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The World Is Flat

A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century

By Thomas L. Friedman

(342)

| Paperback | 9780312425074

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Book Description

Amazon.com
Updated Edition: Thomas L. Friedman is not so much a futurist, which he is sometimes called, as a presentist. His aim in The World Is Flat, as in his earlier, influential Lexus and the Olive Tree, is not to give you a speculative preview of the wonders that are sure to come in your lifetime, but rather to get you caught up on the wonders that are already here. The world isn't going to be flat, it is flat, which gives Friedman's breathless narrative much of its urgency, and which also saves it from the Epcot-style polyester sheen that futurists--the optimistic ones at least--are inevitably prey to.
What Friedman means by "flat" is "connected": the lowering of trade and political barriers and the exponential technical advances of the digital revolution that have made it possible to do business, or almost anything else, instantaneously with billions of other people across the planet. This in itself should not be news to anyone. But the news that Friedman has to deliver is that just when we stopped paying attention to these developments--when the dot-com bust turned interest away from the business and technology pages and when 9/11 and the Iraq War turned all eyes toward the Middle East--is when they actually began to accelerate. Globalization 3.0, as he calls it, is driven not by major corporations or giant trade organizations like the World Bank, but by individuals: desktop freelancers and innovative startups all over the world (but especially in India and China) who can compete--and win--not just for low-wage manufacturing and information labor but, increasingly, for the highest-end research and design work as well. (He doesn't forget the "mutant supply chains" like Al-Qaeda that let the small act big in more destructive ways.)

Friedman has embraced this flat world in his own work, continuing to report on his story after his book's release and releasing an unprecedented hardcover update of the book a year later with 100 pages of revised and expanded material. What's changed in a year? Some of the sections that opened eyes in the first edition--on China and India, for example, and the global supply chain--are largely unaltered. Instead, Friedman has more to say about what he now calls "uploading," the direct-from-the-bottom creation of culture, knowledge, and innovation through blogging, podcasts, and open-source software. And in response to the pleas of many of his readers about how to survive the new flat world, he makes specific recommendations about the technical and creative training he thinks will be required to compete in the "New Middle" class. As before, Friedman tells his story with the catchy slogans and globe-hopping anecdotes that readers of his earlier books and his New York Times columns know well, and he holds to a stern sort of optimism. He wants to tell you how exciting this new world is, but he also wants you to know you're going to be trampled if you don't keep up with it. A year later, one can sense his rising impatience that our popular culture, and our political leaders, are not helping us keep pace. --Tom Nissley
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Critics

The World Is Flat By Thomas L. Friedman

Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times columnist and globalization guru, believes that new telecommunications technology has leveled the international playing field to such an extent that The World Is Flat. Moving on from The Lexus and the Olive Tree (19 ... (read full critics)

bookpage published on Sun, 12 Sep 2010

The World Is Flat 3.0 By Thomas L. Friedman

There's a new edition of Thomas L. Friedman's mega-bestseller, The World Is Flat 3.0, updated, expanded with fresh stories and insights. Listen in, listen up and get smart! ... (read full critics)

bookpage published on Sun, 12 Sep 2010

See all critics

22 Reviews

4 people find this helpful

Important and convincing

An important book on globalization. The episodes are so fascinating that you'll agree he's "got the best job of the world." You may say that he's magnifying the exceptions or extreme examples that he has the priviledge to observe. But that's probably out of neccessity as he attempts to paint a convi ... (continue)

An important book on globalization. The episodes are so fascinating that you'll agree he's "got the best job of the world." You may say that he's magnifying the exceptions or extreme examples that he has the priviledge to observe. But that's probably out of neccessity as he attempts to paint a convincing picture of the future by picking up bits from today. In that regard, he's done an excellent job.

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Greg Sung said on Jan 21, 2006 about the Hardcover edition | 1 feedback

3 people find this helpful

Inspiring, leads to a lot of thinking. But repeating the same message over and over again using 500 pages is a bit crazy. This book should only need 300 pages given its actual content.

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老林 said on Jun 23, 2007 | Add your feedback

2 people find this helpful

Friedman takes you through a journey into the world of internet,outsouring, insourcing and everything else that makes the world as it is today.

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Annam_Mathews said on Jul 6, 2006 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

This is the hardest book I have ever read. However, I do wish to complete this book one day in the future...when I am financial free!

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Lukagod said on Jun 1, 2011 about the Others edition | Add your feedback

interesting report on the development of the internet, but onesided, rather superficial overall evaluation of the world's supposed flatness - surprising (?) unawareness (?) in hailing capitalism and the free market as universally good joybringers in a globalised, "flat" world (...).

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Kappa said on Nov 5, 2010 | Add your feedback

The World is Flat

Really inspiring book. Wrote by Thomas Friedman, one could "see" the trends of the new era which has already started. Untertakes the importance of emergin economies like China and India.
The point of view is that there aren´t any barriers to do bussines, to communicate, to make thing together; no m ... (continue)

Really inspiring book. Wrote by Thomas Friedman, one could "see" the trends of the new era which has already started. Untertakes the importance of emergin economies like China and India.
The point of view is that there aren´t any barriers to do bussines, to communicate, to make thing together; no mountains, the Word is now absolutely flat. I had fun reading it.

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Xabilak said on May 29, 2010 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback