Module 13

It's been a fun and exciting class and it's unfortunate that it must come to an end. I have learned quite a bit throughout this class. Especially when we finished the book and moved to different topics.

                I really enjoyed the class time when we talked about 3D printing. I had never heard about 3D printing before so it was very fascinating to me to learn about it and all of the possibilities of 3D printing. I had no idea just how popular it has become just recently. I just watched a short video on Youtube about Microsoft's new windows phone 8's. They did a tour through their prototyping room. I found that Microsoft makes very good use of their 3D printer. They use it daily to make new prototypes to be fitted with circuit boards for testing. The 3D printer they have uses a liquid medium that is cured with UV light.

                I also really enjoyed the assignment that we got to pick a movie about computers and write about it. I watch the whole matrix trilogy with a whole new perspective. I had always thought of the matrix as just a cool action packed film but never really thought anything more of it. The assignment really made me look deeper into the plot of the film.  

                The Friedman book had its moments but a lot of the book felt to repetitive. I really enjoyed the beginning when he explained globalization though. I learned a lot that I didn't know about. I never fully understood why outsourcing is getting so popular but after reading this book and diving a little deeper with internet research. It's much more clear to me the importance of outsourcing to a company and how vital it is to outsource in order to stay in the game.

                One thing I would suggest changes for this class would be the amount of class time. I really enjoyed the class time and feel that's where I learned the most. I think it should be more often than every other week. The class discussions were very interesting and fun.

                It's crazy just how "flat" the world is becoming! You can go just about anywhere just by getting on Google maps! You can learn anything you want just by searching the web. It's getting to the point that we don't even need to leave our homes to go get groceries because you can have someone deliver them to you! I'm very excited for the future of our world and my only advice to everyone is to embrace it because the future is now and it's only getting better. 

Module 12

                I've noticed an unsettling trend with the last few assignments we've had in this class. They have all somehow related to how technology will take over the human race. First we had the logic called Joe, then I did a paper about The Matrix, and now I read this article saying that it's actually possible!?! The article is called "Why the future doesn't need us" written by Bill Joy, it goes into detail about how it's all possible for technology to take over. Joy discusses GNR, the 21st-centuries technologies. GNR stands for genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics.

                I feel that genetic engineering is a very reasonable fear of Joy's. However, with the amount of lab testing and research needed to successfully engineer the genetics of anything just makes it less likely to go wrong in my own opinion. I personally feel that genetic engineering will do more good than bad. Being able to change a person's genes before they're even born to give them a better chance at life by removing any flaws they may have. Or genetically changing someone to make them immune to disease. Even the possibility to genetically engineer plants to produce bigger yields each harvest and animals that grow much larger than before to produce more food for our ever growing population. We have already seen major steps in genetic engineering, I don't think there will be many issues in the near future.

                Nanotechnology is another very reasonable fear of Joy's. I feel that nanotechnology posses a much bigger threat to our world than genetic engineering as it would undoubtedly be much easier to use as a weapon. Imagine the USMC develops suits for soldiers that use nanotechnology to enhance their abilities to kill more efficiently. Now someone decides to sell that technology to terrorist organizations just like they did have done with any other warfare technology. It could ultimately lead to some serious problems.

                Robotics have always been used in doomsday scenarios. In Terminator the Skynet computer decides logically that all humans are a threat and wipes them from the planet or the how the machines in the Matrix takeover the human race and harvest them for power. Robotics is definitely something that could be feared.

                The way I see it is that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. If these new technologies of the 21st-century do pose a threat then we will inevitably use the same technology to counteract that threat. This reminds me of a few video games I have played. For example, the Halo series; an advanced alien race poses a threat to the human race because of their superior technology. As a result, the human race uses the GNR technologies to produce genetically enhanced super soldiers that wear suits that include advanced A.I. and robotics technology to out gun the alien invasion. 

