Module # 13 Final Blog (WSU FALL 2014)

This class has been very enlightening and eye opening to the “flat world” of Friedman. Technology is everywhere, and comes in many different forms, and has it’s own identity.  There are so many components to technology and the industries that thrive around creating a competitive advantage over one another.   Globalization is a good thing, and a bad thing, and affects all facets of industry, as well as society.   In a previous module I wrote  “As technology changes the world, we grow with it.  We grow as a society, we grow as individuals, and we grow as a global community.”  What this means to me is that there are truly no barriers anymore.  We can communicate with anyone, anywhere, at anytime, about anything!   There truly is a level playing field now, and new inventions and ideas can be shared everyday on a global scale.  The negative to the flat world is that it becomes too competitive, and the people and companies with the money generally come out on top.

Unfortunately as Friedman and many others have said, “If you snooze. You lose.”   This statement kind of summarizes the entire class for me, as it relates to most of the components of globalization and a flat world.  The technology industry is extremely competitive, and they spend trillions of dollars on gaining advantages over each other.   The global economy is completely reliant on technology now, as computers run the world, and we cannot live without it!  The individuality of being human is quickly diminishing, as it seems that it has now become technological warfare. The corporate giants want to see who can make the most money by making us lazy due to the speed and efficiency which technology gives us.  I feel lost without my cellphone now, and it is difficult to imagine life without it, as I am certain anyone that reads this would agree. It is kind of like my generation has become pawns in a game of technological chess.  The 40+ generation is becoming lost to this fast-paced, advancing, technological monster, and we are forced to comply, or get left behind.  We are always in “panic mode” and our world never slows down.  We grew up without texting, iphones, Ipads, I,I,I everything!  What happened to us, and we?  I think being a parent has changed the way I look at technology, as I see my children utilizing it for everything.   My kids would rather be on their computers, cell phones, or playing video games, rather than playing outside.  It is frustrating as a parent, when you wonder how they are learning to communicate and interact with each other on a physical level.  Technology is forcing us to dehumanize, and communicate in a completely different way.  

Google is God!   What more can I say!  It is singularly the most powerful entity in the universe.  It is all knowing, and has changed the way they we search for information, do business, and live our lives.  It is not just a search engine anymore, it has become the face of humanity.   It is very unsettling when I think of the way that Google has shifted the way we think on a deeper level as humans.  Google is amazing for business, and has created fantastic tools and analytics to track everything on the planet.  It is remarkable how I use Google Calendar to schedule my days, Google Docs for my business, Gmail, and the list goes on.  The Irony of it, is that I do not even see Google as a business anymore, I look at it as a tool that assists me to carry on with my day to day activities.  It is horrific to think what would happen if Google shut down, the world would probably end. 

In summary,  I feel that we as humans have always feared the future.  I think we hide behind our fears, and try and hold things back sometimes, because we are afraid to watch the world grow.  Our paradigms of the old -world, have shifted.  Traditions are failing, and the world is passing the older generations by at blinding speed.   I now know that Christopher Columbus was wrong!  The world is truly flat! “  I have had an incredible journey in this class and realized how amazing technology is, and how destructive technology can be on a human level.  Technology is fantastic, but it is affecting the way we communicate as humans.  It is desensitizing us to physical communication, and leaving it in the hands of a text message or email.  It is changing how we relate, how we feel compassion, and how we love.    

I think I will write a novel, and call it:

 “Whatever happened to really….. Laughing Out Loud!”  

(Look for it in your Globalized Supply Chain of Offshore, Outsourced, Online Monopolies!)

Great Class!  Thank you Mr. Jensen!  

           

Module # 12 (WSU FALL 2014)

