I'll call it the "Book of impressions". As a reporter writes a business book for the geo-political powers governing our era and the one to come, you see more stories than true scientific analysis. It could be good enough for a layman but not for someone looking for deep/real analysis.

Hopefully I will write a full review soon.

Heads in the sand should read this book!: This began as a response to one of the harsh reviews previously posted, but I figured it'd be just as good as a counterbalance in the review section.

Using an approach the layman can understand, Friedman chronicles an event which took place (the flattening of the world, so to speak) right under our noses. He gives an excellent overview of how globalization really HAS helped the world, and he does it via plenty of footnoted research into actual events that took place to get us to this point in history.

Commerce (or consumption, if you'd rather) is, whether you like to admit it or not, the backbone of ALL successful societies (you know, the ones that aren't still tearing themselves apart over dark age religions and living in sandy hellholes). Sure, it comes with a price, but what doesn't? The fight to stem global warming will no doubt come with a price (higher priced hybrid cars and other associated costs of being "green"), but in the end, our descendants will live vastly different lives centuries from now because of it.

I'm sure the Negative Nellies here would be the first people to point fingers at how little the people in Chinese factories are paid (especially in light of the recent toy scandals), but don't want to know what options they had before they had those supposedly "lousy" factory jobs. Oh, that's right, they had NO options.

The very fact that Friedman addresses the dark side of globalization in the book (and in related audio programs and interviews he's done over the last year or more) should indicate that he's well aware of the fall-out, but knows it's inevitable AND surmountable as more and more countries develop a middle class, even if it's a middle class build on knock-offs like China's. But with higher standards being slowly forced upon them as an exporter, the benefit will be higher standards of living for their people, and less reliance on the bootleg.

The forces are already in play to legitimize much of what Friedman has outlined in the book, and so much the better we'll all be for it. It's not about how much we can consume, although boy can we North Americans consume, and we wanted to do it for less money, and now look where all our manufacturing jobs have gone. But don't worry, there will always be an infrastructure in place in western countries, and while some business goes overseas, new business springs up. Even a service-based economy is still an economy. But now former third world countries and/or failed dictator states are finally being given the opportunity that they could not possibly have taken before due to doomed philosphies: they can begin to think globally and come out of the dark ages, where once the only "saviour" someone believed they needed was spoonfed to them from birth, but really only an internal salve against raging poverty and/or oppression. THAT's the only useful function of most religions and many political systems, but that's another book altogether. THIS book is about something that is too big to suddenly stop because we fear for future generations. Instead, we have to find ways to make what already works, work better, so that future generations from ALL walks of life and from ALL countries can partake in better economies, and freer societies.

Loathe globalization all you want, but in this day and age, and probably for many more ages to come, COMMERCE will be the major way to guarantee progress. Goodness knows, politics and religion have tried and failed repeatedly, so why NOT let the marketplace dictate progress. It works, and it's flaws can be corrected, as they are in all good sciences; it just takes time.

And, if you're bummed out, as "Casca" appears to be in another review, that you couldn't start your own airline, you've missed the point again. The point is that we now live in a world that's more connected than at any point in the history of mankind, and we're only going to become MORE connected as time goes on. If you have the capabilities of utilizing that connectivity to further your own business plans, creativity, social life, knowledge, you'd be a fool not to give it a try. Hell, even the terrorists have done it! It's not about running down to your bank for $100 million loans. It's about seeing the world, and your place in it-particularly if your business is BUSINESS and actually making a decent living-being made better with the technology that's at your fingertips. The one's who are sticking their heads in the sand are the ones who can't fathom that the world flattened, as Friedman says, while they were sleeping.

Repetitive. Just read the dust jacket. Globalization is leveling the playing field. Example, repeat catch phrase, rinse.

It's been a while so I'll try to recall what I told people at the time.

Some interesting points about globalization but a lot of mildly inaccurate generalizations about history, technology, and Friedman takes an annoying tone at times. Still the basic premise of the book is insightful and highly readable. There are also some lectures on the subject of this book available on iTunes that Friedman gave at MIT.

No longer using this website, but I'm leaving up old reviews. Fuck Jeff Bezos. Find me on LibraryThing: https://www.librarything.com/profile/...

I tried to plow through this book, but Thomas Friedman is the most brain-dead parrot of the ruling class I have ever known, so I couldn't finish it.

His view of globalization is that now, thanks to the paternalistic global order constructed by US multinational corporations, there is cultural and monetary things of worth out there in the vast unexplored jungles of savagery called "not the United States." As an ahistorical text that ignores the fact that elites have been trading from Occident to and from Orient for hundreds of years, the book ignores entirely the poor.

