Week 5 -- 1 November - Personal Technologies

Reading:
"Ecologizing Mobile Media," by Howard Rheingold. 2004.
Chapter 1 & 3 from The World is Flat, 2nd edition, 2006.
Group 4 Chapter 2, Flattener 7 & 8

Assignment:
General reaction to Friedman's thesis, anything new for you? What do you disagree with? What are the implications for the US economy and position in the world?

Chapters 1 & 3: While I Was Sleeping & The Triple Convergence
Friedman expands on globalization by adding new ideas based on technology and people as driving forces. He states “Globalization 3.0 is shrinking the world from a small size to a size tiny and flattening the playing field at the same time…the thing that gives it its unique character – is the newfound power for individuals to collaborate and compete globally…in globalization 3.0 you are your own ticket agent” (10 & 174). His thesis takes globalization to a personal level where technological communication allows the individual to become the revolutionary. Through stories and experiences, Friedman provides examples for his theories from his travels in India, discussions with business owners, CEOs and others. He explains what he views as “the truth that no one wanted to tell you: The world has been flattened. As a result of the triple convergence, global collaboration and competition – between individuals, companies and individuals, companies and companies, and companies and customers – have been made cheaper, easier, more friction-free, and more productive for more people from more corners of the earth than at any time in the history of the world” (200).

I would agree with the “flattening” idea that technology allows people to be more connected than ever. Rheingold’s commentary on the mobile phone shows people can be “always in touch and always reachable,” evidence for a flattened world. However, I would disagree that the world is flat due to the disparities that still exist. Rheingold comments there is a “divide between the "know- how" and "don't-know-how" populations.” India, China, Africa and other places in the world are still not up to speed with flattening technology, even with bustling big cities that appear as proof of globalization. On a grand scale they are mirages in the desert. The rural world, even in America is not yet living in a flat universe because there is not a level playing field for the “haves” and “have not’s.”

For the US economy, a flattened world implies a more competitive world where the US may no longer have a top position. However a flattened world also ironically suggests an even playing field, so will the US economy and other nations’ be equal?

Group 4 - Freidman’s Flatteners:

Flattener 7 – Supply-Chaining, Eating Sushi in Arkansas
Sam Walton’s goal of “saving a few pennies here and there” resulted in Wal-Mart mastering the supply chain in a flattened world. Despite the critics, the company’s innovation in applying technology to increase the efficiency of buying and selling goods through manufacturing and delivery methods have made them number one and attracted Japanese partnership with Wal-Mart teaching Seiyu “its unique form of collaboration: global supply-chaining to bring consumers the best goods at the lowest prices” (140). In a “flatten world” this is the sharing of commerce where Arkansas business methods are in Japan and Japanese sushi is in demand in Arkansas.

Flattener 8 – Insourcing, What the Guys in Funny Brown Shorts Are Really Doing
UPS (i.e. the guys in the funny brown shorts) take the Wal-Mart model to the masses allowing small companies to have the same advantage by offering insourcing. “Insourcing – a whole new form of collaboration and creating value horizontally, made possible by the flat world and flattening it even more…Insourcing came about because once the world went flat, the small could act big – small companies could suddenly see around the world (143).” The brown shorts guys are “creating enabling platforms for anyone to take his or her business global or to vastly improve the efficiency of his or her global supply chain” (150). *Could this be the model for online grocery delivery and all other Internet buying?