John Lehman

EDT646

Assignment #1

1-24-06

The World Is Flat

By Thomas Freidman

Book Review Summary #1

Author Noel Malcolm’s review of the book “The World Is Flat” can be found online at the website for Telegraph Group Limited, which was linked from the website http://www.reviewsofbooks.com/world_is_flat/. In his review, Malcolm began by explaining the background of the book and how Freidman asked the question around the world, “When did you first realize that the world had become flat?” Various people had different responses, but all related to new developments in technology and business practices that better-connected people. One high school teacher was recognized for stating that he recognized this trend, when he discovered a new form of cheating going on in class in which students were using cell phone camera to pass information on to other students. Malcolm stated that Freidman came to this realization when he traveled to India and saw many giant offices of American companies; all with young English speaking graduates, and wondered what couldn’t be done there more cheaply than in the United States. He also discovered that many tasks now were being split and completed in different regions. He realized that the world has become much smaller and more unified, and identified this change with the metaphor, “flat”.

Malcolm continued on and one would get the distinct impression that he was not a fan of the book or the way it was written. It became very obvious when he posed the question, “When did you first realize that this book had come irritating?” He stated concern over the repeated paragraphs and poorly written sentences. He criticized Freidman’s “folksy” tone with the use of such terms as “Holy cow!” and “Holy catfish!” One of the things that concerned me about this review was that while Malcolm felt the superiority to criticize Freidman’s mechanics of writing, Malcolm had many mistakes of his own. Some of these mistakes went so far as to interfere in the comprehension of his meaning, including numerous spelling errors. Seeing through these mistakes, Malcolm did have some good points to dispel some of Freidman’s thoughts and reasons.

One of these points was that Malcolm relied to heavily on his supporters for comments and insight. He felt that his interviewees were one sided and not objective enough. Malcolm stated that many of Freidman’s interviewees were presidents and CEOs of major companies in the field. He said they invariably agreed with everything. Malcolm felt they said what Freidman wanted to hear. Malcolm ended his review by saying those people who enjoyed colorful anecdotes and wisdom will enjoy this book. However, those who wanted to read “something written as if by a grown-up for other grown-ups” should instead read the book, “Why Globalization Works” by Martin Wolf.

The World Is Flat

By Thomas Freidman

Book Review Summary #2

Bytelevel Research editor, John Yunker’s review of the book “The World Is Flat” can be found online at http://www.bytelevel.com/blog/archives/000574.html. In his very brief review, Yunker stated that he perhaps expected too much because he enjoyed the book, “The Lexus and the Olive Tree”. Unfortunately after reading “The World Is Flat”, Yunker felt disappointed. Despite his disappointment, Yunker states that he would still recommend this book because he believes in the message. Yunker also mentioned like Malcolm above, that the book could stand to have some editing, in fact, Yunker stated some “ruthless” editing. Yunker felt that many concepts were being repeated and too many buzzwords were being used. Yunker also felt that Freidman tried way too hard to push the metaphor “flat” in order to make it stick with people.

Yunker was positive and stated that there were some things that did stick with him. One of the key sticking points was the fact that as globalization continues in the future, individuals who can adapt themselves and understand the concept of a “flat world” will be quite successful. Another point that stuck with Yunker was that India and China are not racing us to the bottom, but to the top. More international deals like Lenovo/IBM are going to make an impact.

Yunker stated in the end that while he didn’t love the book, he did like it. He stated that Freidman was passionate about the aspects of globalization which were evident in his writing.