We consist of five students from the Philippine Science High School.
Through publishing this blog, we aim to inform the public about globalization and the flat world.
Globalization was made possible by two things: computers and the Internet. Computers serve to create the ideas and knowledge which we use in our industries today, and the Internet serves as the medium with which we can communicate these ideas. When Microsoft was released in May of 1990, walls were torn down, and along with it, a global interface which people could manipulate to suit their needs emerged in the form of the Microsoft Windows 3.0 operating system.
Five years later, on August 9, Netscape made itself known to the world. It brought with it the Netscape Navigator browser, which allowed users to see images and data stored on websites, and software that allowed companies to create intranets which aided in the management of company databases, website building and electronic commerce over the Internet. The creation of the Netscape Navigator led to a series of events that triggered the immense overinvestment in fiber-optic technology. This overinvestment in fiber-optic cables resulted in the creation of a global fiber-optic network which crisscrosses the seafloor and traverses the underground network of telecommunications wires. It has made the sending of data such as images, recordings and data extremely cheap. In addition, it has eradicated the issue of geography being a hindrance to communication between countries; all of a sudden, Australia and Chile are next-door neighbors.
Microsoft, in essence, drove the technological revolution that has taken over our world today and the Internet, brought alive by Netscape, facilitated globalization.
Other factors which furthered globalization, such as software and outsourcing were simply results of these two main factors. There are eight other factors which continue to squish our world into smaller proportions and further globalization each day.
Here they are:
1. Software that integrates software - Consists of all the software applications and electronic transmissions that connect computers to fiber-optic cables around the world. It allows people from all over the globe to communicate with one another so that they can manipulate, create and send data to each another.
2. Outsourcing - The process of breaking down work into smaller units which are sent to different companies all over the globe that specialize in the particular portion of the work and where it is [often] done at cheaper prices.
3. Offshoring - The moving of operations in a company or factory to a different area in any part of the globe. For example, if your factory was originally found in Manila in the Philippines, you could have it moved to Brussels in Belgium if it makes production more efficient.
4. Freeware and Uploading - Allows individuals to create their own data such as music, videos and literature. It also allows people to modify programs to suit their needs.
5. Insourcing - This process involves the employment of another company or factory to manage a certain department or some of the departments in the company or factory.
6. Supply-Chaining - The process of creating a worldwide chain of plants which are extremely efficient. Stocks, for example, are determined each day through the products bought by the consumers; when I sell a product in one of my plants, a new one is made in Sri Lanka to replace the one sold. An example of a company that utilizes supply-chaining is Wal-Mart.
7. Data-Mining - The individuals to gain unlimited access to knowledge and information.
8. Quanta (packets of energy) - Speeds up the means of communication and collaboration such that you can communicate with partners or people anytime, anywhere. An example is wireless internet access.
When all these factors came together during the 21st century, we all got squished. You, me, everybody in the planet got flattened, along with the world we lived in.
And it doesn't end here. In fact, we haven't even begun.
