Alvin Toffler

Alvin Eugene Toffler (October 4, 1928 – June 27, 2016) was an American writer, <a href="/facts/Futurist/DYr4WnmJ">futurist</a>, and businessman known for his works discussing modern technologies, including the <a href="/facts/Digital_revolution/II8Y4FEE">digital revolution</a> and the <a href="/facts/Telecommunications/vxoj1cxR">communication</a> revolution, with emphasis on their effects on cultures worldwide. He is regarded as one of the world's outstanding futurists.
Toffler was an associate editor of <a href="/facts/Fortune_(magazine)/QGWvHpxP">Fortune</a> magazine. In his early works he focused on technology and its impact, which he termed "<a href="/facts/Information_overload/MopSX9bN">information overload</a>". In 1970, his first major book about the future, <a href="/facts/Future_Shock/Ehhuzarj">Future Shock</a>, became a worldwide best-seller and has sold over 6 million copies.
He and his wife Heidi Toffler (1929–2019), who collaborated with him for most of his writings, moved on to examining the reaction to <a href="/facts/Social_change/koLr0mLY">changes in society</a> with another best-selling book, <a href="/facts/The_Third_Wave_(Toffler_book)/9tV2QdwH">The Third Wave</a>, in 1980. In it, he foresaw such technological advances as <a href="/facts/Cloning/Vb6SM4c7">cloning</a>, personal computers, the Internet, cable television and mobile communication. His later focus, via their other best-seller, Powershift, (1990), was on the increasing power of 21st-century <a href="/facts/Military_hardware/prfeC3v2">military hardware</a> and the proliferation of new technologies.
He founded Toffler Associates, a <a href="/facts/Management_consulting/sXmCjGw3">management consulting</a> company, and was a <a href="/facts/Visiting_scholar/d8h4s4hk">visiting scholar</a> at the <a href="/facts/Russell_Sage_Foundation/kA5tbJPT">Russell Sage Foundation</a>, visiting professor at <a href="/facts/Cornell_University/FGyXuXeI">Cornell University</a>, faculty member of the <a href="/facts/The_New_School/5X1Xqzbv">New School for Social Research</a>, a <a href="/facts/White_House_correspondent/KSn2Yt93">White House correspondent</a>, and a business consultant. Toffler's ideas and writings were a significant influence on the thinking of business and government leaders worldwide, including China's <a href="/facts/Zhao_Ziyang/yvqrnuJu">Zhao Ziyang</a>, and <a href="/facts/AOL/MAbT38QS">AOL</a> founder <a href="/facts/Steve_Case/odng4Joc">Steve Case</a>.

Alvin Toffler open-in-new

Alvin Toffler