No one can deny the rapid changes that are occuring in our flatworld. In the blink of an eye (which is what a mere decade feels like in comparison to all of the progress made within the last few centuries), the world has become more interconnected than ever. We are closer than ever to giving everyone the resources needed to succeed in our global society.
Why? Friedman opens his book with 10 forces that flattened the world, describing how each has affected the developed world along with the developing world. Organized and informative, this book is a must-read for anyone looking to understand how the forces of the last decade shaped the way businesses and countries operate today. What is particuarly insightful is how Friedman always manages to link the developed world and the developing world, explaining how both can benefit and how both need to change in order to succeed.
Tonetta Chester,
Author of Surviving the Darkest Days
This is a very interesting read! Also a good one i might add! This book was used for a College Class, and although it was required reading, I was very much impressed with how Mr Friedman wrote this book! It is not boring at all, and for me it was very hard to put down. He intertwines all of his fact searching and interlaces it with what his "voice" is in writing and came up with a VERY good book. So if you want to enjoy what you are reading and at the same time be educated with what is going on in our world today, then this is a MUST! ~:D
The World Is Flat bills itself in it subtitle as "a briefhistory of the twenty-firstcentury." That history is dominated by the combined forces of globalization and technology. PCs, high-speed Internet access, and collaboration software converge to create the flat world platform that allows anyone, anywhere to innovate.
Globalization is a massive force that has widespread implications - socially, politically, economically, and environmentally. Further complicating the issue is that those implications can be drastically different depending on whether a country is developed or developing. Yet, somehow, Friedman tackles these issues in a balanced and detailed narrative that is engaging to read.
The topic is also very much of the present, in that our understanding of globalization and its effects is changing daily. Friedman has done a commendable job of keeping the book (now in release 3.0 as of my reading) updated and relevant. Present day readers will appreciate this effort, while perhaps wishing for an additional update with commentary on the economic downturn encountered during the past two years.
If I have one complaint about this book, it is that it tends to use simple metaphors and anecdotes for what are very complex systems. This technique is used effectively by Friedman to illustrate his points to the reader. However, I also think it leaves a lot of deeper issues either unexplored or underexplored beneath the surface.
These deeper issues include the negative effects that globalization has in social, economic, and environmental realms. While Friedman does acknowledge and address these issues, the analysis of them seems relatively minor compared to the (also acknowledged) pro-globalization stance taken throughout the book as a whole.
Overall, The World Is Flat presents a compelling, if introductory, assessment of globalization that I recommend reading. For readers who find the subject matter interesting, I would encourage independent study of the topics on which the book glances over.
What an fantastic book! Granted, it was outdated when talking about Google...but I was fascinated to learn how dynamic UPS is. It did get a little long in the tooth in parts, but I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in where our world is headed.
A New Edition of the Phenomenal #1 Bestseller
"One mark of a great book is that it makes you see things in a new way, and Mr. Friedman certainly succeeds in that goal," the Nobel laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz wrote in The New York Times reviewing The World Is Flat in 2005. In this new edition, Thomas L. Friedman includes fresh stories and insights to help us understand the flattening of the world. Weaving new information into his overall thesis, and answering the questions he has been most frequently asked by parents across the country, this third edition also includes two new chapters--on how to be a political activist and social entrepreneur in a flat world; and on the more troubling question of how to manage our reputations and privacy in a world where we are all becoming publishers and public figures.
The World Is Flat 3.0 is an essential update on globalization, its opportunities for individual empowerment, its achievements at lifting millions out of poverty, and its drawbacks--environmental, social, and political, powerfully illuminated by the Pulitzer Prize--winning author of The Lexus and the Olive Tree.
based on 1279 reviews