How wonderful it is to be ruling class in this new era, where poor people from all over the world can service the rich like Friedman. What an asshole.

tThe problem with writing about globalization “3.0” is that we are currently in the midst of it. In a matter of years, even months, a book about the future becomes outdated. Unfortunately, that is what I found with The World Is Flat. Even the “Updated and Expanded edition”, published in 2006 or 2007, is no longer up to date. While I strongly appreciate a lot of what Thomas L. Friedman writes about, it is in many ways a blip in history. The internet has progressed to a point beyond even his initial experience with Wikipedia, blogs, and Google.
For example, I finished The World Is Flat and got on my computer. Within five minutes, I visited Facebook, Pinterest, Gmail, then Goodreads. All those websites or services were either in their very beginning, or uncreated, when this book was written. Things have changed, and taken on many interesting and unique roles yet unpictured.
Six years have gone by since this book was published, and already we have moved beyond what he saw. Sure, I look outside and life doesn’t seem to have progressed much since 2006. But in 2006 Facebook hadn’t exploded. The Arab Springs hadn’t happened yet. Microsoft Word 2010 had yet to be released.
I guess my point is, this book was fascinating, but no longer relevant. It shows how we got here, but no longer, I feel, accurately predicts where we are going. Friedman is very optimistic. Honestly, I got bored with the book after a while. When he isn’t ecstatically looking towards the future, he’s warning about the great turmoil about to fall upon the United States if she doesn’t up her math and science scores. That might be the case, but somehow the optimism/Armageddon doesn’t mix well.
I began this book when I decided to become a Rebelutionary. Sadly, it has taken me this long to finish it. And in those years, this wonderful, truly interesting book became outdated. Because while a lot of what he foresaw is happening and continues to happen, history has happened. We’re no longer where we were when this book was written. Even as he refers to his book The Lexus and the Olive Tree as no longer getting it, The World Is Flat no longer gets it. Referring to people like Osama Bin Laden and Steve Jobs were great…when they were alive. But now they are dead. New people have risen up. New social networks have taken hold of politics and government intervention has become a hotly debated topic.
Would I recommend this book? It is not a gut not a gut yes or no at this point. I learned a lot from it, but I also was left feeling bored and dissatisfied. 566 pages is a lot to wade through only to be left with more questions and half-fulfilled premonitions. I say yes for an understanding of how we got where we are. I say no…because I was bored. I recognize a lot of what he is saying. I see it first hand. I experience it first hand. But I have also seen where his starry-eyed enthusasim or grave warnings sugar coat or darken something and make it more confusing.
Two last side comments.
The first is more of a personal critique. He sources Wikipedia. That distracted me a lot. If there is one thing drummed in your head from K-12 it is that Wikipedia is not a reliable source. And he mentions that. He has, in fact, several paragraphs about being cautious with the online encyclopedia. But he is far to enamored with it. Yet another case of things moving forward. If I want an accurate, factual source that I would quote in a book, I’d hit JSTOR. Or ProQuest. Or any maybe even Google Scholar. Not Wikipedia.
Secondly, his view of the future disturbs me. It is very A-type personality oriented. Now, I happen to have that sort of personality. I thrive in the sort of environment he pictures. But not everyone does. If American jobs become entirely specialized and top-oriented, there are going to be a lot of unhappy people. I just hope there is a middle ground that can and will be discovered for more relaxed people who want to have a lifetime job, and who don’t thrive in a constantly changing environment. I guess as the old saying goes, only time will tell.
I’m afraid this review is much more negative than I meant it to sound. It is not that this is a bad book. It is well written and well organized. It is just outdated. Six years is a blip of time compared to eternity, but in a constantly changing and moving society it is eternity. I think it is time for the situation to be re-evaluated, and re-written.

I think this book represents what is wrong with a generation of baby boomers. Aside from being verbose and arrogant, it presents obvious observations as a favor to the reader, as if the reader is nowhere near as enlightened as Thomas Friedman is. In the process, he manages to name-drop, and attempts to convince us all the world is better by outsourcing. Every turn of the page made my blood boil to a higher temperature, so after nearly 200 pages, I handed it to Tony and instructed him to sell it. I have better things to do with my time.