Module 11 yo

                So for this week's assignment we got to choose a movie that involves computers and write about how they incorporate computers and networks. The movie I picked was The Matrix. The Matrix is a movie about a war between the human race and computers. Watching the movie made me think about our previous assignment about the "logic" named Joe. Like I have said before, I think it's natural for us to have some sort of fear for computers and that is where the story of The Matrix came from. The plot is set near the year 2198, computer A.I. (artificial intelligence) becomes self-aware and there starts a war with the human race. After many years of war the humans decide that the computers, or as the movie calls them "machines", won't be able to survive without power so they block the sunlight in order to stop the machines from obtaining their power source. The machines counter this act by enslaving the human race and harvesting the bio-electricity and body heat to power themselves. According to the movie, a human can't just survive without the experience of life so the machines network the humans all together into a virtual world called "The Matrix". This made me laugh because in a way it has already started to happen. I recently build a gaming computer for a friend of mine so he could play The World of Warcraft. We always joke about how he's "plugged in" to the world and feeding the corporate machines his money while they provide him with a false reality. Back on topic, the movie is mostly about how a team of people aboard a ship search the matrix for "The One". They eventually find him, his name is Tom Anderson but he goes by the hacker alias Neo. According to the prophecy, Neo is the reborn form of the one who originally freed many humans from the matrix. He was granted the ability in the first version of the matrix to change things as he saw fit. Neo has the same ability so he is able the hack the matrix and beat the system.

                Now the movie does have some extremely far out concepts but overall it is probable. With advancements made every day in the computer world it's not hard to believe that computers would someday be able to think and act for themselves. As far as starting a war with humans, I'm not so sure about that one. There aren't many social issues brought up in the movie but I am watching the sequel while I am writing this. The sequel is called The Matrix Revolutions and there is a part in the movie that I found interesting. It explains how ghosts and vampires are stories made up from the system to explain the acts of rogue programs within the matrix. This was cool because it explains some cultural beliefs and sticks to the whole theme of the series of "How do you know you're not in a dream world?". Over all the movie was really interesting and I highly suggest you watch it if you have not already.

Module 10

                "Wow" is all I have to say after reading "A Logic Named Joe". I could not believe it was written way back in 1946. The first thing that came to mind was that this was to the people in 1946 what Terminator was to the people in the 1980's. I can only imagine what would go through the authors mind if we brought him to our time and introduced him to our logic named "Google". It's astonishing to me that so much of what these "logics" did in the short story, can be done here and now. It may not be as extreme as the story describes but it sure does make you think. If we're already this close to what the story describes, how much longer until we have computers that are capable of such processing power? We already to this day have super computers used to simulate epidemics and predict the outcomes of natural disasters. Just the other day I found a organization that offered extreme discounts for video cards. Their only requirement was that you run their software when your computer is not in use. What their software did was actually use your processing power in line with thousands of other computers to generate possible cures for cancer, and it only ran while you were away. That is pretty amazing, it reminds me of the "tanks" the story refers to. If we are at a point where we can outsource to Personal Computers to do the combine work of a super computers, imagine what's next! The concepts in this story must have seemed so far out and impossible at the time it was written but we can see it actually happening. Computers can literally do anything now and I think it's natural to feel afraid of it at times because we are becoming aware of just how amazing science and technology have become and just how fast it has arrived.

                The concept of Joe being self aware is interesting to me. How the logic was able to predict that it was smarter than the others so it pretended to be normal to get past inspection. That thought alone would ruin a lot of paranoid people! Could you imagine if your smart phone was secretly plotting your demise by pretending to be normal only to get your information and stab you in the back. Like I stated earlier, this story is much like Terminator. Instead of "Joe" you have "Skynet" they're both computers that became self aware and acted on it logically because that is all they know.

                I believe in the future of technology and I'm extremely excited to see just how it evolves. Who knows, maybe one day it will be the end of us. Mankind, brought down by its own creation. It surely would be an epic way to go! Thank you for reading, have a great night.

Module 9

                In chapter sixteen, Friedman explains how his dell laptop was built. He explains how dells supply chain works and I had no idea that it was as redundant as it was. The laptop he ordered had the possibility of getting parts from over 30 different suppliers and shipped from nearly anywhere in the world. This gives Dell the advantage of literally never being supply blocked. If one supplier is unable to deliver the product they need, there are multiple other suppliers ready to ship the parts needed to complete the laptop. I found it very interesting how Dell is also able to control their supply chain through the use of promotional offers. The example the book gives is so many people order a 40GB HDD (Hard Drive) that the supply chain cannot keep up. Dells response to this is to offer 60GB HDD's for $10.00 more for a limited time only. This changes how many 40GB HDD's are ordered and ensures that the supply chain will not hit a stopping point. Whenever I by a computer part or I am just simply looking at the deals online, it never occurred to me why certain deals exist. It makes more sense to me now, I can imagine the majority of the deals we find online are a result of something similar to Dells HDD example.

