Toffler’s Wave Theory
1900 to the Future
Barb Wilkison
EDUC 7100
2012
In his 1980 book The Third Wave, Alvin Toffler presented his
theory that our development as a society has evolved through three
waves.
•The Agricultural Wave
•The Industrial Wave
•The Information Wave
He also proposed a fourth wave, Communication
A summary of Toffler’s theory may be found by clicking on the book.
This presentation will illustrate each of those waves in terms of the
following strands:
•Technology
•Work
•Education
•Society and Culture
•Journalism
Toffler’s Waves By Suggested Time Periods:
•Agricultural Wave 8000 BC-1750
•Industrial Age 1750-1950
•Information Age 1950-2000
•Communication Age 2000-?
For this project I will be focusing on the four
waves from the year 1900 forward.
There is overlapping during each of the
four waves. One wave does not stop
suddenly one year and the next wave start
up the next. I have chosen to focus on
the decades when each wave was most
prominent.
The Agricultural Wave 1900-1910
Technology
•Thomas Edison invents first talking motion
picture.
•Mass-Production causes prices to fall to all
time low.
•1903-Wright Brothers’ first flight
•1903-Crayons are invented.
•Hand-cranked Victrola Introduced.
Work
•Farming is a primary source of family
income.
Average
worker
$12.98/week
•Early factories
are made
dirty and
unsafe,
with long hours and little pay.
for 59 hours
•Only 19% of women in the workforce.
•Average worker makes $12.95 a week for
59 hours.
Education
•Most children educated in one-room schools.
•Annual teacher pay is $325,
•1904-Mary Beth Bethune, an African American
educator, founds the Daytona Educational and
Industrial Training School for Negro Girls in
Daytona Beach, Florida.
Society and Culture
•1902-The birth of the Teddy Bear
•1906-Upton Sinclair publishes The Jungle
1912-The Titanic sinks.
•1914-The Panama Canal opens.
•Nickelodeons are the rage, pay a nickel to
see a film at an arcade.
•Barbershop quartets popular.
Journalism
•Newspapers begin to offer
commentary on the news, often
with political cartoons.
•Newspapers change to a 4column, tabloid style layout.
The Agricultural Wave 1910-1920
Technology
•1914-first moving assembly line
•1919-Pop-up toaster is invented.
•Mass production of cars creates
nationwide prosperity.
•Small size Kodak camera make picture
taking easier.
•Gas Tractors come into use.
Work
•145 women killed in Triangle Shirt Factory
fire.
•Labor unions grow as middle class becomes
discontented with working conditions and
pay.
•Unemployment rate 5.2%
Education
•1911-First Montessori school opens in US.
•1913- Thomas Edison says, “In the future
books will be obsolete in the classroom.”
•During WWI War and Navy Departments use
film to train officers and inform public.
•Less than 10% high school graduation rate.
1912
Society and Culture
•1916-Norman Rockwell paints first cover for
Saturday Evening Post.
•1920-Women gain the right to vote.
•Divorce rate is 1/1000.
•Jim Thorpe wins gold medal at Olympics.
•Girl Scouts of America founded.
Journalism
•Newspapers are a source of activism for
political parties and for social equality.
•Ethnic newspapers reach peak with over
1323 foreign language publications.
•Tabloid journalism charts a new era of
sensationalism focusing on sex and crime.
The Industrial Wave 1920-1930
Technology
Boeing
727
1925
•Robert Goddard invents liquid-fueled rockets.
•1930-Birdseye patents frozen food process.
•Charles Lindberg, first trans-Atlantic flight.
•Synthetic materials such as plexiglass and
nylon are developed.
Work
•One farmer supplies 9.8 people in US and world.
•1929-Stock Market Crashes.
•Six million American families earn less than $1000
a year.
•Labor strikes break out, pitting coal miners and
railroad men against their powerful employers.
Education
•1925-35 Educational Radio emerges.
•SAT first administered.
•1929-John Piaget publishesThe Child’s Conception
of the World.
•1925-Scopes trial makes teaching evolution
illegal.
Society and Culture
•1929 Stock Market Crashes, Great Depression
begins.
•1921-First Miss America Contest
•Scottish biologist Alexander Fleming discovers
penicillin.
•Harlem Renaissance Movement
Journalism
•The first regular commercial radio
broadcasts begin when AM station KDKA of
Pittsburgh delivers results of the HardingCox election to its listeners.
•Henry Luce creates newsmagazine with
Time.
The Industrial Wave 1930-1940
Technology
•1930-Scientists discover Pluto
•1928-First Xerography prototype
•1939-Electron Microscope invented.
•1939-Television set displayed at World’s
Fair.
Work
•Conventional roles of men as breadwinners
and women as homemakers.
•Unemployment rate is 25%.
•Dust Bowl farmers head west to find
better opportunities.