This was one of my Cracker Barrel picks on a recent road trip. I love Cracker Barrel's books-on-cd! I liked Freidman's book, it was full of great information, a little simplified, (but aren't the 'social action' books always a little high school/Time magazineish?), but important nonetheless. I admit, somewhere through the hills of Pennsylvania I drifted in and out of interest - I may not have taken notes on the ten 'flateners' of the world, but I do think it's a quality read (or listen).

When the arguments are so simple, it's easy believe someone else must be responsible. I mean, of course someone's on top of it, right? Well...

Basically, the world is 'flatening' -another way to say 'getting smaller' - because of easier methods of trade, faster communication, more and more people having access to the net, etc. and that this world wide development is similar to a time when, say, the printing press was invented. And so how does America fit in? What are other countries, like China and India, doing differently than us and where will this put them -and us- in 10 years?

The book covers a lot of issues including a call for help for the 'unflat' countries in the underdeveloped world, and questions the implications of terrorist operations in a smaller and smaller world where each death has the possibility of being broadcast on millions of screens.

Man...I need a road trip buddy.

I enjoyed this book. It gave me a lot of insight into the world. The book is centered around the trend of companies outsourcing and globalizing.

Right before this, I read "23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism", a book that was a bit harsh of free-market capitalism. So, when the Friedman started talking about the benefits it has, I was a little skeptical.

Globalization has always been around. The East India Company existed centuries ago as a global trade company. However, this movement is a lot more on individual empowerment. This has degenerated walls like race and gender. Thanks to the Internet, collaboration is incredibly simple and it goes on continually.

There are caveats. There's no truly global company. When Indians get jobs, Americans do not. One economy grows while the other suffers. The author indicates that Indians are hired because they're cheaper and more productive.

At first the author seemed to be avoiding these caveats, but towards the end he does concede the problems of globalization. After the Berlin Wall fell and a few other political occurrences, the global economy has imploded with laborers. Thanks to the Internet, geography is no longer a barrier to getting cheap labor.

Friedman explores the side effects of globalization but maintains his original point that it is generally a good thing. His political viewpoints coincide a bit with my own: it is best to have a strong economy run by a strong government. He echoes my idea that a strong economy needs to have a strong, progressive government.

What I think was very interesting was that Friedman made several predictions about the economy and politics today that actually came true. India and China are growing a lot, and the 2008 boom likely gave companies a good opportunity to outsource. Several times he also talks about having oppressive religion-based politics which end up preventing economic growth and other issues that eerily represent the Tea Party.

Today though, a lot of our world is digital. So, in explaining a augmented digital world, you really should have some knowledge of the subject. Friedman is a writer, which doesn't necessarily mean anything, but some of his explanations seemed lackluster and a bit incorrect. One time he refers to the Internet as "magic" which doesn't really help people understand it.

To conclude with these thoughts, this is a decent book. It has a very important theme. The world is changing. To try to relate to the policies of the Cold War era just won't work. America isn't the superpower it once was. We've grown stagnant while these other countries have risen. It's important to keep this in perspective, because as time goes on, this will grow even more true. America has to set a new vision, a singular vision, that allows us to move forward. If we don't, we lose out on the world's benefits.

This book opened my eyes to a changing world...or perhaps a changed world as it was written 8 years ago and the I-Phone has already been invented. Strangely enough, I felt increasingly motivated by this book despite the challenges it points out to a globalized, flattened America and world. I felt, during and after reading it, that I wanted to do something...not just anything, but something spectacular. I wanted to get on this Technology Train because hell, it's moving and we are all on it rather we want to be or not--it just depends on if we know it has started moving. The world is indeed flattening. Yes, there are forces out there trying to unflatten it, but I doubt they will win. As a time in my life wherein I'm truly searching for 'my' career, I couldn't have read this book at a better time.

Udah setahun punya buku ini.. bacanya gak kelar-kelar.. tebel banget sih.. bisa dijadiin bantal. Sekarang diniatin untuk kelar.. sayang udah dibeli tebel-tebel,.. eh salah.. mahal-mahal..

Dan hasilnya...

Amazing. Dahsyat. Friedman adalah pengamat yang jitu, jeli dan mendalam. Juga seseorang futurist yang kayaknya sih tepat.

Dimulai dengan perenungannya tentang dunia yang datar, saat one day dia bermain golf di satu tempat di India. Saat ia akan memukul, ada yg mengarahkan : “Arahkan ke Microsoft atau IBM”. Itu adalah dua bangunan baja dan kaca yang berkilauan. Seakan limbung, antara di Kansas … tidak, ia di India. Tapi semua penanda adalah icon icon Amerika.