Bill Joys article titled  "Why The Future Doesn't Need Us," is a look at one man's fears about the future of computers and robots taking over humanity.  He writes of much of the technology with a passion, and seems to find the good, and the bad in all of it.  I personally do not feel the way Bill Joy does, that computers and technology are going to destroy humanity.....GNR is genetics, nanotechnology and robotics.  Self Replication is a concern from Joy, where he relates it as the modus operandi of genetic engineering.  Self Replication by his definition is the process by which a machine uses it cells to replicate it's designs.  It would be like machines cloning themselves, which is a scary thought!  Genetic research allows us to do a great deal of good in humanity, but there are those researchers that take things way too far.  I am reminded of Josef Mengele, in the "Boys From Brazil" where Mengele tries to create perfect clones of Hitler.  Obviously a terrible idea, but one that is relevant today, as we clone sheep, animals, cells, and DNA.  Joy expresses concern over cloning crops and food, and stronger immune systems, as we can build up an immunity to things, and ultimately wipe out the world.  Nanotechnology exists for a purpose, there are many positive areas that it impacts.  Joy said that within 20 years, nanotechnology will be where individual molecules are circuit elements, and be very profitable for the manufacturers.  I think it will be good to help disease, and other things that we need to zoom in on and repair.  Robotics have been around for a long time, and are pretty much involved in every manufacturing plant in the world to some degree.  We see them in auto manufacturing, on assembly lines all over the world, and they perform a valuable service.  They are generally perfect with their calculations, and help produce more products, faster.  I think Joys fears of being able to put our thoughts into an artificial intelligence, or robot is somewhere in the future, but is it something to fear? I personally feel that GNR is not something to fear.  I feel that we as humans have always feared the future, and the takeover of technology.  I think we hide behind our fears, and try and hold things back sometimes, because we are afraid to watch the world grow.  Our paradigms of the old world, have shifted.  Traditions are failing, and the world is passing the older generations by at blinding speed.  All of these things that he speaks of are aiding the world, and most of it he admits.  There always seem to be a passion for the technology, but a fear of how man kind will use it.  I do not fear the future, I look forward to it.  I think that Bill Joy is a Kill Joy.....

Module # 11(War Games WSU FALL 2014)

I chose to watch War Games, as I have seen the movie before, and since I have been taking this class I figured I could find some more correlation to Friedmans book, and what I have learned to this point.  War Games is about a kid that ends up connecting to a top secret computer named WOPR, which is controlled by the government.  He thinks he is playing a video game, and ultimately starts World War 3.   He accesses the WOPR system by finding a back door password, which is pretty much how hackers access secure systems today. 

I think that there are many forecasts in this movie, much like in the "Logic named Joe" story that we blogged about.  The process of a single human being having complete control over a computer back then was not that scary, but in today's flat world, and with globalized networks, the possibilities are endless, and completely real.  The power of computers, and the way they can control our environment is a very scary notion.  The machine  named WOPR, much like the "Logic" was very intimidating, and almost Godlike.  Computers are much more powerful, and capable of destroying our way of life with the push of a button.  Hackers can create chaos, and a multitude of problems for a society that relies on computers.  Computers run the world, and I've often thought about what would happen if the internet went down, for good.  When I am at work, and the internet is down, I feel helpless, and can not complete my job.  If someone is in the computer business, or IT business, they would be forced to cease work, and the economy would begin a downward spiral.  There are so many scenarios that could occur with computers, that War Games scratched the tip of our current iceburg, but nonetheless, it showed us what could happen.  It is definitely an amazing precaution, and story that showcases what could happen to our society when a computer controls the world.  In today's world, the greatest threat to our networks are viruses and hackers stealing our personal identities and information.  In War Games the passwords that he hacked were very simple, and not encrypted and complex like they are today.  It was very nostalgic to see this movie with huge floppy disks, dial up modems, and realize that is was super technology back then.  The screens, keyboards, and everything about the movie was archaic, but it brought back memories to the time when I thought it was as good as it will ever be.   Of course, today is a different world, where technology changes the way we do everything, and anything. 

     I believe that this world is out of control when it comes to computers, technology, and the way it is taking over the planet.  Whether it is the military, or some militant group in Iraq utilizing it, it can be a very dangerous game, one in which there will be no winner.  War Games is a great depiction of what the world was to become, and how computers can control the world, with a mind of their own.  My favorite part of the movie is when he goes to find Dr. Falkan in the woods, and finds out that his son's name is Joshua.  Also I really like the term Geo Thermo Nuclear War!   I think I am going to use it as my password from now on.....but I did not tell you that....

