The World is Flat 3.0

Thomas Friedman talked about some interesting points in his lecture about his 2004 book "The World is Flat 3.0" In his lecture he addressed points about the era of globalization and the three different revolutions within this development. He addressed the way the stock market has played a role in the founding and development and move to internet connections around the world. Finally, Friedman stressed the idea of the internet being a connection for individuals around the world to collaborate together and work together to produce results.

I thought it was interesting that the basis for his book, Friedman first wanted to interview foreigners at call centers around the world (who imitate Americans) to get a sense of what people feel about Americans. With this sense of a global view, it is a great approach to take when examining the role of internet globalization and its role on communication around the world.

The World is Flat is a concept that tells how the "playing field" is being leveled and flattened. Even though America is already so technologically proficient- Friedman stressed that America is not ready for this and needs to update to be ready for this revolution. He talks about the eras of globalization:
1.0 being the PC and the era in which individualization could happen- and the altering of a person's own content in a digital form
2.0 recognizes the launch of Netscape and the dawn of the internet browser and dot.com era
3.0 brings about the work flow revolution and the computer and software becoming interoperable

All of these I think are interesting to show the progression of how the internet took flight, especially in the US. With the launch of Netscape, investors purchased stock in the company overnight and in essence, all invested in this technological development for our future.

The last thing that I took from this lecture was one of Friedman's rule of a flat world:
"Soon, economic competition will not be between companies, but between you and your own imagination."
With the growing potential of the internet and this world-wide collaboration we are becoming more adept at expressing ourselves and becoming producers of the media instead of simply consumers of global company's products.