The world is flat, Essay 2

Jaquelyn Hernandez

IST 1100

9/8/2012

The World is flat, Essay 2

            In the book “The World is flat” by Thomas Friedman, Friedman speaks about how the creation of Workflow software, Source Software, and Outsourcing had a great impact in how people were able to send things to each other through the internet.  Friedman exclaims these programs helped the world become flatter. What Friedman means by this is that there is a new ability for people all over the world to communicate with each other more easily.

 That Friedman describes how Workflow Software gave machines the ability to talk to other machines without any human involvement. Workflow Is what made communication around the world, and to different companies, possible.  In the 1980’s and early 1990’s, Companies did not run all the same software. Thus meaning, “Work still did not flow digitally, and collaboration did not happen digitally, as easily as it might have.” (page 80)  Everyone needed a system that would let them to e-mail and use software applications inside and outside the company.  Then the Workflow Software was created and everyone was able to see emails and data. This made the world flatter because everyone was now a part of this software.

Friedman begins to show how the world has become flatter due to outsourcing and Uploading. Outsourcing is when a service is given to a person/company from an outside company or provider. A example is ‘Google Chrome’.  The main provider of Google Chrome is Google. They let other companies and people use their program. Google outsourced their internet explorer. Friedman brings up that outsourcing has let companies divided services. It creates a bridge in which all companies can use the same systems, internet, music, etc. Companies or individuals upload (putting information, programs, or photos onto the internet) things that they want to share or that may be useful for other people.

In chapter three in “The world is flat”, Friedman also begins to talk about Open Source Software. Open Source was created in the early 1990’s, it is a software that allows anyone to develop their own, or similar, software. Then they can share it with other people online or even sell their created software. Generally the people creating the new software are programmers who want to make programs evolve. Any person is able to do this, which is why the world became flatter with Open Source.

In Chapter three, we have looked at what Workflow, Outsourcing, and Open source software is. Workflow software was when computers were able to talk to other computers. It was the first sign that the  world was becoming flatter because now you could send information though the internet no matter what software you owned. Outsourcing was when individuals could upload things to the internet. Things like music, photos, information, etc. Open Source was when people were able to create new programs or evolve old programs into more interesting, and into a more modern effectiveness. With all this uploading and downloading and reprograming people were able to get closer together. They were able to work on the same program at once, or know the same information as the guy on the other side of the world does. The world has become flatter due to what the internet has exposed people to.