                Chapter sixteen also covers how the terrorist group Al-Qaeda uses global supply chains in order to recruit more people and spread their ideas and thoughts throughout the world. The flattening of the world has not only made it easier for businesses and manufactures thrive, it has also allowed other organizations thrive as well. Al-Qaeda uses the flat world to recruit new people and spread their word through the use of the world wide web. This unconcerned medium allows them complete control over the message they want to deliver without having to get any attention from local media and news casts.

                "The Curse of Oil" is the term Freidman uses to describe the problems and issues countries have with their government and economy. Because of the demand for oil, governments often let the power run to their head when they are the ones who are in charge of it. The curse of oil comes when the ones in charge of the oil focus solely on themselves, knowing that they can get anything they want through selling their oil at a high price. They don't rely on the people to produce products and export them to make their economy thrive. A direct result of the curse of oil is under developed communities, cities, countries, etc. They are neglected because they are not needed. The money from the oil is not used for the people as it should be.

Module 8

Computers have been absolutely vital to my education. I can't think of anything I've ever learned that wasn't somehow aided by the use of computers. I don't believe I've even taken a test on paper since the 9th grade. In my opinion, Google is the only resource anyone needs in order to learn anything. It's the ultimate source of up to date information. If you know how to type a sentence into a search engine, the world is yours.

                My first real fond memory of using computers in my education actually goes back to 7th grade. I had just started my entry level percussion class. I always wanted to learn how to play the drums ever since I can remember but my mom couldn't afford lessons or the instruments so I had to go without. The entry level class was not what I had expected, we were required to start with a bell kit... If you don't know what a bell kit is, it's much like a xylophone but smaller and more annoying and lame. I envied the level 2 class because they at least got to play drums, mostly snare, but real drums. I remember feeling cheated but realized my rental bell kit included a practice pad snare drum and a fresh pair of Vic Firth SD1 concert band drum sticks! The first thing I did when I got home what set up my practice pad and pull open YouTube. Every night I would spend 3 to 6 hours watching tutorials and online lessons. This obsession continued on for the next 4 years. I had saved up the money to buy a full drum set and learned to play it from YouTube videos as well. Now I don't like to brag, I just love to play and in my first year of high school I had become the youngest drummer ever to get into the jazz band. All thanks to YouTube.

                My next real obsession actually happened to be computers themselves. Everything I've learned about computers was learned, ironically, from a computer. This was around 11th grade when my mom's old POS Dell was just, well, old. My task was to find a computer on ksl to replace it. What I found was a custom built AMD Athlon 1800+ system. If you know your computer history (which at the time I didn't) you'll know that the Athlon 1800+ was the king of its time. I scored that system for $40.00 cash and when I turned it on for the first time the sound didn't work and it needed hours of windows updates. I had no clue how to fix it but I turned myself to Google. The next thing I know I'm researching computers until 3am. I got really into modding and customizing the system to optimize performance. One day though I pushed it a little too far. I had read about overclocking and thought I could do it. Overclocking is the process in which you slowly, in 5Mhz increments, turn the speed of your processor up. It involves changing voltages, and settings in the BIOS, it's not recommended you attempt unless you know what you're doing. I didn't follow any rules and didn't realize the amount of heat computer produce. In one step, I cranked that CPU from 1800Mhz straight to 3000Mhz. It lasted 10 minutes. I was very upset that I ruined my computer and desperately wanted a replacement. So I continued with my research all online, learning about different components and parts. I finally got the knowledge to purchase all the parts to build a custom computer of my very own. Since then I have gone through many systems, replacing parts every 6 months for better parts, and building systems for my friends and family. I've grown such a passion for computers that I decided to follow that career path and here I am today. The Personal Computer itself, motivated me to further my education.

Module 7

                Comparative advantage is the ability of a party or in this case a country, to produce products, items, and services at a lower cost than their competition. There are a lot of factors that contribute to this. For example, China is very big in manufacturing because they're able to produce a high yield because of their high population and cheap labor whereas if the same products were produced in the U.S. it would be much more costly. Because of this, China has a comparative advantage.

                A self-directed consumer is a consumer that uses all the tools available to them to get their exact price, experience, and service they want when making a purchase. I am an extremely self-directed consumer. I rarely ever purchase anything without some research on the product. My use of the internet has greatly enhanced my experience of purchasing things I want or need. For example, I am an avid computer enthusiast and I love building custom high end computer systems for both myself and paying customers. Because of this, I am quite fond of newegg.com. If you don't know what newegg.com is, it's a website that sells computer hardware, software, and other items. Newegg tailors to my self-directed nature extremely well. Rather than going to Wal-Mart and buying an HP or a Dell computer, I can customize my own computer with parts from brands I know and love all the way down to the color of wires and cable I desire. This not only fulfils my picky needs for my high end system but it allows me to custom build systems for clients of my own to fit their price, needs, and expectations.

