Tuesday, June 30, 2009
The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century
by Thomas Friedman
The only reason I decided to read The World is Flat was because I really wanted to read Thomas Friedman’s new book; Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--And How It Can Renew America. I am not even going to try.
Here is my feeble attempt of a quick summary of an incredibly LONG book.
Friedman’s view is that the world has become smaller because of ten “flatteners”. These flatteners range from the fall of the Berlin Wall to work flow software to outsourcing. When the flatteners converge with; the opening up of China and India, and businesses/people that begin to understand the capabilities of these new technologies, globalization takes off.
The World is Flat goes in to great detail of each of the flatteners as well as the triple convergence. Many examples and antidotes are given.
The weakest part of the book is how Friedman describes the world as either utopian or catastrophic. I was at times excited about America’s possibilities only to be crushed a few pages later by our inevitable demise. The hope I did see in the new globalized world was that the smartest, most creative workers will survive and I have no doubt that my kids will be successful.
I cannot recommend this book. It is too long. It took me almost two months to finish. Towards the end, I was reading only for the purpose of getting closer to the end.
In fact, this book left me a little flat.
The only reason I decided to read The World is Flat was because I really wanted to read Thomas Friedman’s new book; Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--And How It Can Renew America. I am not even going to try.
Here is my feeble attempt of a quick summary of an incredibly LONG book.
Friedman’s view is that the world has become smaller because of ten “flatteners”. These flatteners range from the fall of the Berlin Wall to work flow software to outsourcing. When the flatteners converge with; the opening up of China and India, and businesses/people that begin to understand the capabilities of these new technologies, globalization takes off.
The World is Flat goes in to great detail of each of the flatteners as well as the triple convergence. Many examples and antidotes are given.
The weakest part of the book is how Friedman describes the world as either utopian or catastrophic. I was at times excited about America’s possibilities only to be crushed a few pages later by our inevitable demise. The hope I did see in the new globalized world was that the smartest, most creative workers will survive and I have no doubt that my kids will be successful.
I cannot recommend this book. It is too long. It took me almost two months to finish. Towards the end, I was reading only for the purpose of getting closer to the end.
In fact, this book left me a little flat.
