The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century

I bought this book once I had the opportunity to hear a speech of Friedman in the MIT, if you want to see it, is for free on iTunes.

The book gives us an insightful opinion and research on the past and current trends of the IT industry, he explains us how it has been able to transform the way we think and live our daily lives.

This book is a must for all of those students that are currently thinking what career to choose, as it tells us what jobs the world is going to need in the future.

Great Reading

　新聞で彼の文章を読んだことはあったものの、Friedmanが著した本を読むのは初めてであった。英語もそれほど多くのVocabularyを要求するものではないし、内容も学術論文のように難しくないこともあってするすると読むことができる。けれども‘FLAT’と言う言葉が消化不良になるほど出てくるので、やや最後の方になると疲れてしまうかもしれない。
　ただし内容が事実に基づいているので説得力は抜群だ。日本も今後Frideman描くところのFlatとなった世界の中に取り込まれていく過程にある。それを止めることはできないと言うことを否応なしに理解させられてしまう。
　参考になったのは、Chapter６の‘The　Untouchable’だ。日本人である私がこの避けえない枠組みの中で生き残っていくにはこういう姿勢が必要なのだと言うことを認識させられた。難しいことだけれども……。
　十分に手に取る価値あり、と判断する。

Friedman is a charming story teller. His writing is attractive to a large audience. But reading it made me feel that his insights are rather limited. Also, his knowledge on the changing world, especially emerging nations is not penetrating. For a far better book on globalization, I recommend: China's global reach: markets, multinationals, and globalization by a Chinese journalist George Zhibin Gu, which offers sweeping views on China and global affairs.

Friedman is a good storyteller, but no new insights. Very well written, but it is not that deep in understanding the changes the world is going through. Its knowledge about China and India, among other emerging nations, is rather limited. For a far more insightful book on a changing world and China, I recommend this book: China's Global Reach: Markets, Multinationals, and Globalization by a Chinese journalist George Zhibin Gu.

Lively and provocative as always, Friedman returns with an updated thesis on globalization. In The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Friedman argued that technological innovation, foreign investment, capital flows, and trade were transforming the world — breaking down national borders, constraining governments, and triggering grand struggles between nationalism and the forces of economic integration. Here he argues — in a swirl of anecdotes about software designers, intrepid entrepreneurs, globetrotting investors, and the famous telephone call centers in Bangalore, India — that globalization has reached a new stage. Now individuals, rather than governments or corporations, are the agents of change, empowered by e-mail, computers, teleconferencing, and production networks, all of which are drawing more and more people around the world into competition and cooperation on an equal footing. In this sense, Friedman argues, the world is becoming flat, and his book is organized as a sort of travel guide to globalization, a kinetic portrait of the wired global village. The rest of the book examines how countries, companies, and workers will need to adapt to flatness. For the United States, this entails, above all, investing in education, technology, and training. 試み try Giorgio Kostantinos 極度 小説 The Quest. A great read.