The First 112 Pages

I’ve told myself many times not to buy this book – The World Is Flat. Not because the book was poorly written, but probably because I didn’t believe we need another book about how Internet changed the world.

But just before the trip to Thailand, I decided to give it a try – after all, being a book-addict, I could not leave a bookstore empty-handed 😎

So after 112 pages, what did I find ? I found that if you’re living in Asia, and if you’re working in IT / Internet industry … then, don’t buy this book, it’s probably a waste of time. In these pages, the author wrote about outsourcing industry in India and China; and then how the fall of Berlin Wall changed the world; and then same to the Internet, fiber optic cables, Netscape browser, open-source software etc. etc..

All these topics were no doubt written in a lucidly clear fashion, and the author did research a lot for the book … but hey, all these topic are old news … so old that everyone should already knew it – unless you don’t know what’s going on in Asia and Internet.

Then you will probably ask, why it’s such a hot book in U.S.A ? My view is, excuse me, many American just don’t know much about what’s going on in Asia, outsourcing, Internet and globalization … Of course, I will read the rest of the book (another 400 pages) and I may change my view of this rather well-written book. In the meantime, stay tuned.

Author: Michael Yung

Michael possessed over 30 years of experience in Information Technology with focuses on complex application development, database technologies and IT strategy. He also spent the last 20 years in Internet technology, eCommerce development / operations, web usability, computer security and Public Key Infrastructure technologies. View all posts by Michael Yung