March 29th: http://www.bigwavesurfingbook.com/promo/

This press release was issued through eReleases(R).  For more information, visit eReleases Press Release Distribution at http://www.ereleases.com.

SOURCE Kenneth J. Thurber , Ph.D.

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