Module 8

                While many like to focus on how computers and the internet have improved the ease at which we can perform our jobs, these two inventions have helped many of us before we even stepped foot in our first jobs. The use of computers and the internet has personally helped me through my education both in high school and college by allowing me to take long distance classes, to access books and magazines through multiple sources, and by providing me with instant test results, and access to tutorial services.

                While I was in high school, one service that my school provided was the resources to take collage classes during school time. At the time, I was living in an isolated area and the nearest college campus was over an hour away. I and other students at my school were able to take these classes without traveling. Surrounding colleges would have classrooms for select general education classes wired with cameras and microphones. Our school had one classroom that was wired the same way. These college classes online, and then projected onto a large screen TV within our classroom. The students could watch and hear what was going on in each college class. If a student at the high school had questions, they could press a button on one of the microphones located through out the classroom and ask the professor their question. The professor could pull up the footage from the high school, allowing the teacher to see and speak to the student. This program not only helped to prepare me for taking classes on an actual campus, it also gave me practice taking online classes. Many colleges, like Weber  State provide online classes. Students can take just a few classes like this one or complete full degrees . In this way, computers and the internet have helped to further my education.

                Once I got to college, I was amazed at how may papers I had to write for each class. The best place to go for accurate research is the college library. While in middle school and high school, most of my research was limited to the latest copy of Encyclopedia Britannica and interviews with older adults. The library here at Weber State has the Inter-Library loan system that has expanded my research beyond what books and magazines they have currently on the shelves. I can get online and look for books and magazines that other surrounding colleges have on their shelves.  I can then look at t digital copy on line, or ask a library assistant to order the book for me that I can pick up within a few days. This system also allows me to look up articles from peered reviewed journals that would otherwise be hard to find or that would only post the article abstract online. Once again computers and the many uses of the internet have allowed me to further my education.

                One simple function that computers can do that has relieved some of my college stress is to provide me with instant results to many of my tests. Whether I am taking a test online or in the Testing Center using a Scantron sheet, I can receive instant feed back on most of my tests. This has removed the anxiety that comes with waiting a weekend or a couple of weeks for my professors to grade my tests. It also helps me to prepare questions based on my test results for my next session with my professor. So while it my not necessarily help to advance my education, receiving instant results helps to keep my sanity.

                The last way computers and the internet have helped me with my education is by providing me with access to various websites that have helped me to learn and understand difficult concepts in my math and physics classes. I have been able to find a quite a few websites (including YouTube) that have devoted much of their content to understanding math concepts for mechanical engineers.  I am sure that this area of study is not the only one that has other people willing to those within their degrees. These resources have provided students with a feeling of empowerment to take control of their learning. We no longer have to wait for the professor to have office hours to ask questions.  This has also forced many of us students to look out side the box for answers, which will carry on into our computer dominated careers.

Module 7

            For centuries, certain countries have excelled in certain areas of goods and trading. China was one of the few countries that produced silk, since the silkworm only thrived in the orient; certain spices were only grown and produced in India. Location also helped in moving products, as the European countries had the financial ability to built ships and travel to these surrounding countries. It is a different story today. Most countries can produce or import materials to make products; not longer is the location of goods limited to where their elements are grown. Location doesn’t seem to apply anymore, as Friedman pointed out when discussed the differences between Mexico and China. Ideally, one would think that Mexico would be a prime candidate for controlling cheap imports based on the fact that it is located next to the United States. The US would be a large importer of cheap Mexican goods, and in a way, is the gateway to trade throughout the world. Instead, China has become the leader in manufacturing and exporting cheap goods. This goes against all reason and logic. Friedman explains this as “intangible things”, or the ability of a society to solely focus on economic growth and to have leaders that have the drive to push for change. China has done this and has left Mexico in the dust.

                                                                                                                               

The self-directed consumer is one who creates their own shopping experience. This concept has come about thanks to the internet. Before most people had easy access to the World Wide Web and before merchants started listing their wares on-line, consumers had to settle for the price of an item that was local. It was harder to compare pricing when there was not a common place where prices were listed from competing stores. Since the rise of the Internet, consumers can now shop online and compare prices of stores not only in their local city, but across the world. This allows the consumer to pay what they want, how they want, and determine how long it will take to receive the item. This has created a competitive atmosphere amongst merchants, both large and small. The customer now feels in charge of their shopping experience, which is seen as a plus for both the customer and the merchant.

The question of “Globalization meaning Americanization” is addressed in Freidman’s book. For years, many have felt that globalization meant that the world would be taken over by America; cultures would be lost to the foods and pop culture of American traditions. For a while, this seemed true, but this was due to the fact that America was one of the first cultures to attempt to instill globalization. American also had some of the richest corporations such as McDonalds and Coca-Cola that were able to open shop and sell to other countries. I noticed this trend when I visited Japan in the late 1990’s. Many of the students in Japan wanted American goods such as Levi’s. For many years, blue jeans were not common in Japan, but as America started leading the globalization revolution, the Levi’s brand became huge in countries throughout the world. There was concerned that American and western traditions were taking over the native traditions of other cultures. This has gradually slowed, and now these cultures are getting their traditions in the mix of globalization. This can be easily seen today with the Japanese culture becoming very popular in the United States. My three year old daughter knows more about Hello Kitty than Garfield, and my thirteen year old niece is a huge fan of Japanese anime. No longer are our youth attending Star Trek conventions- they are now traveling hundreds of mile to attend Anime conventions. As more countries educate themselves in the way of the Internet and on-line communications, they too will have their culture and traditions in the lime light.

