The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century (平装)

在线阅读本书

[前所未有的全球化]
　　弗里德曼一针见血的指出了世界未来的方向，“全球化3.0”将深刻地影响我们的经济、社会、政治生活的各个方面，改变每个人的工作方式、生活方式乃至生存的方式。不论是政府部门、商业部门、社会部门，各行各业的管理者、员工还是自由职业者，概莫能免。新一波的全球化，正在抹平一切疆界，世界变平了，从小缩成了微小。
　　在本书中，弗里德曼还剖析了十股造成世界平坦化的重要力量，启发人们思考，当前的潮流，对国家、公司、团体或个人而言，到底意味着什么？

[全球化的三个阶段]
　　在《世界是平的》一书中，弗里德曼将全球化划分为三个阶段。
　　○“全球化1.0”主要是国家间融合和全球化，开始于1492年哥伦布发现“新大陆”之时，持续到1800年前后，是劳动力推动着这一阶段的全球化进程，这期间世界从大变为中等。
　　○“全球化2.0”是公司之间的融合，从1800年一直到2000年，各种硬件的发明和革新成为这次全球化的主要推动力——从蒸汽船、铁路到电话和计算机的普及，这其间因大萧条和两次世界大战而被迫中断，这期间世界从中等变小。
　　○而在“全球化3.0”中，个人成为了主角，肤色或东西方的文化差异不再是合作或竞争的障碍。软件的不断创新，网络的普及，让世界各地包括中国和印度的人们可以通过因特网轻松实现自己的社会分工。
　　
[权威评价]
　　伟大的著作的一个标志就是它可以使你从新的角度来看世界，弗里德曼的这本书成功地做到了这一点。
　　——斯蒂格利茨，诺贝尔经济学奖得主

　　这本一年来全球最畅销的商业书籍以丰富生动的语言描述了全球化带来的挑战和益处，提出了现代商业课题中最令人瞩目和引人入胜的真知灼见。弗里德曼是当之无愧的获奖者。
　　——《金融时报》与高盛年度最佳商业图书评委会评语

Book Description
The Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist and best-selling author of The Lexus and the Olive Tree gives a bold, timely, and surprising picture of the state of globalization in the twenty-first century.

In this brilliant #1 bestseller, "the most important columnist in America today" (Walter Russell Mead, The New York Times) demystifies the brave new world for readers, allowing them to make sense of the often bewildering global scene unfolding before their eyes. With his inimitable ability to translate complex foreign policy and economic issues, Thomas L. Friedman explains how the flattening of the world happened at the dawn of the twenty-first century; what it means to countries, companies, communities, and individuals; and how governments and societies can, and must, adapt. The World Is Flat is the timely and essential update on globalization, its successes and discontents, powerfully illuminated by one of our most respected journalists.

Book Dimension
length: (cm)21.1 　　　 　　　　　 　　　　　 width:(cm)14.1



《世界是平的》中文精装版


《世界是平的》中文版

Reviews
1. "Captivating . . . an enthralling read. To his great credit, Friedman embraces much of his flat world's complexity, and his reporting brings to vibrant life some beguiling characters and trends. . . . [The World is Flat] is also more lively, provocative, and sophisticated than the overwhelming bulk of foreign policy commentary these days. We've no real idea how the twenty-first century's history will unfold, but this terrifically stimulating book will certainly inspire readers to start thinking it all through."
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　--Warren Bass, The Washington Post

2. "No one today chronicles global shifts in simple and practical terms quite like Friedman. He plucks insights from his travels and the published press that can leave you spinning like a top. Or rather, a pancake."
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　--Clayton Jones, The Christian Science Monitor

3. "Friedman . . . nicely sums up the explosion of digital-technology advances during the past fifteen years and places the phenomenon in its global context. . . . He never shrinks from the biggest problems and the thorniest issues."
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　--Paul Magnusson, BusinessWeek

4. "[The World is Flat] is filled with the kind of close reporting and intimate yet accessible analysis that have been hard to come by. Add in Friedman's winning first-person interjections and masterful use of strategic wonksterisms, and this book should end up on the front seats of quite a few Lexuses and SUVs of all stripes."
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Customer Reviews
1. Heads in the sand should read this book!, August 23, 2007
　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　By Brian Thibodeau (Ontario, Canada)
This began as a response to one of the harsh reviews previously posted, but I figured it'd be just as good as a counterbalance in the review section.

