Comparing the Revolution

Abstract

Abstract This chapter deals with the parallels with past revolutions as well as the idea that the digital revolution is the revolution around which all the present changes revolve. The change wrought by the digital revolution has been compared to that of fire or the book as well as the French or Russian Revolutions, but there is a particularly constant reference to the Industrial Revolution. These parallels are crucial to place the digital revolution “on the shoulders of giants” in order to certify its relevance because of this pedigree. However, the digital revolution is also the revolution of our times and all the other social changes are inevitably influenced by it: think about political uprisings like the Arab Springs (sometimes renamed Twitter or Facebook Revolutions), the green revolution, and the fight for climate change where digital transformation seems destined to play a key role, and finally the COVID-19 pandemic, when the digital revolution literally saved some people’s lives.