Book Report 1: "The World is Flat" (pgs. 1-112)

In his book, The World is Flat, Thomas L. Friedman describes the rise of the technological age ("while [he] was sleeping") that has connected the entire world and simultaneously "flattening" it. Friedman tells of a drone flying in Iraq being manipulated by an Air Forceman in Las Vegas, Nevada. I think people expect the military to have advanced technology like this. They don't expect everyone and/or just anyone to have it, yet, according to Friedman this is where we're headed-if were not already there. "...we are entering a phase where more people than ever before in the history of the world are going to have access to these tools [digitization, virtualization, and automation]...even terrorists."(pg. 47)
His goal is make us aware and says we must ask ourselves,"Where do I as an individual fit into the global competition and opportunities of the day, and how can I, on my own, collaborate with others globally."(pg. 11) It's the time to get on board or be left behind, "individuals from every corner of the flat world are being empowered."(pg. 11) As now outsourcing and homesourcing are replacing many service jobs including; McDonald's drive-thru orders, call-centers, tax returns, reading CAT scans, personal assistants on the other side of the world that can create your Power Point presentations and more working while you're sleeping, and e-tutoring just to name a few. Friedman states, "if you are an American you better be good at the touchy-feely service stuff, because anything that can be digitized can be outsourced to either the smartest or the cheapest producer, or both."(pg. 15)
Friedman discusses 10 forces that flattened the world. This report will cover the first four; #1 11/9/89-the fall of the Berlin Wall and the rise of windows. #2 8/9/95- The day Netscape went public and people stared surfing the Web. Netscape, "made the Internet accessible to everyone from five-year-olds to ninety-five year-olds."(pg. 62) This led to the dot-com stock bubble and massive over investment in fiber-optic cable., #3 Work Flow Software-which enables "more people in more places to design, display, manage, and collaborate on business data previously handled manually."(pg. 78), #4 Uploading- Programs and software began to be designed that was interoperable. Computer geeks started creating/building on old software (community developed software) and making it available to the public for free. Virtual companies are now possible for anyone. Everyone has been empowered and freed "from the grip of global corporations."(pg. 105)