IX-77 "The World is Flat", Summary and My Thoughts

1) What is the difference between Globalization 1.0, Globalization 2.0, and Globalization 3.0?

Globalization 1.0 falls within the era between 1492 and 1800, this is because the world that was once a vast and wide world of independent countries started to become connected. In my opinion it means a world that was once big started to become smaller and more connected.
Globalization 2.0 came in the time frame of 1800-2000, though it was slightly setback by the world wars and the Great Depression. Companies becoming more multinational conceived this era of Globalization. With companies becoming stationed in different countries, importing and exporting goods it made the world even more connected to one another and thus making the world seem even smaller than it did during the first era of Globalization.
We are now sitting in Globalization 3.0; the driving force for this new era of the world is the fact that individuals are now collaborating with one another from all around the world. Think about it this way, you have Skype, Email, social media, being a few of all the various ways the world can communicate with one another with ease. The world has once again become smaller and more connected than ever before. In essence with the world getting smaller it seems to be getting flatter, there are less barriers than ever before.


2) What does the fall of the Berlin Wall mean to Friedman?

Friedman who refers to the fall of the Berlin Wall as 11/9, states that it made alternatives to the free-market more accessible. He also believes that it unlocked energy that was simmering for hundreds of millions of people in oppressed Countries such as India, Brazil and China. All of this as well as the concept of the world as a single market place or a world economy is attributed to the fall of the Berlin Wall. I think that with the world seeing that you can stand up and become one nation, people then saw that they could become one world.

3) Why is the story of Netscape important?

Friedman states that when Netscape went public in 1995 it was another contributing factor to the ever “flattening world.” He breaks up the event into two phases, phase one being the Internet and phase two being the web. The Internet essential connects computers to one another, like in an office network. While the web essentially is email and connects anyone in the world together if they have the same technology. I strongly agree that this is a huge factor in the ever-shrinking world; I mean you can talk to anyone in the world with the push of a button, doesn’t get much smaller than that.