Friedman describes a process of software which is called workflow software in his book “The World is Flat.” Workflow software implements software that simplifies a process that was normally done by paper. In a job I had years ago, orders were taken by the sales people. The sales people would enter the orders into the computer system and print out a paper copy of the order. The sales people would then walk over to the warehouse and give the paper copy of the order to the employees that were operating the warehouse. The warehouse people would take the paper copy and pull the items from the warehouse stock. The pulled order would get staged to be delivered, an invoice printed, and finally get delivered. The process got simpler when a new software process enabled the sales people to stay at their workstation, while completing the tasks they had originally done. Instead of printing a copy of the order and hand delivering the paper copy to the warehouse employees, the salesperson would enter the order, process the order, and send the copy of the order electronically to the warehouse. The warehouse also would have a paperless system. When the order was sent to the warehouse, the warehouse personnel would see the new order and be able to print “pick labels”. The labels contained various information; information containing part number, description, quantity, customer’s name, and a purchase order number. In this example, the workflow software enabled sales people and the warehouse personnel to be more efficient.
Friedman describes open source software as community software. Open source software uses the collective knowledge of many developers. These developers produce and enhance software that fulfills their needs and wants in a software program; however, many pros and cons exist with open source software. Open source software will generally have some type of support or responses to problems or bugs in the software. If you are a developer, you can implement new features and share them with others. Open source software generally has fewer bugs and is more secure than closed source software. Licensing for closed source software can be a little tricky; companies must purchase many copies of the closed software in order to install the software on multiple computers; open source can be installed on any system without worrying about licensing issues. Some cons include: versions of the open source software are sometimes discarded, meaning that new versions of the software become available and support and updates for the older version are discontinued. Open source software caters to the developer’s needs and not so much for the needs of the end user.
Open source software is important because with the collective knowledge, experience, and needs of developers; many great ideas and innovations come to pass. Developers can work off the progress of others and better any program. Proprietary software is limited to the people that are hired to develop the software, while open source software has no such limitations and is limited to the developer’s knowledge and expertise only.
Outsourcing is sending a task or project to a different entity. Whether the task or project is sent to a different country or sent to a different company within the same country, it is outsourcing. Outsourcing has pros and cons. Some of the pros consist of lower costs, more expertise, and more efficient. Some cons include: no control of the development process, no control of the outcome, work being sent to outside countries, thus inflating the domestic unemployment rate.
Friedman expresses how great India has become; however, he has yet to mention the negative impact of outsourcing. Everything he has said from page one to page 136 has magnified the greatness of India. He explains that India was the second buyer of the fiber optic system, meaning that India got a steal of a deal. I feel that Friedman thinks the United States to be inferior to India and also places India on a pedestal because of the way he writes.
I appreciate your comment in your last paragraph that you feel Friedman thinks India is superior to the U.S., but I must respectfully disagree. In my understanding of the reading, I do not feel Friedman has made any mention of India being superior to the U.S. at all. In fact he mentioned the fact that India's leaders followed a Soviet-like system that inhibited job growth within India. He does state that the leaders did wisely educate the people heavily in technology by use of the Indian Technology Institutes, but in my opinion Friedman merely states that in certain ways India got lucky.
ReplyDeleteWe were instructed to say something bold. So, I did. :0)
ReplyDeleteFriedman does state that India contains a lot of smart people and that the schools there are more difficult. You are right in that Friedman does not mention India being superior; however, as I state in my blog, he writes in a way that makes India appear "better" than the US.