Module 6

            To be quite honest, I barely remember talking about Free Trade in 8^th grade Social Studies. Needless to say, I don’t think about it often, or really remember what it is about. I researched the term Free Trade on Wikipedia to refresh my memory. This policy prevents taxes on products and services imported and exported from various countries. The concept is that both countries will profit- one from selling goods, the other from buying the goods. Friedman asks the question if Free Trade is still working for today’s technology-based society. Countries that used to be considered poor are now becoming rich by providing services through outsourcing and offshoring. This causes a problem for some of the population in the country that is asking for these services. When products and services are outsourced or produced outside of the country, the ultimate result is a lack in employment. While the corporation has decided to increase revenue by sending these services out, and the countries receiving the requests are making money, the employee of the corporation is left without a job. So, the question is, do we charge for services that are sent out of the county. At first thought, this seems like a good idea. Charge companies a tax for sending out potential jobs, or charge for services that were outsourced or a by-product of offshoring. Upon further search, I found that most economist disagree with the idea of preventing companies from outsourcing. They state that even though the outsourcing country might not exactly come out on top of the deal, it is overall better for the country than if they decided not to outsource at all. I do not know much about economics, nor do I really pay attention to trades, stocks and the like, but I do agree with former President William McKinley when he stated “Buy where you can pay the easiest”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_trade#cite_note-29

            As the world becomes even flatter, new jobs will be developed. Jobs that were once considered a necessity will become obsolete due to computers and advancing technology. Freidman explains that people that once held these now obsolete jobs will need to find new jobs, preferably ones that won’t be affected by outsourcing and more technological advances. These jobs are called “middle jobs”. Skills and personality traits that would be applicable to these types of jobs include: excellent communication and managerial skills (collaborators and orchestrators); creativity (synthesizers); the ability to explain complex ideas or processes (explainers); the ability to work smarter and faster (leveragers); the ability to adapt to new technology (adapters); having an understanding of “green” energy (green people); excellent customer service with attention to details (personalizers); an interest in math (math lovers); understand how to take emerging technology to benefit both company and customer (localizers). People who posses even a few of these skills should be able to land a job that is untouched by an ever changing job market due to improved technology.

            The equation CQ+PQ > IQ, simply means that curiosity and passion are more important that intelligence. Those that have curiosity and passion for a certain idea or concepts are more motivated and work harder than those that have a general intelligence in the subject. This means that even though your peer or competition may be smarter than you, you more to offer if you have a deeper interest in the company or job. Employers will be looking for this drive and motivation over someone with better grades.

Module 5

The triple convergence is a based on three ideas that further “flatten the world”. The first convergence can best be described as the ability for people near and far to communicate with each other instantly. If you had an internet connection, you could connect with anyone, anywhere, regardless of race, sex, education, or social status. The second convergence explains how businesses became “vertical” instead of “horizontal”. This means that instead of have chains of management- computers, advanced software and the internet allowed businesses to operate with fewer people, and on an even management field. Friedman again refers to Wal-Mart and how they designed a horizontal supply chain, with each link being even. The third convergence was the increase of global knowledge and global workforce. This happened when countries that were lacking in technological advances jumped feet first into modern technology. Friedman explains that some Chinese students skipped having a landline and went straight to a cell phone. These countries were hungry for education and started to advance over more modern countries like the US and various European countries. The triple convergence is important as it demonstrates how the world continued to become one in the terms of technology.

            Friedman describes a story about the state of Indiana who needed their computer systems updated. They received bids from numerous companies, (none of which being from Indiana) with a company from India winning the contract. In my opinion, Indiana was exploiting who ever won the contract. Later, Indiana was able to divide the contract into smaller contracts that companies within the state could fulfill. If Indiana was able to keep money and work within the state, then it should have been done from the beginning. Instead, they wrote the original bid in such a way that no one within the state could do it. No companies within the US were able to make the lowest bid, either. Indiana exploited the work of India to save money, instead of providing jobs to those within the state who were jobless.

            Intellectual property refers to the rights of an innovator of digital information. As more people contribute to online sharing, the idea of copyright laws becomes blurry. If someone uploads a video online, can anyone else alter the video? If the information has no legal protection, many would see it as fair game the change it and make it their own. The idea of intellectual property laws is to credit the original poster or innovator, but to allow others to make minor changes. Most digital information is accessed with the understanding that it can be used and possibly altered, as long as the original creator is credited. This concept works well with information such as open source software, photos, and clipart to name a few. Recently, the focus has been shifted to on how we should address copyrighted material such as major motion pictures, published authors and record producing musicians. While Hollywood, with the assistance of the government, wants to shut down all websites that might be breaking traditional copyright laws, websites such as Google and Wikipedia are protesting. These websites would be in violation of copyright laws due to the fact that anyone in the cyber community could post copyrighted material on their websites (or search engines). I do agree that there should be someway to regulate how information is disbursed online, (like how some DVD’s prevent the ability of  burning them to your hard drive, in turn preventing them from being uploaded) but at the same time, the internet was founded on the principal of free digital sharing. If we are no longer able to freely share this information, then the true concept of the internet has been lost.