Sesuatu yang terjadi di mana pun. Pernah saya di atas layang Casablanca persis yang di atas Sudirman. Arahkan pandang ke arah gedung Bursa Efek.. oh.. mirip dengan pemandangan yang pernah saya lihat di Hongkong. Pencakar langit yang tak akrab memenuhi langit.

Tapi bukan sekedar itu. Buku ini mengangkat kondisi kehidupan di dunia yang saat ini terasa datar. Sesuatu yang terjadi di New York, saat yang sama terjadi di Jakarta. Suatu peristiwa di belahan bumi lain, akan dapat dilihat sekejap dari belahan bumi yang lain lagi. Luar biasa. Kecanggihan teknologi, komunikasi, membuat dunia ini semakin terasa kecil. Terasa datar.

Beberapa point menarik dari buku ini di antaranya kekuatan-kekuatan yang membuat dunia ini menjadi datar. Kita yang mengalami, mungkin merasakan kekuatan itu, akan setuju dengan Friedman. Runtuhnya tembok Berlin. Netscape. Anyone remember ? browser yang sangat nyaman dipakai di tahun2 90’an akhir, ketika IE dari Microsoft belum gratis dan belum senyaman sekarang. Workflow. Yang membuat prosedur kerja tidak perlu lagi dilakukan secara manual by kertas. Dulu kalau kita ingin cuti, mesti ambil form di HRD, isi, masuk ke ruang atasan, minta approval, balikin ke HRD. Sekarang ? cukup dari meja kerja kita. Click ke web tempat cuti online, klik, klik, klik, klik, klik.. beres. No need to go anywhere. Uploading. Merubah semua orang bisa menjadi pemberi informasi. Dulu bikin website susahnya setengah mati, mesti belajar dan ngerti kode html. Sekarang. Cukup mengerti klik klik klik klik.. jadi blog yg keren. Outsourcing. Offshoring. Pekerjaan yang bukan core, berikan pada pihak lain, dan ini sudah lintas negara. Teringat pertemuan dengan seorang teman sekitar 2 bulan lalu. Dia bilang, dia akan kena lay-off. Bukan karena global crisis. Tapi karena perusahaannya mengoffshore accounting function ke India, dan di Indonesia hanya dipertahankan 3 orang, yang bertugas sebagai document scanner. Ck ck ck…

Supply Chain. Mempertegas hilangnya hambatan antar negara. Insourcing. Informing. Semua bisa mencari informasi sendiri. Googling akan menjadi mata pelajaran di sekolah ( ;-).. yg ini dari saya). Steroid. Digital, mobile, personal dan virtual. Peralatan yang menemani kita dalam keseharian, diistilahkan oleh Friedman sebagai steroid. Itu adalah hal-hal yang membuat dunia ini menjadi datar.

Yang menarik, Friedman tidak saja sebagai presentis, pengamat, tetapi juga berlaku sebagai futuris, peramal. Salah satunya adalah bagaimana kita memperkuat diri kita menjadi pribadi yang eksis di dunia datar ini. Tentunya dari kacamata bisnis.

Pengetahuan, ketrampilan, ide dan motivasi, akan menjadi modal kekuatan pribadi yang dominan. Pribadi, akan berperan dominan dalam era dunia datar. Jika dalam globalisasi 1.0, negara harus mengglobal, kemudian dalam globalisasi 2.0, perusahaan harus mengglobal, maka dalam globalisasi 3.0, pribadi lah yang harus mengglobal. Individu dituntut untuk berpikir global supaya bisa berkembang, atau sekurang-kurangnya bisa bertahan hidup. Jadi bukan saja keterampilan teknis yang dibutuhkan, tetapi kelenturan mental, motivasi diri dan mobilitas psikologis harus dikuasai. Tak pernah cukup menjadi orang yang sedang-sedang saja (mediocre).

Kita harus menjadi yang tak terjamah. Ini berarti orang yg pekerjaannya tidak dapat dioutsource, didigitalkan, atau diotomatisasikan. Apa or siapa kah itu ? Friedman membagi dalam tiga kategori. Pertama adalah orang-orang yang istimewa. JK Rowling satu contohnya. Kedua, orang-orang yang menetap. Mereka memang dibutuhkan di lokasi itu. Tukang cukur, satu contohnya. Kita tidak mungkin cukur rambut secara virtual. Yang ketiga, kelas menengah. Inilah yang terberat, karena kita berada di level ini. Maaf, bukan kita, saya. Kelas menengah harus memiliki keunggulan kompetitif untuk bersaing dengan sesama kelas menengah yang lain. Harus punya nilai tambah. Jadi meskipun secara literal, pekerjaan kelas menengah itu bisa dioutsource, didigitalkan, atau diotomatisasikan, tapi ada value di pribadi itu yang tidak bisa didapat lewat proses outsource, digital dan otomatis. Be special.