                I personally think that the ideas of globalization and Americanization are both completely different. Globalization refers to the growth and unity of the whole world, merging new ideas, companies, and businesses to compete on a global market rather than a local or regional market. Americanization refers to the influence America has on other countries products, culture, beliefs, etc. One could argue that globalization is forcing other countries to live an American lifestyle but I don't see it that way. The way I see it, the new lifestyle is a product born from globalization itself because other countries are still retaining their cultures and beliefs. 

Module 6

                I'm going to start the night off with free trade. Free trade is the ability for countries to trade goods and services without any restriction. As you may know, I am quite the computer nerd. I love technology and I love to watch the progress of it as well. My personal standpoint on free trade is that it is absolutely vital to the progress of technology. Free trade provides competitors with more competition for their products. This new competition forces one another to constantly best each other's product. For example, take the rivalry of nVidia and AMD (formerly ATI). The two companies both produce high end graphics processors and they are constantly pumping out new technology. It's to the point that a new product is released every six months that will double the performance of the previous flagship model. As soon as one company launches a new chip the other has already begun development of a better one. This competition has driven technology advancement at an extreme rate. Now let's look at it on a broader scale. The automotive industry has gone through numerous booms because of the same type of competition. Take a look at Toyota Motors, without free trade they would lose roughly 32% of their sales just from the U.S. alone. The way I see it is that without the global competition, we would never progress. The competition brought on by free trade only benefits us consumers with better products.

                The "New Middler" is the new middle class employee. With all of the outsourcing of middle class jobs, employees had to find a way to secure their position or face unemployment. New middlers have proven their worth to their companies by providing exceptional people skills, something that a computer just can't provide. They're also must be adaptable. With the constant changes and jobs being outsourced, new middlers must be able to prove that they can handle any task and exceed their expectations. New middlers tie in perfectly with the next topic.

                The "CQ+PQ>IQ" equation means that curiosity  and passion for a subject or in this case your job, can be worth much more than intelligence. You see it time and time again, people staying with jobs because they pay well or they know a lot about their job that they do well at it. The thing they're missing is their love for what they do. If you have a passion for your field of work and want to learn more than you will inevitably be successful. I believe this philosophy 100%. I'm studying computer science right now because I absolutely love the field and all my free time and money reflects that. Some of the other students in my classes that I have talked to don't seem to have the same passion for it like I have and they don't seem to be grasping the concepts or really even seem to care. However, once I finish my homework I dig deeper and find myself staying up until the early hours of the morning researching and learning more. I love talking with other people as passionate about computers as I am because you can sense their drive. 

module 5

                Hello again everybody, Let's continue back into our reading of The World is Flat. In the essay I'm going to cover pages 200 - 259. Friedman talks about the triple-convergence.

                The first convergence is about how the ten flatteners we previously discussed have relied on each other to perform better. The example he uses in the book is when he was traveling with southwest airlines. His plan was to order his tickets online and show up early so that he could print his ticket and get into the boarding group A, but when Friedman arrived and printed out his ticket he was place into boarding group B. This was because of the first convergence. Because of the flatteners ability to utilize each other, it was now possible for people to print their own tickets at home instead of at the airport. This allowed them to be placed into boarding group A.

                The second convergence talks about the time it took for the flatteners to be implemented into the world. He explains how companies expected instant productivity increases by utilizing new computers and workflow software but were instead disappointed by the lack of productivity increase. This was due to the time it took for everyone to implement the use of these new technologies before the benefits would roll in.

                The third convergence is about the flood of new people from India, China, and the Soviet Empire who were able to work with businesses and corporations in the United States without ever leaving their country. This was due to their ability to adapt to this new technology as they were just introduced to the new flat world.

                Friedman talks about the "India vs. Indiana" issue where Indiana is taking bid from various companies to process the unemployment claims. A company out of India won the bid by a whopping $8 million. Now the question is who is exploiting who? I personally think it's more India exploiting Indiana because they know they can get do the work for much less than any other U.S. based company.

                Intellectual Property is basically just the product of one's mind or thoughts. Intellectual property is vital to the creation of new technology. If everybody used one persons invention or idea to make a profit for themselves, that would slow the progress of new ideas and technology. That is why we have patents and copyright laws. These patents and copyrights are there to protect intellectual property and provide the original creator compensation for their work. This also in return forces others to use their own ideas and thoughts to create, thus further advancing technology.

