Monday, December 9, 2013
TWIF Flattener #10 - The Steroids
Use one of the current events sources linked at http://svhs-hwc-spring2014.blogspot.com/2013/12/approved-sources-for-twif-current.html to find a recent news article that relates to, supports, or refutes Friedman's assertion that the steroids were "flatteners." Your comment should include the title of the news article, a link to the article, and a summary of the article including an explanation of how the article relates to this point. Don't forget to check your rubric for evaluation criteria!
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Tech Startups: A Cambrian Movement
ReplyDeletehttp://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21593580-cheap-and-ubiquitous-building-blocks-digital-products-and-services-have-caused
This article describes the sudden boom of start-up companies and the recent increase in entrepreneurship. It shows that a person can think of an idea, and, as long as he or she is familiar with code, which can also be studied online, he or she can easily begin a website or piece of software with something as simple as a laptop. The article even explains that separate companies have been started to facilitate this daunting task; they aid entrepreneurs in growing their company. These companies are known as “accelerators.” The current society of innovation, the article says, is beginning to spread; it is no longer isolated in Silicon Valley. There is a budding company in almost every city. This article displays a numerous number of the “steroids” by discussing the individual computing power of each person along with the ability of collaborators to share edits and revisions even if one of them is on a boat (an example which is listed in article). It also discusses ways to voice call others and even make payments to others wirelessly. It even compares the current increase of these start-up companies to the dot com bubble in the late 1990’s. All in all, this article shows how the combination and individual strengthen of each of the flatteners may bring a new revolution in innovation.
In Thailand, Power Comes With Help From Skype
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/30/world/asia/thaksin-shinawatra-of-thailand-wields-influence-from-afar.html?_r=0
In The World is Flat, one of the "steroids" Friedman uses to support his argument is the use of video-conferencing. Video-conferencing is using a live stream camera to make face-to-face contact with another person. This allows business to be done from anywhere that requires people to meet. In the article, business heads in Thailand are using video-conferencing modes such as Skype to do business from their homes, or anywhere in the world where internet connection is found. Also, the prime minister of Thailand uses telecommunications such as video-conferencing to govern a country from any of his homes around the world, the other countries he visits, or his business in Africa. Lastly, at the end of the article it explains how he plans on using Skype to discuss something as serious as an election for governor of Bangkok. To conclude, the article about using video-conferencing in Thailand supports Friedman's argument because Friedman explains that this is a way the world has been easily accessible. In the article, people of power in Thailand are using telecommunications from anywhere in the world to connect with one another.
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ReplyDeleteSamsung Advances Toward 5G Networks, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/14/technology/samsung-announces-breakthrough-in-mobile-data-speed.html
This article talks about how the company Samsung is moving towards having 5G coverage on their phones.This will be an upgrade from the current 4G level allowing for data transmission to be several hundred times faster than it already is. It will also be able to transmit huge data files with almost no limitation, far surmounting the abilities of the current level. In accordance to TWF it has to do with what Friedman says about how technology has increased in recent years at an almost exponential incline.
Changes in Windows 8.1, With Skype Replacing Messaging App
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/10/technology/personaltech/changes-in-windows-8-1-with-skype-replacing-messaging-app.html
This article is about Microsoft's operating system update, Windows 8.1. According to this article, Microsoft has replaced their original messenger app with Skype. Friedman mentions VoIP and software such as Skype as one of the "steroids" that helped flatten the world. It allowed users to communicate from long distances without the need of increasing their phone bills, for Skype conveniently works over the internet. The previous messenger app that was on the operating system only had the function of sending text messages to other people. Because Windows 8 is an extremely popular operating system, and a videoconferencing app is now immediately available to those who purchase Windows 8, more people may begin to recognize the power of the program. When the people who did not utilize Skype begin to use it due to its convenience, the world will begin to flatten even more, for a larger portion of the world is being introduced the phenomenon known as videoconferencing.
The Halo effect
ReplyDeletehttp://www.economist.com/node/5309284
One of the six steroids that Friedman describes in The World is Flat is the use of skype and voIP. Videoconferencing is helping to flatten the world because it allows people to communicate through video "chats". This is more efficient and broadens where meetings, reunions, and collaborations can take place. Another steroid in technological advancement and devices. In the article listed above, it describes Paramount pictures and how they are creating Halo rooms. These $555,000 rooms take videoconferencing to the next level. They are equipped with four plasma televisions and the new HP devices. When in the halo rooms, it feels as thought the two rooms are together as one.The sixth steroid that is new devices is equivalent to the HP device used for the Halo rooms. This article relates to The World is Flat because it reiterates Thomas Friedman's points that vide conferencing allows people from different locations to discuss a business matter, consequently flattening the world.
The Halo effect
ReplyDeletehttp://www.economist.com/node/5309284
One of the six steroids that Friedman describes in The World is Flat is the use of skype and voIP. Videoconferencing is helping to flatten the world because it allows people to communicate through video chats. This is more efficient and broadens where meetings, reunions, and collaborations can take place. Another "steroid" in The World is Flat is technological advancement and devices. In the article listed above, it describes Paramount pictures and how they are creating Halo rooms. These $555,000 rooms take videoconferencing to the next level. They are equipped with four plasma televisions and the new HP devices. When in the halo rooms, it feels as thought the two rooms are together as one.The sixth steroid that is new devices is equivalent to the HP device used for the Halo rooms. This article relates to The World is Flat because it reiterates Thomas Friedman's points that vide conferencing allows people from different locations to discuss a business matter, consequently flattening the world.
AT&T Says Apple Pulled The Plug On Google Voice App: But Read The Fine Print
ReplyDeletehttp://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2009/08/att_says_apple_pulled_the_plug.html
According to an article from NPR, mainstream corporations, in telecommunication, are on an endeavor to decimate the ideas of smaller companies that include the voice over Internet Protocol. In the article, AT&T, a conventional, global telecommunication corporation, claimed that their partner Apple, a company that invents, fabricates, and sells electronics, "pulled the plug" on Google's new app Google Voice. According to AT&T, Apple expunged Google Voice from the App Store without AT&T's consensus because it resembled characteristics on the iPhone. However, Google Voice was an voice over Internet Protocol (a.k.a VoIP), which means it allowed people to make phone calls through the use of the Internet without a charge from AT&T. Since this may have impeded Apple's business with AT&T and AT&T's telecommunication business, Apple eliminated the competition, but AT&T was a probable accomplice. Apple and AT&T eliminated Google Voice because it allowed people to make domestic and international calls for a tremendously low-cost. Google Voice complies with a specific section of Friedman's tenth flattener, the steroids. The VoIP speeds up the process of all the flattener's that interconnect the world. It allows people to verbally communicate to other people in any place around the world if they have internet access. Google Voice embodies this type of flattening steroid since it undersold AT&T's phone service prices. With VoIPs underselling mainstream companies, this allows the costs for telecommunication services for companies, groups, and individuals to decrease. For instance, Claudia Waitman heard decreased her phone costs by ten percent by switching to Skype, a highly successful VoIP. VoIPs, like Google Voice, are revolutionizing the flat world because they allow people to talk and work on documents in tandem at a low price. In total, the emerging of the VoIP protocol has allowed small companies to compete with large telecommunication industries, and it has been a catalyst for the collaborative flatteners to continue to flatten the world at a "turbocharged" rate.