This report will continue discussing the 10 forces which Friedman claims in his book have "flattened" the world. Book report 1 discussed forces 1-4. This report will conclude the discussion on flattener #4 and then discuss forces 5-10, as well as, what Friedman calls "The Triple Convergence".
Community developed software led to "community-developed answers" such as; using software and databases to mine for gold virtually, to run political campaigns & fundraisers. Next came blogging and Wikipedia. A blog is "your own personal virtual soapbox."(pg 118) "No one is in charge, standards of practice vary widely, and some of it is downright irresponsible...information flows with total freedom."(pg 118) Now we have pod casting, the audio version of blogging. Wikipedia, the user contributed online encyclopedia which is not always correct & encourages large corporations to monitor information about their companies checking for accuracy.
Flattener #5, Outsourcing Y2K. One of India's greatest resources is it's young people graduating with engineering, computer science & software degrees. They used to be eager to come to America for jobs. Now they are eager to stay in India because the jobs in America are coming to them thanks to the Global Crossing of fiber optics. With the Y2K bug, the world needed a surplus of software engineers to adjust the existing computer's internal clocks & related systems. The world went to India.
China was next when MIT realized it could pay 4 Chinese engineers for the price of 1 American.
#6 Offshoring- "is when a company takes one of it's factories that is operating in Canton, Ohio, and moves the whole factory to Canton, China."(pg. 137) China is hungry. It has lots of graduates willing to work long hours for low pay. They've got the "entrepreneurial zeal to do whatever it takes to please big retailers such as Wal Mart Stores, Target, Best Buy, and J.C. Penny." (pg.141) China's "long-term strategy is to outrace America."(pg. 142) Should Americans be worried? Friedman is convinced "the world will ...[be] more prosperous than ever." He states, "three United States are better than one, and five would be better than three."(pg. 150)
#7 Supply-chaining. Friedman declares Wal Mart the most impressive supply chain, "a hyper efficient" supply chain that has perfected coordinating distribution & supply & demand all while underselling the competition. They, however, are not without criticism from Friedman "whatever social benefits it is offering with one hand, it is taking with the other."(pg. 163)
#8 Insourcing- The "small could act big" UPS doesn't just deliver packages anymore. In many cases they "fill the order, bag it, label it, and deliver it to you."(pg. 169) They also fix computers, dispatch truck drivers for other companies, conduct packaging seminars, design software, collect payments for other companies, employ meteorologists & strategic threat analysts, and maintain their own think tank.
#9 In-Forming- Google, Yahoo!, MSN Web Search, iPod and TiVo happened. "It is a total equalizer."(pg. 178) Everything and anything anyone anywhere in the world wanted to know-"all the world's knowledge at their fingertips."(pg. 178) This also allows anyone to collaborate with anyone else anywhere in the world-good or evil. Friedman warns, "live your life honestly...whatever mistakes you make, will be searchable one day."(pg. 185)
#10 The Steroids Digital, Mobile, Personal, and Virtual..."they are amplifying and turbocharging all the other flatteners."(pg. 188) Soon we will have superfast chips with the capacity to "transmit all the printed material in the world in minutes in a single cable."(pg. 191) We already have instant messaging, file sharing, VoIP-phone calls over the Internet, and videoconferencing. It has created "the age of the 'mobile me.'"(pg. 196) Speaking of mobile in Japan you can get a "mobile phone [with] a smart card" meaning your cell phone is also your credit card.(pg. 197) I used to think Star Trek was science fiction now I read in Friedman's book that "Rolls Royce engines...can track anomalies in it's engines while they are in operation."(pg. 199) But even the crew of Star Trek had it's evildoers to contend with as do we with online sexual predators, mindless phone games engrossing our youth, using phone cameras for "illicit activities," not to mention groups like alQaeda.
The Triple Convergence-#1- all the 10 flatterers working together that helped level the playing field for businesses and individuals, #2- the expected boost in productivity from computers finally was happening and at record speed., #3- "The Berlin Wall came down, [and] the Berlin Mall opened up."(pg. 212) Suddenly we have twice the players on the field (which is flat-equalized) and the new players are ready run fast, play hard and go for the gold.
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