Module 4

                I have chosen to do my essay on Network Administration. A Network Administrator is the person who is in charge of the maintenance of not only a network, but all of the computer hardware, software, and other devices connected to the network. They are also referred to as Network Analysts or Network Engineers. There is a Network Administrator behind every large network, anywhere from schools, call centers, libraries, restaurants, you can name just about any business this day and age and it will in some way utilize a network.

                Network Administration is extremely needed for schools. Have you ever wondered how you can just magically access your saved documents or school work from every computer in your school? Or how each student and teacher has their own personal school email? This is all done through the school's LAN (Local Area Network). A LAN is a network comprised of a series of computers connected by a central server. Some LAN's even consist of multiple servers that connect to each other to combine multiple networks. Typically, a school will have multiple servers that handle different tasks. For example, one server will be for the sole purpose of handling email while another server will just be used to host grading information or software. The Network Administer monitors and maintains all of the wires, servers, computers, log in information, etc. They make sure that the LAN is up and running at all times so that the information and systems can be accessible to every student, teacher, and staff.

                For my interview, I spoke with my brother in law about his career history with Network Administration. He has worked in multiple IT fields for Hill Air Force Base and numerous local businesses. While working as a Network Administrator, he would handle pretty much every task or request the users needed. The most common tasks included regular system updates to fix any slow network traffic, monitoring the network equipment to make sure everything is in good condition to prevent any hardware failure, and monitoring log in access information and security to make sure the information on the network stayed safe from any unwanted eyes. Overall he stated that he has loved his Network Administration jobs because he was always in charge of how things ran and there was something new to do each day.

                I actually look forward to going into Network Administration because of the large demand. A Network Administrator can't necessarily be outsourced either because a lot of the work done is hands on, so the field is a fairly safe career choice as well. I see the future for Network Administration only growing as more and more each day.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_administrator
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSavUnXXAnI

Keenan Campbell

Module 3 

Off shoring and out sourcing, what’s the difference? The two business strategies are very similar in their methods and purpose but in fact are completely different from one another. Out sourcing is what we call it when a business takes one or two tasks and sends them to another country or area that the task can be completed by employees at a lower pay. In return, this saves the business money where as if they were to have U.S. employees handle the task they would need to be paid more. Now off shoring on the other hand, is when the business takes an entire process to another country to be completed. This is typically what is done with manufacturing processes. We have all seen the infamous “made in china” stickers on almost everything. This is because businesses have jumped on the opportunity to move manufacturing to china because of the very cheap labor and lower taxes. In short, out sourcing is when a part of a process is handled in another country by cheaper labor and off shoring is when the entire process is done out of country by cheaper labor.

A supply chain is what we call the network of manufactures, suppliers, retailers, and finally customers. The way the supply chain works is simple, the manufacture produces the product and sell it to a supplier for some amount of profit. The supplier then turns around and sells the product to a retailer for another amount of profit. The retailer then takes the product and stocks it on their shelves for the customers to browse and purchase the product for, you guessed it, profit. You can see how this strategy works, as the retailer doesn’t make the products they simply sell them for more than they paid. This can quickly cause an items price to go up and it goes through more links in the supply chain. Wal-Mart has capitalized on the supply chain. Essentially what they have done is removed the links between them and the manufacture thus allowing them to sell items for a much lower price than their rival retailers. That’s not all; Wal-Mart has also made the supply chain more efficient through the use of modern technology to be able to predict and foresee what items are in demand at any given time. This information is then relayed to the manufacture in near real time so that they in return know what to make, how much, and when to make it. This super efficient supply chain has allowed Wal-Mart to climb to the top as the world’s biggest retailer.

Google has made a huge impact on the way businesses today advertise. Before Google, businesses had to really on putting their advertisements out to the world and hope that someone is interested in what it is they’re trying to sell or promote. What Google has done is provided relevant advertising. For example, say you’re planning a trip with your family to go camping for the week end but you don’t know where to go. The first thing you do is jump onto Google and search, “Ogden Utah campsites.” What you’ll get is maybe a list of local campsites but also there might be websites on the list that sell camping gear. This type of advertising makes it more precise on determines what ads pop up based on what you’re looking for rather than just giving your so random ad for weight loss pills when you search for bulk up work outs. The result of this is that businesses are getting more customers actually wanting to buy what they have to sell.

