The World Is Flat

The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman introduces an extremely interesting novel about globalization around the world today. I actually had the opportunity to read part of the book for my management 423- International Business course and found some of Friedman's arguments and points very interesting. This new era of globalization 3.0 has brought international collaboration to an all time high. Every day people in Atlanta are communicating with people in Japan with just a click of a button on a computer. Today it is more important than ever to expand internationally and promote the growth of not only businesses, but acceptance of other cultures around the world. The US is steadily declining as a society due to 3 main issues which are the numbers, ambition, and education gaps. The numbers gap relates to the US not having enough educated workers and engineers, ambition describes how many Americans feel entitled to a job or position instead of working hard for it, and the education gap is the fact that US schools are not properly training America's youth the be successful. In order to improve our society, Friedman lists several keys for success in a flat world. Collaborating within and between companies, putting disparate and unusual things together, the ability to explain complex concepts with simplicity, and optimizing the interface between humans and machines are all going to play an important role in the future development of our country.

Green IS

By definition, Green IS is the design and implementation of information systems that contribute to sustainable business processes. The following are qualities of Green IS: supporting teamwork and meetings between employees throughout the world, to promote systems that support collaboration, group document management, and cooperative knowledge management, track environmental information, monitor operational emissions and waste products, and to provide information to consumers to help them make more knowledgeable and responsible green choices. As far as how Green IS relates to Green IT, IS has much greater potential due the to the fact that it tackles a much greater problem. IS also has a bigger impact because it makes entire systems more sustainable instead of just simply reducing energy. The Energy Information Agency, International Energy Agency, and WTGR Economics are just a few of the many agencies that focus solely on Green IS and improving our world as a whole.

Green IT

Green IT is going to become a bigger and bigger need in years to come. With America's focus turning to being more efficient and energy/cost saving, going green is going to become extremely important in IT due to the amount of time and resources we put in to that field. There are many ways to address this problem. Designing energy efficient chips and disk drives, replacing PC's with thinner laptops, running multiple programs on a single server, reducing energy consumption in data centers, using renewable energy, reducing electronic waste from obsolete equipment, and promoting telecommuting to reduce transportation costs are all different ways to go green. With limited resources and rising IT costs it will be extremely important in engage these opportunities for improvement and advancement in coming years.

Social Media

I would be willing to bet social media is used in some format by every student at Clemson. Whether it be twitter, Facebook, and another popular site, the concept of social media is rapidly taking over the world today. A few years ago MySpace was the premier site for social media. I know in my group of friends if you didn't have a MySpace then you just weren't very cool. Nowadays just about everyone has a Facebook and Twitter is steadily growing as the new fad. Twitter started off as just a place to keep up with your favorite celebrities but has evolved into the newest social media craze. I know personally I used to always be on Facebook. Recently I haven't spent near the time I used to on it however. Words with Friends is also catching on and gaining more and more users each and every day. Words with Friends is basically like an online game of Scrabble where you and your friends take turns spelling words on a game board. With the way social media is growing at a rapid pace, there is no telling what the new craze will be in the next few months.

Disruptive Innovations

The iPhone seems to be one of the most well known disruptive innovations. It can do just about anything you want; from scanning your credit card to turning off you lights from hundreds of miles away while you aren't home. In the beginning, cell phones came in a bag you kept in your car. They eventually evolved into flip phones and then custom ringtones were the next big thing to come. Text messaging became the new fad, and camera phones came along too. The iPhone does all of these things and hundreds more. For years people have been buying Apple's iPod, but now the iPhone can hold your music for you. It also has a video camera, can make phone calls, send text messages, play games, and pay bills. The iPhone does it all. It is a disruptive innovation because it completely changed the cell phone market and mp3 player market. Now android has come along to compete with the iPhone and is have pretty good success but for a while iPhones dominated the cell phone market because of their capability to do anything imaginable.

Nerds

Nerds generally carry around a negative stereotype these days. Throughout my time in middle school and high school being a nerd was generally considered to be a derogatory comment. I would have considered myself a jock in high school because I hung out with the popular crowd and played sports, but nowadays I realize that life would not be the same without the nerds. Every group or stereotype has their place in most high schools, and most are scrutinized heavily, but nerds are the reason America is where we are today. It does not matter how weird they dress, if they wear glasses, or don't hang out with the popular crowd. It seems to me that the majority of America's youth couldn't care less about school these days and it honestly seems we are getting dumber as a society. So as to where 5 years ago I would have been doing the scrutinizing, today I want to step forward and encourage the characteristics of nerds, to bring American back to the dominance that is slowly slipping away. Albert Einstein was a nerd, and I would say he turned out to be pretty successful.

E-Commerce

E-commerce is becoming a way of business more and more each day. Some of the largest stores from electronics to clothing are operating online these days. One well-known store that uses a business to consumer approach is Walmart. Everyone has heard of Walmart, and I would be willing to bet just about everyone has made a purchase there. When most people think of Walmart they think of the large store that has just about everything from groceries to jeans to video games. They are a prime example of a business to consumer approach. Walmart, the business, offs just about everything under the sun to their consumers. They have a very good business model which is why they have had the long lifespan they have had. Walmart uses their "always low prices" approach to entice their customers to shop at their stores throughout the country. Most people suspect Walmart of using a brick-and-mortar approach too. However; Walmart now offers a click-and-mortar approach. Customers can now access all of Walmart's products online and make purchases with just the click of a mouse. They even offer special online only products and deals. Walmart is a prime example of how a brick-and-mortar store can evolve into a click-and-mortar environment and still not lose any productivity.