jmbuser

I am currently reading The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman.

I find myself agreeing with most sections of the book, since I am currently working overseas. For me, the world is undeniably flat.

"Flatness" is essentially the condition where modern broadband communications, especially the Internet, and global transportation, make every person connected to the World Wide Web a potential competitor. I prefer to think of these people as potential collaborators.

Many times in his book, Mr. Friedman quotes people he considers authorities in the field of information technology, my chosen field. He views the honorable Bill Gates as particularly insightful. Sorry, but I beg to differ. This is the man who almost missed the Internet and has difficulty grasping the power and revolutionary nature of free and open source software.

To his credit, despite his predictively upbeat portrayal of globalization, Mr. Friedman does see its down side as well as the up side. This is the reason I can continue to read this book and gain from his insights.

I plan to explore some of the themes in the book from my own vantage point in future blog entries.