Module 2

            Hello again, I’m going to write about some of the major forces that Thomas L. Friedman covers in his book “The World is Flat. These forces play very important roles in flattening the world.

I’m going to start with workflow software. Workflow software is software designed to assist with the completion of a specific task. Typically tasks that require multiple steps and people involved. The way I see it, workflow software is just a digital assembly line and a perfect example of that assembly line is the student loan industry. I have actually worked for a student loan company for the last year. Workflow software has allowed the process of applying for a loan quick and painless (If approved of course) by allowing students to apply for the loan online digitally and get results in a matter of seconds. This is all possible through workflow software. Once Submit, the application is run through an initial check that verifies the applicant’s identity. The next step requests information from one of the three credit reporting agencies. If the credit information meets our requirements the student will then receive their results, pass or fail. If approved, the remaining steps can be completed online as well through our electronic signing process. That process asks the applicant a series of security questions to verify identity further more than allows them to agree to their terms. Even the process of sending the funding to the students school is done digitally. As you can imagine, the whole process would take weeks of mailing documents back and forth to even know if you’re approved for the loan. With workflow software, the whole process from start to finish can be done without even leaving the computer chair. This has allowed the company to handle many more accounts all over the country in a timely manner.

Next in line is open-source software. Open-source software is simply just software that is provided freely along with the original source code. What this allowed was the ability for programmers all over the world to develop high quality software by building and refining each other’s work and provide it to the world for free. Open-source software plays an important role in flattening the world because it takes the power out of the big name software developer’s hands and gives it to the community. The growth of open-source software forced companies to support and better their product so that they would have a reason for people to purchase it.

The last flattening force I will discuss today is outsourcing. Outsourcing is the process in which an organization will take a local task and have it completed in a more cost efficient location. Outsourcing is very big with call centers as calls can be digitally relayed to another country and handled by employees at a much lower pay grade then employees in the United States. It plays an important role as it greatly improves a company’s profits and provides people from less fortunate parts of the world with a job. I personally was not a big fan of outsourcing because of my experiences of poor customer service in the past. But the customer service has grown quite a bit over the years and I have realized that outsourcing is a very effective business strategy.

The more I read this book, the more I realize just how unaware we are about the amount of change that has happened over the last few years. Technology is growing at an extreme rate and it’s only going to make life easier and the world a better place to live. 

Module 1

                I’m going to talk about the book The World Is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman. To be completely honest, I wasn’t very excited to read this book. That all changed after the first two pages. It started to catch my attention with the comparisons of his journey to India to Columbus’s journey. Both journeys are for the same purpose, globalization, yet both on very different levels. Columbus’s contribution to globalization takes place during the globalization 1.0 era. This was the first stage that opened up the trade between the Old World and the New World and lasted from 1492 until sometime around the 1800’s. Globalization 1.0 brought the world down from a large size to a medium. However, this was only the beginning. The second era is referred to as globalization 2.0 which lasted from the 1800’s to the year 2000. The driving force of globalization was now turned to multinational companies. Powered by lower transportation and telecommunication costs, it was the birth of a global economy. The world had now dropped to a size small. The globalization 3.0 era brought new power to individuals, giving them the ability to compete globally. This was possible through a vast global digital network. It is in this era that Thomas L. Friedman went on his journey through India. We are only in the very early stages of this era as it turns the world from small to tiny.

                The fall of the Berlin wall played an important role in globalization. The wall had essentially blocked many people from the idea and view of freedom. The fall of the wall empowered the people and took the power from the leaders, allowing the people to decide their future and see the world as a seamless whole. This event led to the rise of the Personal Computer (PC) and the start of global networks.

                Netscape’s history is extremely important to globalization. Netscape made it possible for the average user to gain access to the World Wide Web through the use of the web browser. Before the web browser, access to the World Wide Web was possible it was just not very user friendly. Netscape pioneered the standard protocols still in use today. These protocols made it possible for all systems from all manufactures to communicate and transfer data digitally through the World Wide Web. Netscape’s success led to an over investment in fiber-optic cable. This over investment was so vast that it put the investors into a price war amongst each other, thus leading to extremely low Internet access pricing and virtually free data transfer. Sure this was bad for the business, but the low prices allowed more and more people to access the World Wide Web.

                So far, this has been a very interesting read for me as it closely relates to the field in which I am studying. I love computer science and technology as a whole and I look forward to sharing my experiences of this book with you. Thank you for reading!