|
Tonetta Chester,Author of Surviving the Darkest Days Friedman opens his book with 10 forces that flattened the world, describing how each has affected the developed world along with the developing world. We are closer than ever to giving everyone the resources needed to succeed in our global society.Why. 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. No one can deny the rapid changes that are occuring in our flat world. 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. 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.
~:D It is not boring at all, and for me it was very hard to put down. 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. 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. The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century This is a very interesting read. Also a good one i might add. 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.
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. 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. 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. 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. For readers who find the subject matter interesting, I would encourage independent study of the topics on which the book glances over. Friedman has done a commendable job of keeping the book (now in release 3.0 as of my reading) updated and relevant.
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. The World Is Flat bills itself in it subtitle as "a brief history of the twenty-first century." That history is dominated by the combined forces of globalization and technology. Further complicating the issue is that those implications can be drastically different depending on whether a country is developed or developing. This technique is used effectively by Friedman to illustrate his points to the reader.
Friedman can consider mission accomplished. I kept asking myself why this all seemed to surprising to Mr. Friedman's work The World is Flat I purchased it and waded through the first hundred pages or so with increasing impatience as I awaited all the earth shattering insights that were said to await me. Friedman seems to be so taken with. I notice a lot of reviews suggest that the book is "well written". I have no objection to the writing but it did not strike me as being anything more then average. Well after reading the book I felt more along the lines of having purchased something from someone who demonstrated their firm grasp on the obvious. For anyone living, working or traveling in today's online, e-commerce, outsourced, off-shored world over the last 10-15 years you already know everything that Mr.
Friedman.Apparently Mr. If a sense of "gee isn't all this stuff neat" equates to being well written then Mr. Several years ago after hearing praise heaped upon Mr. There are no earth shattering insights here. Friedman's book is marketed to those who do not get out much.
Granted, it was outdated when talking about Google.but I was fascinated to learn how dynamic UPS is. What an fantastic book. 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.
|