Module 10 (The logic named Joe WSU Fall 2014)

This story is a remarkable forecast of the future.  So many things in this story resemble today's world.  The logic refers to computers, the tank refers to servers, and all of it relates to Google!  The story shows the takeover of computers in the world, and how they have all become connected.  We can access any information that we need, no matter how ridiculous, like poisoning our blonde wife.  I believe that the author was trying to provide us with an insight into the invasion of our privacy, and the dehumanizing of the world.  Children of today are becoming dependent on computers as the only source of their information.  Libraries are less and less utilized, and the connection to reading a great book, or exploring the world outside of a computer is dying.  Our privacy is constantly in jeopardy, and providing our name and any personal information can reek havoc on our personal lives, and the "Logics" we rely on to do our work.  Meaning, by distributing our personal information, we become vulnerable to spam, viruses, identity theft etc....   The author was very insightful with the way he wrote about dehumanizing us as a culture.  We have become completely reliant on computers, cellphones, and anything that has to do with technology.  I see people up camping all the time on their cellphones, and ipads, and getting full bars, coupled with the Wifi that their 49 foot camper has installed.  The kids are on their computers, rather than playing outside.  It truly does make me frustrated when my own children want to play video games, more than they want to play outside.  I have installed strict policies in my home, so that my kids understand that the computer is a perk or helper when we need it, it is not our best friend, and does not replace real play.  I truly feel that the author was right on target with the future, and realized that they would control humanity in every way.  I have said it before in my blog, but  Google is God!  There is no other way to sugar coat that in my opinion, as Google is a gigantic formation of tanks and interconnected logics with unlimited power, and unlimited information.  Google relies on us to feed it information, then spits that information out back to the rest of the world.  It was ironic to see how the logic was going to be upgraded, and better, and faster, just like in today's world.  We are always in a race to develop faster more efficient products.  To me, the dehumanizing effect is the most important.  People are getting divorced through text messgaes, and emails, and human communication is turning into acronyms and laughing out loud at everything.  What happened to actually laughing out loud?  My son saw a payphone the other day, and said "What is that glass box dad?"  I said "That's just an old school cell phone that we used to have to pay a quarter to use, no "Framily" plans for those things.  He got it, and wanted to know what we did before cell phones.  I had to tell him that people trusted each other alot more, and seemed to be more responsible, and less stressed.  This is what I feel the author was trying to convey, the complete collapse of society, and the dehumanization of a culture because of the way that we use technology.  I really enjoyed this story, as it is a great reminder that a totally connected world is a totally dependent world.

Module# 9 (WSU FALL 2024)

Building A Dell Laptop involves many components within a supply chain.  The first part of that chain is when a customer orders the laptop online, or in a store.  The person taking the order knows exactly how many they have in stock, and can either ship it to the customer after the transaction is completed, or they have to get the customized laptop built from different companies from around the globe.  China plays a huge role in the manufacturing of Dell laptops.  Several different vendors will be utilized for different components of the laptop, such as the case, motherboard, hard drives, keyboard etc.  Once the Laptop has all of the components assembled,  it ships out directly from the manufacturer that assembled it to the customer.  Generally they provide the customer with a tracking # and invoice for the purchase.  It is remarkable when you think that the laptops are ready to go when you order it online, and then you see that there is a huge supply chain that works on such an exact time frame.  Coordinating all of the individual components, along with the actual fulfillment of the laptop is a big job, but they have it down to a science.  Any delay in the process means a delay for the customer in receiving their goods,  which means bad business and reviews for the company. 

Al-Qaeda has an old school supply chain that seems to be a branch of of our American traditional chain.  However, they use their supply chain to promote terrorism, and bring weapons into their countries of origin.  Friedman said that "The mutant supply chains are formed for the purpose of destruction, not profit."  These people do not need investors, they only need sneaky dishonest people to carry out their wishes.  The US calls it the Virtual Caliphate, and it's leaders understand their supply chain just as much as Walmart does.  Friedman said that they use the flat world to their advantage, meaning that they have they ability to use the internet globally to deliver messages of terrorism with a click of a button. Al-Qaeda is built on Ideologies that mobilize and energize the Muslims, and it is a barbaric attitude that serves no one.  I am tired of worrying about the Middle East, and the terrorists, and the way that they feel that the world owes them something.  The world owes them nothing, and I honestly hope that the evil-doers get what they deserve.  I personally feel that it will never change, because there will always be that one guy that people will follow to the death.  It is a very sad world, and I feel for the women and children growing up with such pig-headed morons. 

