1. Wall Come Down…. Windows Went UP
a. the Berlin Wall fell (“the Walls Came Down”) and the citizens of the former
Soviet empire were suddenly able to participate in the global economy. Friedman uses the fall
of the Berlin Wall as a symbol for a general global shift towards democratic governments and
free-market economies (where consumers determine prices based on what they’re willing to
pay) and away from authoritarian governments and centrally planned economies (in which
prices are set by government officials).
b. Windows is a computer program and as the world flattens the windows go up because everyone can use them.
c. The reason that personal computing is influential is that it
fostered people’s interaction with digital media content – music, pictures, video, and text that is
represented as 1’s and 0’s on a computer and thus can be stored, manipulated, and shared in
an infinite number of ways.
d. It inpowered people because they could now do so much more things.
2. New Age of Connectivity
a. In the early 1990s, a scientist at CERN named Tim Berners-Lee created the
programming language for writing webpages (called HTML)
b. It allowed the internet to be able to have links to other things.
c. Netscape started this revolution
d. The outcome of the bubble is that stock was now online and public.
3. Work Flow Software
a. Work flow software is software that enables workers in different locations to collaborate
efficiently
b. They work from home.
4. Uploading
a. Uploading is the process of transmitting information from your computer to a network.
b. a community of amateur programmers works on a program collaboratively
c. by breaking down the barrier
from individual users to the online community.
5. Outsourcing
a. it cuts out the middle man possibly saving you money.
b. 1) a broadband Internet connection, 2) expertise, and 3) proficiency in English
6. Offshoring
a. Offshoring is when a company moves its production from its home country to another
country, where it can be done with “cheaper labor, lower taxes, subsidized energy, and lower
health-care costs
b. it affects flattening the world becuase in order to keep up with chinas manufacturing you would have to move your manufacturing to china.
c. can be cheaper and faster.
7. Supply-Chaining
a. When a cashier scans your item in the checkout
line, a signal is sent to Wal-Mart central command alerting them to changing demand in a
product as well as the local supply. If demand is increasing faster than supply, a message is
transmitted to Wal-Mart’s suppliers – which could be in Ohio or China – and more of that
product is instantly on its way to your store.
b. Empolyees are not treated in well which may lead to a customer not being treated as well.
c. Wal mart is gross and it is bad for america.
8. Insourcing
a. it could save a lot of
money by moving its laptop repair facility inside of UPS’ central distribution center in Louisville
9. In-Forming
a. Google contributes to in-forming because it enables people to find webpages that are
more relevant to their searches than any other search service
b. One new risk in the flat world is that Google is allowing people to find out more about
you than was ever possible before
10. The Steroids
a. as discussed in Flattener #1, puts all text, sound, photo, and video media into a
common standard – digital (0’s and 1’s in a computer) – that can be easily shared, stored,
searched, and manipulated.
b. technologies that let you work
away from your office
I think that flatteing the world is a good idea. It breaks down so many barriers allowing so many more things to happen with both the economy and communication. Buisness would not be any where near what it is now without flattening of the world. Flatteing of the world can help everyone because it can allow so many more things to be accomplished for you.
