Rifkin doesn’t see the future as usual.
Mass customization will be the outcome. Instead of cheap mass produced identical goods, the near zero cost of basic production married to high bandwidth interactive communication will lead to value added services thru the process of customization.
And it will be capitalist. That’s how new services will be built on low to zero cost infrastructure, like Linux platforms, like self replicating 3 D printer bots.
Everything up to now has followed this pattern. Rifkin is a Bolshevik nostalgic still confused by capitalist development, which he misunderstands since it appears formless to him.
Spot on.