The curse of oil, what more can I say.  I have heard people say that all wars start either over oil, or religion, and in the middle east, it is the combination.  Oil is money, money is power, and power controls humans.  According to Friedman the curse of oil stems from the leaders of a country trying to get rich off of the oil, rather than utilizing the people to grow the country.  When the sole focus of the economy is oil, there is no room for people to grow in any other business other than oil.  There will be no entrepreneurs, as the oil is the god of the economy.  It amazes me that all of the countries won't pull together and stop purchasing oil from these terrorist countries.  If we decrease the cashflow into the country, how will they survive.  I have read where we have enough oil reserves in the US for hundreds of years, and you would think that eventually we would stop supporting the middle east.  I don't get politics, and I never will, but I do know that oil is what it is all about. 

Module # 8 (WSU Fall 2014)

MODULE 8 (Computers and Education)

     I think I have been very lucky to grow up before computers, and watching them take over the world.  I owned a Texas Instruments TI-99 in 1982, and began learning to program my own graphics and create cheesy animations at 12 years old.  I graduated high school in 1988, and computers were not that big yet.  We had a Lotus 123 class in highschool, and that was about it.  Lotus was a database management software, and was used for businesses for things like inventory, and customer management.  I really did not use computers very much, till I started working for a digital sound library company in Santa Cruz California in 1994.  I have always worked with music, or around music, and my first computer was a Macintosh LC with 2 megabytes of ram.  I remember how excited everyone in the office was when we upgraded to a whopping 4 megabytes!   It is amazing how I could create music with such a slow computer that had little hard drive space, or memory.  The data back then was not as big, and 16 bit 44.1 khz was what we recorded at because of drive space.  We used to back everything up to Iomega Zip drives, Jazz drives, and Ditto drives.  Iomega drives were SCSI and the throughput was very fast, and you backed everything up to tape.  When external drives started to surface, you could utilize 10,000 rpm SCSI drives, and they were very fast.  They were comparable in speed to the "Raptor" drives of today from Western Digital, but they were less then 500 Megabytes, so they could not hold alot of data.  Needless to say we thought we were in heaven with our lightning fast machines, and huge hard drives.  I remember once at a music conference called the NAMM show, a panel from apple discussed the terrabyte, and exobyte drives that were on there way, we all just kind of laughed. 

      When I first started college in 1996, Netscape was our browser at WSU, and Altavista was our search engine. The internet was very slow, and it was very buggy, and things always crashed.  I do believe that the Technical Sales department at WSU was one of the first in the country to offer online classes.  I took some of them, and they were very slow, but efficient.   After I left college, I embarked on my career in music, and after 20 years am still in the business.  My early adulthood found me building Digital Audio Workstations or "DAWS, "and configuring them for music recording all across the country.  The music world changed with the advent of Windows 98 and even more with Windows XP.  The computer components were faster, bigger, and able to handle great amounts of stress from processor intensive tasks.  The Pentium 3 processor was probably one of the greatest computer inventions I can remember, as it enabled me to record more tracks in a session than ever before.  Also, the ability to have gigabytes of ram played a very important role in my work.   I have worked for several audio software manufacturers, and have seen the technology grow from nothing.  I still own a recording studio powered by a 12 core Mac with 32 gigs of ram, and SSD drives that are extremely fast.  There is no audio or video task that I cannot perform on that computer.  I have seen computer technology go through every phase of it's evolution, and have actively participated in it;s growth.  I eagerly anticipate new technology, as it has shaped who I am, and influenced my education in ways that I never thought possible.  I envy the children of today, being born into the speed and power of today's computers, it can be a blessing for them, but I also feel that technology is a curse.  Children today are growing up a little bit lazy, and Googling everything is a lazy approach to research, and life.  God Speed!

Module # 7 (WSU FALL 2014)

            Comparative Advantage is the key in determining why some countries are better than others at doing certain things.  Comparative Advantage is an economic theory about the potential gains from trade for individuals, firms, or nations that arise from differences in their factor endowments or technological progress.  From an economic standpoint, a company has a comparative advantage over another in producing good if they can produce cheaper.  The principle according to Wiki, holds that under free trade, an agent will produce more of and consume less of a good for which he has a comparative advantage. I think that education plays a huge role in comparative advantage also.  As some countries cannot produce as many educated people as other countries, and that education will go a long way as far as the economy goes.  In poor countries it is difficult to have any advantage over rich countries, as they really have nothing to offer.  Friedman said that Mexico has been replaced by china as The # 2 U.S. expoter, because mexico has been engulfed by the low cost manufacturing of China.  It is a cat and mouse game, or as a Mexican journalist told Friedman, “We were afraid of the wolf at first, then we wanted to dance with the wolf, now we want to be the wolf!”  It just goes to show you how a strong economy can dictate the world.

