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.

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Business in the Longtail

Business in the Longtail is a strategy employed by many of the most successful web-based companies in the world. One example is a company that I always use personally in eBay. eBay makes its profit by focusing on the auction format, which is its example of the longtail. eBay provides online auctions leaps and bounds more proficiently than the closest competitor. Millions of people around the world use eBay for personal use and sometimes even run their own business off of eBay. eBay makes its profit by taking a percentage of each sale and by charging listing fees for each auction. Another longtail business is Netflix which promotes online video rental for a simple monthly subscription fee. Renting movies online and receiving them the next business day and being about to return them using prepaid postage puts Netflix on top about the rest. All in all longtail businesses focus on what they do best and promote the shit out of it to make their profit, and when successful, a enormous profit is there for the taking.

Networking (First Blog Topic)

Networking is an intrical part of society today; making everything run much smoother and communication much simpler. Being able to communicate with someone across the Atlantic ocean in just seconds would have been an afterthought as little as 10 years ago. Social networking is the first thing that comes to my mind when hearing the word, but networking is so much more than just Twitter and Facebook. Multinational corporations are now able to hold video and teleconferences 1,000's of miles apart and regular Americans can live stream video from anywhere around the world using Skype. On the topic of Skype however, the Chinese government is looking to ban the service in China. In my International Business class we have been discussing various current topics going on throughout the world and China has been involved in many of the discussions. China is currently having trouble with illegal music downloads, adding restrictions to Google, and hacking into firms' networks. This has a huge impact on networking not just in China, but around the world due to China's high tech civilization and rapid growth.

Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is rapidly changing the landscape of the entire world, not just business models. With what were previously thought of as 3rd world countries gaining more and more access to emerging technologies, as well as seeing an increase in their education and skills, it is more important now than ever for the US to reclaim global dominance. With China, Brazil, India, and Russia quickly expanding their economies, we need to not become content with our position as a leading global power but look to expand that lead. Web 2.0 can help us do that. Social media, blogs, and video sharing are becoming more and more prominent by the day and can be a great source of advertising. If companies and organizations want to spread the word about a brilliant new idea or opportunity, whether it be Facebook or YouTube, the advertisement opportunity is there for the taking. Many businesses these days have their own Facebook page where users can go to learn more and more about the business. With the current state of the US economy and rise of others, it is now more important than ever that US corporations spread the word of their work to US citizens and promote their intellectual growth so the US can expand its worldwide dominance.

Pervasive Networking

Facebook seems to be growing and expanding more and more everyday. The infusion of technology throughout Europe and Asia in the past decade has added millions of users to the Facebook community. Now more than ever is Facebook a great way to keep up with old friends or make new ones who have interests similar to yours; as well as network. Networking through Facebook has become even more relevant recently due to the ability to "tag" friends in a status to where the status shows up on their page. This new feature is similar to twitter where users can respond to others' tweets. The importance behind this new edition to Facebook is to make others pay attention. Plain and simple. Whether someone is looking for a job or just wants to hold a casual debate with someone 3,000 miles away, this new tagging feature will allow users to get their attention. In my business writing class we had a social media guru come in to speak to our class. He presented us with one stunning example of tagging a person in a status. The gentleman was helping his friend look for a job, tagged the CEO of a huge Chicago company in his status, and sure enough the CEO responded and his friend landed a huge job. This is just one prime example of how the pervasive networking through Facebook can have a huge impact on the world and just add to the constant melting pot.