Education
•1930-On February 3, some 1.5 million
schoolchildren listen to the first educational
radio broadcast, transmitted on CBS by the
American School of the Air.
•1931-First Dick and Jane reading primers.
•1939-Weschlers IQ test developed.
Philco TV
1935
Society and Culture
•Movie goers enjoy Bob Hope, Marx
Brothers and WC Fields.
•1933 First drive-in movie theater opens.
•Hitler comes to power in Germany.
•Batman and Superman first appear in
comic books.
Journalism
•1938-Edward R. Murrow broadcasts from
Vienna. Marks beginning of the broadcast
news correspondent.
•Picture magazines such as Life become
popular, greater opportunity for photo
journalists.
The Industrial Wave 1940-1950
Technology
•1946 -First microwave oven invented.
•1941-Aerosol cans invented.
•Radio and Television become major providers
of news and entertainment.
•1945-A digital computer named ENIAC is
introduced. It was two stories high and
weighed 30 tons.
Work
•The exodus of women in the workplace
begins-they are needed to replace men who
have gone to war.
•1950-31% of women work outside the
home.
•As men return from the war, having seen
the world, the farm is no longer the ideal.
Education
•1945-GI Bills gives returning servicemen
college scholarships.
•1947-First text films- to supplement
textbooks.
•1948-Educational Testing Service created.
Female steel
workers don oxygen
masks.
WWII
Society and Culture
•1941-Japanese attack Pearl Harbor
•1945 First Flu Vaccine administered.
•1943-Slinky is invented.
•1949-First cake mixes available in stores.
•1945- United States drops two atomic bombs
on Japan -- one at Hiroshima, one at Nagasaki,
that claim more than 100,000 lives.
Journalism
•Movie theaters show newsreels before feature
films.
•Office of Censorship enforces strict regulations
on news releases.
•The Federal Communication Commission forbade
the creation of new radio and television stations
during the war years.
The Information Wave 1950-1960
Technology
•1950-First Xerox machine invented.
•1951-Charles Ginsburg invents
first video tape.
•1952-Univac mainframe computer used by
CBS to predict presidential election.
•1958-First transistors in computers,
smaller, more reliable
Work
•Average salary in 1950 is $2992
• Americans begin buying goods not available
during the war, which creates corporate
expansion and jobs.
Education
•1950-filmstrips,16mm films come to the
classroom.
•1953-B.F.Skinner’s behaviorist theories
begin to influence American education.
•1954-Brown vs. Board of Education
•1956-Bloom’s Taxonomy published.
•1957-Sputnik launched, US feels pressure to
stress math and science in schools.
Society and Culture
•1955-Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat.
•1957-Federal troops integrate Little Rock schools.
•1958-BankAmericard issues first bank credit card.
•1959-First Barbie Doll sold.
•Bomb shelter plans available from government.
Journalism
•People begin to turn to television for their
news, as an alternative to newspapers.
•Walter Cronkite named as CBS news
commentator.
•Magazines begin creating audiences for
specialized publications.
The Information Wave 1960-1970
Technology
•1961-Alan Shepard becomes first man in space.
•1964- Smaller computer microchip components.
•1965- CD invented
•1967-First hand-held calculator
•1969-Artificial heart invented
Work
•1960-Average pay has risen to $4943.
•1963-Equal Pay Act mandates equal pay
for equal work.
•Cesar Chavez organizes Hispanic workers in
the United Farm Workers Union.
Education
•CAI begins to be used in the classroom.
•1965-Head Start program starts.
•1966-Jerome Brunner publishes Toward a
Theory of Instruction, more support for
cognitivism.
•1968-Supreme Court rules teaching of
Evolution is legal.
Society and Culture
•1961-Oral Contraceptives available for first time.
•1963-President John F. Kennedy assassinated.
•1969-Valium developed
•1968-Martin Luther King assassinated.
Journalism
•Investigative reporters begin uncovering
information about activities of government
and other high –profile groups.
•By the 1960s,it has become important to
get fresh images of events into the news
every evening. The broadcast of disturbing
footage from Vietnam on television gives the
public a taste of the horrors of war, and
swayed public opinion.
The Information Wave 1970-1980
Technology
•1971-Dot Matrix printer is introduced, as
well as the VCR.
•1974-The microcomputer in use.
•Personal computers affordable-TRS 80,
Commodore, Apple II
•1975-Laser printer available
•MRI technology developed to aid in diagnosis.
Work
•Affirmative Action becomes a controversial
policy as minorities and women assert their
rights to jobs.
•1979-Average salary $7554.
Education
•Mandatory busing mandated to achieve
integration of schools.
•1975- PL94-192 Education of Handicapped
Children becomes federal law.
•1983-Howard Gardner introduces his Multiple
Intelligence theory.
•1983- A Nation at Risk is published.