Self Directed Consumers, are people that use the Internet to their advantage to search, compare, and buy products.  I am definitely a Self Directed Consumer, as I refuse to buy anything until I get the best price.  One of my examples is Kayak.  I will search on Kayak for the best deals on Hotels, Airfare, and Rental cars, anytime I am going out of town.  Priceline is kind of the same way, as it operates in a similar fashion.  I use Ebay almost every day, and I use it as a template to gauge how much things are actually being sold for.   I will find something that I want to buy, then go to Ebay, do a search, and look at what the completed listings sold for.  This gives me a bottom line price, and an average as to what I should purchase something for, or sell it for.  I think Ebay is one of my best tools when I am selling things on KSL or, of course Ebay, as it gives me an amazing overview of almost every item in the world.  

I think in many respects Globalization is synonymous with Americanization.  If you look at fast food chains like McDonalds, expanding into other countries, and becoming a global fast food source all over the world, it is Americanization, taking on the face of Globalization.  America greatly benefits from Globalization.  I think it is a free for all in our flat world.  American companies, European companies, and many other global companies compete on the same level.  There are several companies in Europe that are in America, is this Europeanization?  I think that Globalization is for the taking, and can be had by anyone in the flat world, and it does not mean that we are modernizing Iraq by putting a Mcdonalds there…..It just means we are giving them more options…….Americanization is about presenting options to communities on a global scale. 

Module # 6 (WSU FALL 2014)

Free Trade is basically a policy where a government does not restrict imports and exports, where we trade freely amongst a global community.  According to Friedman, by the way of a man named David Ricardo says that “If each nation specializes in the production of goods in which it has a comparative cost advantage and then trades with other nations for the goods in which they specialize, there will be an overall gain in trade, and overall income levels should rise in each trading country.”   Friedman did not want to see Americans lose their jobs to foreign competition etc…His bottom line was that he believed that even as the world gets flat, America should continue to do free trade as we always have, instead of erecting walls and barriers.  He also believed that by bringing more countries into the Global free trade system, that it would increase demands for goods, spur innovations, and create jobs across the globe.  I can see his point, because I believe that doing free trade as we always have, creates better global relationships, and can create jobs within the United States. Utilizing a protective type trade would look bad to other countries, and ultimately lead to a bad reputation and I think that would create a bad global view of the U.S.

The New Middlers, are those that are collaborators in sales, marketing, maintenance and management.  Those same people used to be considered untouchable.  Meaning they are so specialized that they cannot be duplicated.  Friedman breaks this down into 3 categories.  The first category are the specialized people that perform functions in ways that can never be outsourced, automated or made tradeable.  He uses people like Michael Jordan as an example.  The second type are people that are localized, meaning that there are local people with local knowledge, working in a local specialized market, or locale.   The third category we call “old middle”, meaning the tradable ones that were once thought to be untradeable.  Friedman believes that our ability to keep global integration advancing, will depend on workers feeling that globalization and free trade is a positive effect on their lives. 

            The simple formula is: CQ (Curiosity quotient)+ PQ (Passion Quotient) > IQ (Intelligence Quotient.  Give him a kid with passion and a curiosity to learn, and he will take that over a kid with a high IQ any day of the week.  People that can self educate and self motivate are mor important in todays world than some one with a high IQ.  I have always been told that employer’s would rather hire some one with passion and experience over a 4.0 student fresh out of college.  These kind of kids and people create and invent new technologies, because the have a passion for doing it, and a curiosity to discover.  You can be the smartest person in the world, and never invent anything.  I think that technology companies really look for more creative, self motivated people to join their companies, as the benefit far outweighs the risks involved.  Hiring someone just for IQ, you will never know what they are capable of achieving. 