Bagaimana untuk menjadi special ?

Beberapa kemampuan harus dimiliki. Kolaborator. Orkestrator. Mampu menjadi dirigen sebuah orkestra, yang terdiri dari banyak komponen musisi, tetapi menghadirkan musik yang indah. Pesintesa. Bisa menjadi dot people, maupun big picture people. Bisa melihat gambaran luas, mampu mendeteksi gambaran detail. Penjelas yang hebat. Bisa menjelaskan sesuatu yang rumit, dalam bahasa yang mudah, sehingga dapat dimengerti oleh orang awam sekalipun. Pengadaptasi. Tinggalkan spesialisasi, arahkan ke “serba bisa” dan “adaptif”. Pecinta lingkungan. Pemberi sentuhan pribadi. Ini yang menarik. Everything with personal touch.. will be more valuable. Ingat, manusia adalah makhluk sosial yang menikmati kontak personal. Kontak manusiawi. Seasyik-asyiknya conference, tetap lebih asyik chat bilateral. Lokalisator yang hebat. Hati-hati.. bukan lokalisasi.. 8-).

Untuk bisa meraih kemampuan itu, kita harus memiliki kemampuan untuk belajar bagaimana belajar. Learn how to learn. Terus menerus menyerap, mengajari diri sendiri. Untuk bisa belajar bagaimana belajar, syarat pertama adalah cinta belajar! Or at least, menikmatinya.

CQ + PQ > IQ. Ketika dunia menjadi datar, keingintahuan dan antusiasme terhadap sebuah pekerjaan, keberhasilan, pokok masalah, ataupun sebuah hobi akan menjadi jauh lebih penting. CQ = curious quotient. PQ = passion quotient. Keingintahuan dan gairah yang tinggi, akan lebih penting dibandingkan IQ yang tinggi. Kita perlu bersentuhan kembali dengan antusiasme, gairah yang polos/kekanak-kanakan atas suatu pekerjaan, tanpa peduli gaji, jam kerja, maupun persiapan yang dibutuhkan.

Kita perlu menyukai orang. Kita harus mampu berinteraksi dengan orang lain secara baik. Keterampilan relasi, adalah aset dalam dunia kerja, dan juga dalam dunia datar. Ingatlah, interaksi yang mendalam dan pribadi, tidak pernah dapat dioutsource, didigitalkan, atau diotomatisasikan.

Tingkatkan kemampuan otak kanan, sebanding dengan otak kiri. Di dunia datar yang banjir oleh data, informasi, dicekik oleh alternatif pilihan, kemampuan yang penting adalah mendekati jiwa dari belahan otak kanan, yaitu kemampuan artistik, empati, melihat gambaran besar, dan kemampuan menelusuri hal-hal yang transenden, beyond, melampaui diri. Lebih memilih untuk membangun relasi dibandingkan transaksi. Tinggalkan one hit action.

Jadi ketika kita mendengar seseorang berbicara, lakukan yang anda cintai, itu bukan lah kata mutiara. Tapi itu adalah strategi untuk bertahan hidup, di dunia datar ini.

Mau lanjut ?.. baca saja bukunya yah…
Sementara... gak sabar saya nunggu buku terbaru dari Friedman, Hot, Flat and Crowded.

-andri-
http://kubunetwork.multiply.com

I listened to the audiobook version while traveling with some quiet folks. So this was about all I heard. And it seemed to me that most of the time I spent listening was hearing the author repeat his thesis, "the world is flat". And each time he would express his amazement and gush about how relevant his revelation is to modern life. It felt like he had a hard time getting over how brilliant he is.

This book could have been compressed into a booklet. And a mighty fine one at that. Had that been done, I would have praised that booklet for it's value and it's careful analysis of how globalization of our economy and market is affecting our way of life and how it is integrating into our daily activities.

Borrow the book from a friend, read the first few chapters, read the titles of the middle chapters, skim the end, and you would have done some worthwhile reading. But the rest of it most likely not worth your time.

If however, you happen to be new to the powers of the internet and things like satellites and fiber optic cables, then disregard what I've said above, and go read the book. This book seems to have been written for just that demographic. (And that demographic is not a bad thing)