Teletype
Machine
1975
Society and Culture
•The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v.
•Wade invalidates state laws that make
abortion illegal.
•1974-President Richard Nixon resigns after
Watergate.
•1977-Elvis Presley dies.
Journalism
•1972-Woodward & Bernstein uncover Watergate
scandal.
•Pentagon Papers leaked to the New York Times.
•Because of a rising mistrust of the media, many
major journalistic organizations and individual news
organizations establish codes and standards.
The Communication Wave 1980-1990
Technology
•1980-Doppler Radar Invented.
•1981-IBM Pc is introduced.
•1981-NASA successfully launches and lands
its reusable spacecraft, the Space Shuttle.
•1984-Apple introduces the Mac computer.
•1985-Microsoft gives us Windows.
Work
•1980-Average salary $15,757. Minimum
wage is $3.10.
•1990-57% of all women are in the work
force.
•Two-earner families more prominent than
in any previous decade.
Education
•Schools are investing heavily in
microcomputers.
•Middle school concept developed to address
needs of adolescents.
•1980-Department of Education Created.
•Teacher exams become a requirement for
graduation with education degrees.
Society and Culture
•When Rock Hudson dies from an AIDSrelated illness in 1985,the disease became a
matter of great national concern.
•1981-MTV air first music video.
•Video gaming becomes popular with
Nintendo, PacMan, and Gameboy.
Journalism
•There is a rise in women such as Barbara
Walters and Connie Chung in the media.
•New technologies such as cable television,
led to expansion and the creation of new
networks such as CNN and Fox.
The Communication Wave 1990-2000
Technology
•1990-The World Wide Web and HTML are born.
•1996-Dolly the sheep is cloned.
•1999-The Hubble Telescope is launched.
•1998-Google introduces search engine.
Work
•1990-Minium wage is $5.15/hr.
•1993-Congress passes Family Leave Act.
•Booming economy leads to record low
unemployment rates.
Education
•1991-Smart Technologies introduces its
interactive white board.
•1993-Jones International University becomes
first to exist completely online.
•ERIC database goes online.
•1999-83.5% of students complete high school.
•Ritilin became drug of choice as more students
are labeled ADD or ADHD.
The First Palm
1995
Society and Culture
1995-Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in
Oklahoma City is bombed.
•1998-Viagra hits the pharmacies.
•2000-12 billion emails a day are sent in US.
•Tickle-Me-Elmo and Beanie Babies hit the
market.
Journalism
•2000-More families subscribe to internet
services than newspapers.
•U.S. newspaper advertising peaks At
$49 billion.
•More Than 4,000 newspapers
publishing online.
The Communication Wave 2000-2010
Technology
•2000-The Human Genome is decoded.
•2001-Apple introduces the iPhone.
•2003-Toyota invents the hybrid car.
•2004-Web2.0 emerges.
•2007-Amazon releases the Kindle
Work
2010
Society and Culture
•Work is often done by teams rather that
individuals.
•Stability of work may be at an all-time low.
Mergers, acquisitions, downsizing, outsourcing,
and radically changing technologies have all
made the idea of “life-long employment” at one
company, or even in one occupation, much less
likely than in earlier times.
9-11-01 Terrorists Attack World Trade Center.
2003-US invades Iraq.
2005-YouTube is introduced.
2005-Hurricane Katrina devastates New Orleans.
2009-Barak Obama sworn in as first black
president of the US.
Education
Journalism
•2001-No Child Left Behind Act approved
by Congress.
•2009-Common Core initiative begins.
•Students interact with peers around the
world via Skype, video conferencing, and
distance learning.
•Nov. 5, 2008-Newspapers Sell Out Of Obama
Election Front Pages
•2008-The Pulitzer Prize journalism competition is
broadened to include online-only publications
primarily devoted to original news reporting.
•2009-70% of journalists use social networking
for reporting.
The Communication Wave 2010-Future
Technology
•Micro-submarines being developed to clean
up oil spills.
•A way to reverse global warming? Study
finds room to store CO2 underground.
•World’s first synthetic organ transplant
Work
•People are able to telecommute, thanks to
internet, Skype, and improved communications.
•The U.S. workforce will continue to increase in
size, but at a considerably slower rate, while the
composition will shift toward a more balanced
distribution by age, sex, and race/ethnicity.
Education
•Textbooks available in e-reader online, and
CD formats.
•Higher learning degrees available online.
•Video conferencing allows students to
interact with classes around the world.
•More online collaboration with classmates.
X-Box Kinect
Society and Culture
•New treatments for obesity
•Researchers predict artificial kidney by 2021
•Researchers predict white people will be in
the minority by 2042.
Journalism
•Television stations now broadcast in digital
format only.
•Print newspaper circulation continues to fall.
•Some predict that television and radio will
experience what newspapers are experiencing
now.