           

MODUE # 5 (WSU FALL 2014)

The Triple Convergence was where basically all ten of the flatteners pulled together, and started working to create a new level playing field.  Convergence 1 was more of the flatteners finding each other and taking root, in order to connect with one another.  Southwest Airlines realized that there were enough people using the internet, and that were technically educated enough to be able to download and print their own boarding passes at home.  This was the beginning along with Minolta showing us how to scan, fax, print etc...all from one machine.  These flattening forces, needed time to work together, and create new platforms, and ways of doing things with technology.  Convergence 2 was basically the call for a change in habits.  It brought about a change in the manufacturing process, like Walmart being able to utilize it's supply chain effectively.  It lead to better processes and a set of business practices that mutually reinforced each other. Convergence 3 allowed collaboration amongst the masses.  This global community will be allowed to play together, and discover and innovate like never before.  "What is occurring in the world now is just the tip of the iceberg" friedman says.  It is unsettling, because the competition is so fierce, and everyone has to play their A game in order to win.

India versus Indiana in my opinion was a win win situation.  The Indian engineers were struggling to get work, because of the Indian Government social economic policies.  So they offered to do the job at a reduced rate, and I feel that they exploited each other.  This happens everyday in business, especially when it comes to global horizontal collaborations.   When we use outsourcing we are exploiting the cheaper costs of another community, is this exploitation, or smart business.  I would assume that in this case that everyone wins, because it creates jobs, and lowers taxes, and puts money back into the economy.  I believe that the government need not interfere with the industries, and that it should have been separated into smaller pieces.  My opinion is that whatever works for the economy, and works for business, works for the people.  You will never make everyone happy, and that is the bottom line.  We exploit each other in business, that is the nature of business.  If we didn't exploit each other, then no one would ever make a profit, which would probably lead to higher prices, and a horrible economy. 

Intellectual property to me is like a copyright, or patent on something.  Where companies formulate ideas, and try to keep those ideas to themselves, before other companies mimic those ideas and share them with the world.  They do it with software, and music, and many other types of products.  Everything can be copied, or counterfeited in today's world.  I see it everyday with off brands, and clones of products that are not the real thing.  The Ipod was intellectual property at one point, and now there are hundreds of MP3 players and brands.  Companies feed of each others success.  I see it in my own business, where another company follows everything we do that is successful in order to create it's own success.  they offer the same lower quality product at a lower price, and try to sell quantity not quality.  Intellectual property laws need to be adjusted, and constantly scrutinized in order for the inventors to reap the rewards.  The problem I see is that it borders on monopolizing, much like Microsoft was scrutinized for many years ago.  I think the bottom line is that Intellectual Property Rights should have royalties involved.  The company that invents the initial product, should be paid a royalty off of every similar product sold.  Why not?  They do it in the music business every single day!

MODULE # 4 (WSU FALL 2014)

The person I have chosen to interview is a gentleman named Trent, who is employed by Advanced Brain Technologies in Ogden, Utah.  ABT is a company that sells products that help train the brain to be more productive and efficient by the way of music therapy, and brain building software and programs.  He works in the IT department, and handles pretty much everything, including customer service and warranties.  Trent’s typical day revolves around making sure that all computers on the office network are running well and maintained.   They have one main server at ABT, but have an online hosting company as well.  There is an entire department of programmer’s, that code ABT’s online programs, and websites.  They have 8 websites that are all integrated together, and they sell their products on these sites, as well as enabling the customer to listen to their programs online.  They also have specific websites for their providers to do their certified training.  It is a very large network of data management for ABT, and Trent gets to fix it all.   Trent maintains and manages over 100 terabytes of information daily, and also speaks to customers on the phone who are experiencing problems.  Technical support is one of his biggest challenges, due to the nature of technology constantly changing, and the knowledge of the end user.  Trent says that people are much more tech saavy than ever before, and his job has actually become easier with time, as more people are more skilled when it comes to using computers.  ABT’s online listening program can be utilized on an IOS format, Android, and any web browser, so there are many compatibility challenges involved when it comes to listening online. He deals with those questions on a daily basis, and has to understand all of the operating systems, and mobile OS’s, which is a challenge because of all of the constant updates.   He fields an average of 50 calls per day in technical support.  They have a software program called brain builder which requires license codes that the consumer has to call in to receive.  He provides them with the code in order for them to use the software.  In speaking with Trent, he does so many jobs, that it is extremely overwhelming to me.   He is constantly backing up daily operations to the servers, and external drives, taking warranty calls, sending out RMA’s (return merchandise authorizations), walking people through the online process, maintaining the office network and computers, and programming  all of the Ipod listening devices and physical systems.  Trent has a big job to do, and does it very well.  He is certified in many different computer an IT areas, and is still working on more certifictaions.   He says that since technology always changes, there will always be a certification to take.  However, those certifications can add up to big money in the long run, as employers now days hire many IT people based on what they are certified in!  I truly do not feel I could do Trent’s job, as there are to many components to it, and I would lose my mind.  I guess I’d better stick with my job!

