The world is flat Summary: In chapter 2, Dr. Hammond uses the Jesus of the Bible is used as a metaphor for 10 events that changed the world. These 10 events changed the dimension of the entire world. Also, most of the 10 events here and the anticipation of the future are mostly carried out. The fall of the Berlin Wall, for example, is indeed a testament to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the triumph of capitalism. It also represented the end of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union.
The second force he explained is the power of the Internet, which is inseparable from the third force. These two forces reflect the future development of the Internet and the convenience of computer software to human beings. The fourth force: Open-Sourcing, is to make information more developed, and the speed at which everyone obtains knowledge and information has been qualitatively improved. The fifth and sixth forces are the outsourcing of products and overseas outsourcing. Enterprises have gained more profits.
At the same time, the outsourcing countries have given a certain economic and production value, so that more jobs can be found in some poor countries. to aid the country. The seventh force is supply chain management, resulting in more efficient development and production of companies. The eighth force is in-sourcing. Contrary to the fifth and sixth, in-sourcing has accelerated the development of local enterprises. The ninth force is “informing”.
It means obtaining faster and more comprehensive information through Internet search engines. This shows that information, knowledge, and history are more flattened. And the last one is “The Steroids”. It represents the development of science and technology for the benefit of mankind. The appearance of mobile phones, medicines, and other convenient and useful things amplifies the previous 9 forces.
These ten forces illustrate the importance of flattening factors to the rapid development of human society and the importance of enterprises to countries and even the entire world. Several of these forces represent the rapid development of the Internet, while others represent improvements in the way companies develop industrial technologies. The fall of the Berlin Wall is the author’s illustration of the speed of world development and the benefits of an open economy with the fall of the Berlin Wall as the center or the beginning. In a certain way, it may also prove the importance of the Cold War.
For chapter 3: The triple Convergence
In chapter 3, Dr. Hammond uses chapter 2’s 10 flattening events to talk about the three important factors in the early 2000s was proposed, which evolved from the 10 flattening factors of the 1990s. And these three convergences are the factors that represent the rapid development of these 10 factors. The first convergence expresses that the technologies are beginning to get along with each other.
Integrate together to create a new way of value. The other 10 key factors are interconnected and help each other. The second convergence is the importance and benefits of global economization, so all the ten factors in the previous chapter must be converged or gathered together. Only in this way can global collaboration be created. Because the flattening factor alone must be centralized, the new platform is merged, so that it can be easily managed.
Globalization, Internet, Internet software, fiber optics, electronic equipment to change thinking, facilitate the management, and contribute to development. The third convergence is to globalize and simplify the market so that all and even less developed countries can conduct international trade. Thereby promoting the development speed of globalization.
Friedman says that there are three other convergences. The dot-com bubble, 9/11, and Enron’s three incidents that allowed American politicians to use the Internet to confuse the audience instead of letting people understand what happened, also illustrate the stupidity and ignorance of American politicians.