Using an approach the layman can understand, Friedman chronicles an event which took place (the flattening of the world, so to speak) right under our noses. He gives an excellent overview of how globalization really HAS helped the world, and he does it via plenty of footnoted research into actual events that took place to get us to this point in history.

Commerce (or consumption, if you'd rather) is, whether you like to admit it or not, the backbone of ALL successful societies (you know, the ones that aren't still tearing themselves apart over dark age religions and living in sandy hellholes). Sure, it comes with a price, but what doesn't? The fight to stem global warming will no doubt come with a price (higher priced hybrid cars and other associated costs of being "green"), but in the end, our descendants will live vastly different lives centuries from now because of it.

I'm sure the Negative Nellies here would be the first people to point fingers at how little the people in Chinese factories are paid (especially in light of the recent toy scandals), but don't want to know what options they had before they had those supposedly "lousy" factory jobs. Oh, that's right, they had NO options.

The very fact that Friedman addresses the dark side of globalization in the book (and in related audio programs and interviews he's done over the last year or more) should indicate that he's well aware of the fall-out, but knows it's inevitable AND surmountable as more and more countries develop a middle class, even if it's a middle class build on knock-offs like China's. But with higher standards being slowly forced upon them as an exporter, the benefit will be higher standards of living for their people, and less reliance on the bootleg.

The forces are already in play to legitimize much of what Friedman has outlined in the book, and so much the better we'll all be for it. It's not about how much we can consume, although boy can we North Americans consume, and we wanted to do it for less money, and now look where all our manufacturing jobs have gone. But don't worry, there will always be an infrastructure in place in western countries, and while some business goes overseas, new business springs up. Even a service-based economy is still an economy. But now former third world countries and/or failed dictator states are finally being given the opportunity that they could not possibly have taken before due to doomed philosphies: they can begin to think globally and come out of the dark ages, where once the only "saviour" someone believed they needed was spoonfed to them from birth, but really only an internal salve against raging poverty and/or oppression. THAT's the only useful function of most religions and many political systems, but that's another book altogether. THIS book is about something that is too big to suddenly stop because we fear for future generations. Instead, we have to find ways to make what already works, work better, so that future generations from ALL walks of life and from ALL countries can partake in better economies, and freer societies.

Loathe globalization all you want, but in this day and age, and probably for many more ages to come, COMMERCE will be the major way to guarantee progress. Goodness knows, politics and religion have tried and failed repeatedly, so why NOT let the marketplace dictate progress. It works, and it's flaws can be corrected, as they are in all good sciences; it just takes time.

And, if you're bummed out, as "Casca" appears to be in another review, that you couldn't start your own airline, you've missed the point again. The point is that we now live in a world that's more connected than at any point in the history of mankind, and we're only going to become MORE connected as time goes on. If you have the capabilities of utilizing that connectivity to further your own business plans, creativity, social life, knowledge, you'd be a fool not to give it a try. Hell, even the terrorists have done it! It's not about running down to your bank for $100 million loans. It's about seeing the world, and your place in it-particularly if your business is BUSINESS and actually making a decent living-being made better with the technology that's at your fingertips. The one's who are sticking their heads in the sand are the ones who can't fathom that the world flattened, as Friedman says, while they were sleeping.
　

2. This book is an eye opener, September 5, 2007
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　By Robert G Yokoyama (Mililani, Hawaii)
Technology changes so fast, and people need to educate themselves and upgrade their skills to compete in a flat world. This is the main message of this informative book by Thomas Friedman. Work like data entry can get outsourced or sent and done in other countries, so it is important to constantly adapt and learn new skills. He gives good examples of people collaborating together. I liked the example of the Dell computer Friedman used to write the book. Four hundred companies located in Asia, North America and Europe played a role in designing his computer. I did not know that a company in India could track lost luggage for Delta airline passengers in the United States. It is possible for a company in Cambodia to write an Arabic dictionary for a company in Iran.

Friedman also writes about the bad side of technology. He discusses how a cell phone can be used to help high school students to cheat on a test. He also talks about how the slang of the Internet can make students poor communicators in the classroom. With information at a person's fingertips and all the technology available, the private lives of people are not so private any more. Friedman makes this point loud and clear.

The fall Of The Berlin Wall symbolized the good that technology could do. It brought people together and helped them communicate. The tragedy on September 11th symbolized what could happen when technology is in the wrong hands. These are two important points in this book. The World Is Flat is really an eye opener in my opinion, because it implores readers to look at the positive and negative points of technology.