MODULE 3 (WSU FALL 2014)

Offshoring is basically when a company moves the most important part of it's manufacturing operations overseas or to another country.    There are times when offshoring is useful for less important items that can be produced cheaper in another country, like bulk items that are needed in the manufacturing process.  Offshoring helps a company save money by being able to pay lower wages, benefits, and health care etc...Basically, the employees are cheaper, and get the same work done.  However, the drawbacks are that the quality will suffer due to the employee's not caring for the product, due to the the investment made in the employee by the company.  When something is Made in the USA, we take pride in it's quality and production.  We have a higher standard of quality control than in china.  How many times do we hear the term, "Made in China" and think of how low of quality it must be.  Offshoring is different from outsourcing because you're not really moving a whole, or part of your company overseas, you are just providing a small piece of your company's product to be worked on in a different place.

Supply chaining is a  system that was developed to move a product or service from the supplier to the end user, or customer.   Walmart is the single largest retailer in the world, and does not make one single product.  The moment you take something off the shelf, the supply chain begins.  By the time your item is put in the shopping cart at Walmart, the manufacturer of that product has been notified to make another to replace the one that you bought.  Supply chains are critical in today's world,  because companies have to take advantage of the cheapest, best producers.  According to Friedman, if a company doesn't keep up with the times,  someone else will, and the company that snoozes, loses.   A drawback to the supply chain is predicting the demand of an item.  Walmart does this very well, because they can allocate which products, at which stores, in which areas, are in demand, and always adjust accordingly.  It is a brilliant operation. 

Google is God! I would like to discontinue writing anything more about Google, but it is the most powerful source of information in the world.  It has changed the way we do business, and the way our generation is learning.  It is shaping and molding our society into a lazy way of thinking, and there is no end in sight.  Google has developed into it's own entity, and doesn't even seem like it's a business anymore.  Google seems like part of our lives, and something we really cannot live without.  It is very unsettling when I sit and ponder about how much this company, that was started in a garage has changed technology, and our lives.  Google for business is a very amazing tool.  You can utilize it for research, developement, ideas, and networking.  Everything you need to know about business is on google.  Literally anyone can start a business, just by Googling "How to start a business!" You can use Ad Words, Analytics, and many other tools that Google has for helping your business succeed.  There are so many tools now that shape the way we do business.  Once you build a website, and sign up with Google, you can track everything from Google, setup your business in Google, advertise, purchase supplies, etc...It is expensive to advertise with Google, and you pay by the click, and you pay for the keywords.   Of course Friedman's book is behind the times when it comes to Google, but his foresight about the future seems to be very relevant.   The bottom line which is ironic from me to Friedman is that God is everywhere, God sees everything, Google is God, just Google it........................

Module 2 (WSU FALL 2014)

Workflow Software was created and designed to help people collaborate on a global scale by standardizing and sharing a universal language and protocol.  It enabled anyone, anywhere, to exchange more information than just emails and word documents.  Machines now can talk to each other with absolutely no human interaction, which makes things faster, more efficient, and less time consuming.   An example of work flow software which saves a lot of time would be Google Search.  It is free, flexible, easy to use and is available to everyone.  Google search retrieves information and organizes all of the data in a way that saves humans countless hours and headaches.   The end user does not need to be trained in using the software, nor understand the complexities in the programming, they simply use it.   I think that Workflow Software saves time and improves efficiency.  It also gets rid of unnecessary steps, with less human errors, which is very important to our economy, our business, and our lives.
Open Source Software is a platform where developers of software share their source code with other developers, which in turn help contribute to it’s success and make it available to everyone, generally for free.  It is important, because it allows people to share their ideas with the world and be professionally critiqued on their work.  Open Source allows for better functioning software, and a positive global perspective on the platform.  Many of the source code developers like to be credited for their work when others use their software.  Those credits seem to be a narcissistic characteristic shared by the general population of open source developers, as everyone wants to be recognized for their work.  I have used Joomla to build my websites for many years, which is an open source platform.  It has declined in the last couple of years, but I used to enjoy discovering new modules and extensions for Joomla, that enhanced my website.  These modules were developed by people all over the world, and were available for free for many years, then people started charging for their ideas, and updates, and I stopped using the platform.  I think in an open source market where everything is free, that the developers start out with the intention of creating something viable for everyone, but when they realize how much work they put into it, they want to charge people for their efforts (which is ok, they should be rewarded!).  I see this happen every day with apps, and so called “Free” software.  It is a thin line to walk when they provide a source code on which to build ideas, because the odds of getting paid for a brilliant idea are pretty rare.  I guess many just do it for the passion of invention, and the hunger for the challenge.  It is like creating a musical masterpiece, and giving it away for free!

