Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 303.4833
EAN: 9780312425074
ISBN: 0312425074
Label: Picador
Manufacturer: Picador
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 672
Publication Date: August 07, 2007
Publisher: Picador
Release Date: July 24, 2007
Studio: Picador

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Editorial Review:

Product Description:


Amazon.com Review:
Updated Edition: Thomas L. Friedman is not so much a futurist, which he is sometimes called, as a presentist. His aim in The World Is Flat, as in his earlier, influential Lexus and the Olive Tree, is not to give you a speculative preview of the wonders that are sure to come in your lifetime, but rather to get you caught up on the wonders that are already here. The world isn't going to be flat, it is flat, which gives Friedman's breathless narrative much of its urgency, and which also saves it from the Epcot-style polyester sheen that futurists--the optimistic ones at least--are inevitably prey to.

What Friedman means by "flat" is "connected": the lowering of trade and political barriers and the exponential technical advances of the digital revolution that have made it possible to do business, or almost anything else, instantaneously with billions of other people across the planet. This in itself should not be news to anyone. But the news that Friedman has to deliver is that just when we stopped paying attention to these developments--when the dot-com bust turned interest away from the business and technology pages and when 9/11 and the Iraq War turned all eyes toward the Middle East--is when they actually began to accelerate. Globalization 3.0, as he calls it, is driven not by major corporations or giant trade organizations like the World Bank, but by individuals: desktop freelancers and innovative startups all over the world (but especially in India and China) who can compete--and win--not just for low-wage manufacturing and information labor but, increasingly, for the highest-end research and design work as well. (He doesn't forget the "mutant supply chains" like Al-Qaeda that let the small act big in more destructive ways.)

Friedman has embraced this flat world in his own work, continuing to report on his story after his book's release and releasing an unprecedented hardcover update of the book a year later with 100 pages of revised and expanded material. What's changed in a year? Some of the sections that opened eyes in the first edition--on China and India, for example, and the global supply chain--are largely unaltered. Instead, Friedman has more to say about what he now calls "uploading," the direct-from-the-bottom creation of culture, knowledge, and innovation through blogging, podcasts, and open-source software. And in response to the pleas of many of his readers about how to survive the new flat world, he makes specific recommendations about the technical and creative training he thinks will be required to compete in the "New Middle" class. As before, Friedman tells his story with the catchy slogans and globe-hopping anecdotes that readers of his earlier books and his New York Times columns know well, and he holds to a stern sort of optimism. He wants to tell you how exciting this new world is, but he also wants you to know you're going to be trampled if you don't keep up with it. A year later, one can sense his rising impatience that our popular culture, and our political leaders, are not helping us keep pace. --Tom Nissley

Where Were You When the World Went Flat?

Thomas L. Friedman's reporter's curiosity and his ability to recognize the patterns behind the most complex global developments have made him one of the most entertaining and authoritative sources for information about the wider world we live in, both as the foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times and as the author of landmark books like From Beirut to Jerusalem and The Lexus and the Olive Tree. They also make him an endlessly fascinating conversation partner, and we've now had the chance to talk to him about The World Is Flat twice. Read our original interview with him following the publication of the first edition of The World Is Flat to learn why there's almost no one from Washington, D.C., listed in the index of a book about the global economy, and what his one-plank platform for president would be. (Hint: his bumper stickers would say, "Can You Hear Me Now?")

And now you can listen to our second interview, in which he talks about the updates he's made in "The World Is Flat 2.0," including his response to parents who said to him, "Great, Mr. Friedman, I'm glad you told us the world is flat. Now what do I tell my kids?"

The Essential Tom Friedman

From Beirut to Jerusalem

The Lexus and the Olive Tree

Longitudes and Attitudes

More on Globalization and Development

China, Inc. by Ted Fishman	Three Billion New Capitalists by Clyde Prestowitz	The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs
Globalization and Its Discontents by Joseph Stiglitz	The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy by Pietra Rivoli	The Mystery of Capital by Hernando de Soto

Rating: - He has no point
The world is flat? What do you meant the world is flat? I tried reading some of this book. All I could get out of it is that genius no longer excels, while dufuses abound all over cyberspace. Crap. I have seen the dufuses, the spammers, the porn sites, the trashy material. But I've also seen top notch intellectual material, and know that it is to be found if you know where to look.

And the book was boring. It soon dawned on me that the author is not talking about "flat earth" ... Read More

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Rating: - Leveling of the Playing Field
Friedman has taken the different trends towards globalization and connected the dots to form a coherent view of a flat world. Flat is a metaphor indicating that the playing field has become leveled. He describes the events leading to the creation of such a flat playing field. And how countries like China and India used this to their advantage.

As many assumed, Globalization did not stop with the dot com bust in 2000. In fact, it strengthened because of that. The dot com boom resulted ... Read More

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Rating: - Excellent information but less than fun to read.
The book is excellent. Friedman describes the way globalization started and where we are now. He has obviously done his homework on the subject.

The only (minor) complaint I have is that there were times when I felt like I was being beaten over the head with anecdotal evidence. Enough! I get it! Let's move on!

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Rating: - It Is Your Responsibility as a Human Being to Read this Book and Make a Difference in The World
Thomas Friedman brilliantly shows how the forces of globalization have connected the world in ways never possible before. The walls, ceilings, and even floors that once separated people, societies, and countries have been flattened out. Now, a single individual has more power than any other time in history.

We must make use of all these new possibilities to succeed in a world that is more competitive and more challenging than ever before.

You have to establish a competitive ... Read More

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Rating: - Simplifies the complex, much to its undoing
Over a thousand reviews posted for a single book are bound to reflect a variety of opinions. But few books can elicit the repetitive and inconsistent nods present here. Most of these reviews fall into two groups: the first classifies this book as well-written and highly informative; the second classifies it as too verbose and oversimplified. I have to say, both groups are right.

They are right because I found myself reflecting both sentiments as I read the book.

The first ... Read More

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