Module 1

Friedman symbolizes the world’s technological growth as a flattening world separating each era of growth into a level of globalization, starting from Globalization 1.0 up to 3.0. Each of these globalizations starts a new path in the ever expanding field of technology, while continually leveling out the playing field, thus flattening the world.

 

The first era of globalization started in 1492 and lasted until 1800. The individual given credit for starting Globalization 1.0 was a man by the name of Christopher Columbus. His idea to "flatten the world" was ironically a new theory of the world’s geometric shape not being flat but round. His plan of finding a quicker route to India led him to a whole new continent, while proving his theory that the world was indeed a sphere. According to Friedman this shrunk the world from a size large to size medium. Now going from one continent to the other could be a much shorter and less costly travel. This Opened up a whole new trade market between the Old World and the New World.

 

Globalization 2.0 began in 1800, shrinking the world from a size medium to a small. As explained by Friedman the key agent of change in 2.0 was the global integration of multinational companies. In this era was the birth of a global economy.  Because of European joint stock companies and the Industrial Revolution, expansion overseas for global markets and labor was cheaper and more practical. Global integration was made possible through railroads, steam engines, and in the latter half this era the lowering costs of communication. Thanks to telephones, satellites, computers, fiber optic cables, and the creation of the World Wide Web, communication costs were lowered allowing businesses to thrive in a multinational level. This era ended in the year 2000.

 

The third era, Globalization 3.0, began in 2000 and is still an ongoing expansion of technology throughout the world. This era is shrinking the world from a size small to tiny. The biggest driving force of this era is the enabling of individuals to collaborate and compete globally. While Globalization 1.0 and 2.0 were powered mainly by Americans and Europeans, 3.0 is being powered by every race in any location around the world. Before this era no one outside of the government and the academy had access to email. Now almost everyone has an email account or in some cases various email accounts.

 

To Friedman the fall of the Berlin Wall was not only a physical barrier in East Germany; it was also a barrier in the process of globalization. He explains that it was not only blocking our way but it was blocking our sight. The fall of the Berlin wall allowed more people to access each other’s knowledge bases and become accustom to other nation’s common standards of running their countries. Friedman says that having common standards creates a more level playing field. Globalization didn’t only thrive after the Berlin Wall fell it was also a big reason why it fell. Once too much information got into East Germany, The power of the totalitarian government no longer had complete control over the people.

 

Having computers connect all around the world was a great idea only it wasn’t completely developed before Netscape came along. When the World Wide Web was created, its purpose was to help scientist collaborate and tap into each other’s knowledge pools. But with the new idea, brought forth by Globalization 3.0, of creating a global system that average Joes could use, the World Wide Web expanded into so much more.  Netscape created a browsing interface to view all the information the computers in the World Wide Web brought forth. Because of Netscape, the internet was now far simpler and more compelling to an audience varying from small children to a large business. In Friedman’s words “once the browser brought the internet alive and made Web pages sing and dance and display, everyone wanted everything digitized as much as possible.” Although Netscape was sold for $10 billion to AOL, due to Windows internet explorer, Netscape is still remembered as the solution that brought the internet to life.

 

Technology exponentially grows as the years go on. The first era lasted over three-hundred years; the second lasting two-thirds of time and the third has only been going on for twelve years. Not to mention the third era has seen a much larger scope of growth in its small span of existence. This is almost all due to global integration and the creation of the World Wide Web.