Outsourcing is when a company contracts out a portion or all of their business and development to another company or third party.  Outsourcing is a way that companies can save money, time, and resources, especially if the company that they outsource to specializes in a specific area that they do not.   Companies use outsourcing more than ever before, and have moved many of their operations overseas, where land, taxes, and payroll is cheaper.  Outsourcing let's a company pay for only the services that they need, when they need them, and reduces the need to hire people with special skills, which ultimately reduces operating expenses.  A big reason for outsourcing in the digital age, is that you can use global resources, where there might be a lack of those locally. 

I believe that Workflow software, Open source software, and outsourcing are all very important to society, and that way that we develop things globally.  These components make things easier, in a very technologically advanced age with much competition.  I feel that by utilizing these tools, that we can stay one step ahead of the competition, save money, time, and valuable resources.  

Module 1 (WSU Fall 2014)

The only constant in the world is change.  As technology changes, so do our own paradigms and values as a society.  New sociological cultures are being created everyday by new ideas and inventions.  Globalization affects all facets of industry, as well as society.  

The three areas of globalization discussed in Friedman’s book were 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0.  The main differences that affected the progressions between the three types were due to the knowledge and resources available during those time periods.  Globalization 1.0 was about countries and muscle.  This meant that as technology moved forward, different types of resources created energy and power. It all came down to which country had more wind power, horse power, and steam power.   Globalization 2.0 shrank the world from medium to a small size, by the utilization of multinational companies.    Many companies started to expand out of their regional territories and became a global force, which ultimately lead to the birth of a global economy.   Since there was enough goods and services moving from continent to continent, there became a global market.  Globalization 3.0 is driven more by the individual than by multinational corporations, and sort of levels the playing field.  It enables the individual to compete and collaborate on a larger scale with less resources and people.  Globalization 3.0 is flattening and shrinking the world.

The fall of the Berlin wall opened people’s eyes to the free world, and the globalization of the economy.   Where they were once blocked from the outside world, they now had the freedom to choose.   The fall of the wall gave economies the opportunity to be governed from the ground up, not from the top down.   The Cold War ended, and the Soviet Empire basically collapsed.   Many other countries rallied around the fall of the Berlin Wall.  India’s finance minister realized that he had to open up their economy, in order to grow with a new globalized force that was faster, stronger, and not did not lend itself to being conservative.   There was no future in Berlin because people could not see the outside world, and it prevented them from seeing the world on a global scale.  I think that Friedman’s main point was that when the wall came down, people felt free to see the world for what it really was, not how someone was telling them it was.

Netscape changed the way that we communicate, and ultimately changed the world.  Before Netscape, only a few people could use the World Wide Web, and there was no way to navigate, or share data in a meaningful way, with purpose.   After Netscape’s development, the world was able to share data and began to establish a global virtual economy, which was pertinent to the way we purchase goods and services today.   The Internet that was established as a kin to Netscape  and in my opinion, is the single greatest informational invention ever created.  It is without limits, and I cannot imagine what it will be like in 10 or 20 years.   Netscape essentially globalized the world, and enabled individuals to communicate with each other in a way that was not possible before it’s invention. 

As technology changes the world, we grow with it.  We grow as a society, we grow as individuals, and we grow as a global community.  There are truly no barriers of communication anymore, and the world seems to be headed towards a true flat and level playing field!