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The World is Flat Chapter 1 Chapter 1: The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman: In the first chapter of The World is Flat, Friedman concludes that Columbus was incorrect in saying that the world is round, and he was thinking and told his wife, that he was reconsidering that shape of the world and contemplated that this place we live is more flat than round. “I too assumed that the world was round, but what I entered in India profoundly shook my faith in that notion.” Friedman believes that there are three great eras of globalization. “The first lasted from 1942 – when Columbus set sail, opening trade between the Old World and the New World = until around 1800. I would call this Globalization 1.0…” “The second great era, Globalization 2.0, lasted roughly 1800 to 2000, interrupted by the Great Depression and World Wars I and II. This era shrank the world from a size medium to a small size…” “I argue in this book that around the year 2000 we entered a whole new era: Globalization 3.0. Globalization 3.0 is shrinking the world from a size small to a size tiny and flattening the playing field at the same time.” Friedman speaks about how there are so many different jobs that we have lost in the United States to so many other countries because of the way that they can produce business faster. The key to business Friedman says is quick, cheap and reliable. Why would a business pay more money when they can employ a person overseas who will do the same job for cheaper. The people in the other countries are trained how to speak with all the different accents that the costumers would be calling with so that they think that they are speaking to someone within the United States. The internet and the dot-com companies really learned and started using the ‘outsourcing’ more. This was done once again because of the quality and the cost effectiveness of these people. One company that Friedman found a fancy with was Jet Blue and the ‘homesourcing’ that this company started using. Jet Blue found that by hiring Mormon woman in Salt Lake City Utah. These women could stay at home and perform their jobs. Jet Blue found that these women produced more revenue for the company simply because they were nicer and got their jobs done more effectively because they had the opportunity to live at home and complete their job. All in all Chapter 1 explained the ways that other companies are taking jobs right from underneath us because of the cost effectiveness, speed and reliability of the matter. Finally, “The idea is to constantly learn. You are always taking an examination. There is no end to learning… There is no real end that what can be done by whom.” I definitely agree with Friedman for most points in Chapter one. This world has gone through a vast change and he puts it very clearly where, how and when these changes occurred. We have seen technology just soar to new levels that we never thought existed. For instance ten years ago computers were huge and cell phones were zach morris size. Think about the technology that we have seen come and go, it’s crazy to think about, what technology will we have in simply five years. However, some of the possible consequences that we may face within the next ten years if things are still moving in the direction that he has mentioned will be the following: we could lose a massive amount of workers and jobs to other countries because they are able to complete these jobs, faster, cheaper and more economically. The points that he has mentioned will affect us and our students as we do not know exactly what to teach our students because most of the jobs that they will be applying for don’t even exist yet. We just need to do the best we can as education in keeping up with our professional development along with helping each other as educators and not trying to make ourselves look bad. _Lindsay_Lorson_

Thomas L. Friedman's book, //The World Is Flat//, chapter one, takes the reader on a journey that compares Thomas L. Friedman's travels, which brought him to such places as India and Japan, and led him to the conclusion that the world is flat, as opposed to Christopher Columbus's journey during which he famously declared that the world is round. A quote that made me think a bit deeper about the issue at hand was when Friedman states, " When I set sail so to speak, I too assumed that the world was round, but what I encountered in the real India profoundly shook my faith in that notion" (Friedman 5). The world is flat according to Friedman because technology has allowed the world to "level the playing field" (8) between the United States and other nations. Phenomenons such as the Internet have allowed people to unite worldwide at the click of a button and has given folks in different countries access to the same goods, technologies, and services Americans enjoy. Friedman states, "it is now possible for more people than ever to collaborate and compete in real time with more other people on a more equal footing than at any previous time in the history of the world - using computers, e-mail, fiber-optic networks, teleconferencing, and dynamic new software" (8). This is proven as the webpage I read in New Jersey can be seen anywhere else in the world.

A major theme discussed in the chapter is outsourcing, an epidemic that is taking jobs away from the American people. When Friedman travels to India and sees how companies have established themselves overseas such as HP, Texas Instruments, Epson, 3M, and Pizza Hut, it blows his mind to see how fast, accurate, and effective the workers are. Most companies want maximum results for minimum pay, therefore, outsourcing is the best way to accomplish this. It was especially surprising for him to see how telephone operators were able to pick up an American or British accent at the drop of a hat to accommodate a customer. Especially during these tough economic times, it is not suprising that more and more companies are choosing to outsource. Another interesting statistic that is appealing to outsourcers is that "Japanese firms can hire three Chinese software engineers for the price of one in Japan and still have change to pay a roomful of call center operators for $90 per month" (Friedman 34). Therefore, why would these companies hire people from their own nation?

Towards the end of the chapter, Friedman introduces the concept of "homesourcing," practiced by the airline, JetBlue, which employs women who work from home in the State of Utah. As the company, Morris Air, experimented with the concept of homesourcing, they found that "workers were 30% more productive - they take 30% more bookings, by just being happier" (Friedman 37). The concept of this idea is genius as it allows jobs to stay in the US while giving women the flexibility complete their household responsibilities, as they earn a paycheck. Even corporate giants such as McDonald's have begun outsourcing as they have created a call center where orders can be placed in one state and processed in another without the customer ever knowing. This is done all in the name of cheaper, faster, and more efficient labor.

Cheaper, faster, and more efficient labor is certainly the theme of chapter one as Thomas Friedman demonstrates the ways in which jobs are outsourced overseas, as well as, at home, and why companies are choosing to do this.

Friedman, T. (2007) //The World Is Flat//. New York: Picador/Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux.

I certainly agree with the points Friedman makes in chapter one as technology certainly has "made the world flat." The fact that companies overseas now have access to the same technology, goods, and services as the United States has hurt Americans as jobs have been taken right out from under them in favor of cheaper, faster, and more efficient labor. Friedman states it best when he wrote, "Like any explosion of modernity, outsourcing is challenging traditional norms and ways of life," (28) as Americans must adjust to speaking to someone in India when attempting to fix their computers over the phone, which some find troublesome due to the language barrier, for example. My father has fallen victim to outsourcing as he and fifty-five other members of his department lost their jobs due to outsourcing about a year ago. His company realized that the jobs their workers were doing in the United States could be done overseas at a fraction of the cost; therefore, it was no longer worth it to employ Americans. This is one situation in which the wealth and cost of living in the United States hurts Americans as we require jobs with higher salaries to accommodate our lifestyles. Ten years from now, Americans could be in trouble as more and more companies choose to save money by outsourcing as technology advances and companies realize that more "traditionally American" jobs can be performed overseas for less money. It is no longer a matter of countries keeping up with the United States in terms of technology, each country needs to keep up with each other as Asian countries are constantly creating new gadgets that might just be the "next big thing." As for teachers, we too must utilize professional development opportunities that allow us to stay up-to-date with the latest technologies so that our children aren't learning English, Math, Science, and Social Studies from a teacher located in India! However, I do believe that for now at least, teachers are safe from outsourcing as it is extremely important for students to have the social and academic experience that comes with attending school (in person) each day.

April Coniglio