the.world.is.flat-第26节

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to　pay　for　the　paper　editions？　Hmmm。　I　loved　Amazon。com　until　it　started　providing　
a　global　platform　that　wasn't　selling　only　my　new　books　but　also　used　versions。　And　
I　am　still　not　sure　how　I　feel　about　Amazon　offering　sections　of　this　book　to　be　browsed　
online　for　free　Mundie　noted　that　a　major　American　auto　company　recently　discovered　
that　some　Chinese　firms　were　using　new　digital…scanning　technology　to　scan　an　entire　
car　and　churn　out　computer…aided　design　models　of　every　part　within　a　very　short　period　
of　time。　They　can　then　feed　those　designs　to　industrial　robots　and　in　short　order　
produce　a　perfect　copy　of　a　GM　car…without　having　to　spend　any　money　on　R　&　D。　American　
automakers　never　thought　they　had　anything　to　worry　about　from　wholesale　cloning　of　
their　cars；　but　in　the　flat　world；　given　the　technologies　that　are　out　there；　that　
is　no　longer　the　case。　
My　bottom　line　is　this：　Open…source　is　an　important　flattener　because　it　makes　
available　for　free　many　tools；　from　software　to　encyclopedias；　that　millions　of　people　
around　the　world　would　have　had　to　buy　in　order　to　use；　and　because　open…source　network　
associations…with　their　
103　
open　borders　and　come…one…come…all　approach…can　challenge　hierarchical　structures　
with　a　horizontal　model　of　innovation　that　is　clearly　working　in　a　growing　number　
of　areas。　Apache　and　Linux　have　each　helped　to　drive　down　costs　of　computing　and　
Internet　usage　in　ways　that　are　profoundly　flattening。　This　movement　is　not　going　
away。　Indeed；　it　may　just　be　getting　started…with　a　huge；　growing　appetite　that　could　
apply　to　many　industries。　As　The　Economist　mused　（June　10；　2004）；　〃some　zealots　even　
argue　that　the　open…source　approach　represents　a　new；　post…capitalist　model　of　
production。〃　
That　may　prove　true。　But　if　it　does；　then　we　have　some　huge　global　governance　issues　


to　sort　out　over　who　owns　what　and　how　individuals　and　companies　will　profit　from　
their　creations。　

Flattener　#5　
Outsourcing　
Y2K　
India　has　had　its　ups　and　down　since　it　achieved　independence　on　August　15；　1947；　
but　in　some　ways　it　might　be　remembered　as　the　luckiest　country　in　the　history　of　
the　late　twentieth　century。　
Until　recently；　India　was　what　is　known　in　the　banking　world　as　〃the　second　buyer。〃　
You　always　want　to　be　the　second　buyer　in　business…the　person　who　buys　the　hotel　or　
the　golf　course　or　the　shopping　mall　after　the　first　owner　has　gone　bankrupt　and　its　
assets　are　being　sold　by　the　bank　at　ten　cents　on　the　dollar。　Well；　the　first　buyers　
of　all　the　cable　laid　by　all　those　fiber…optic　cable　companies…which　thought　they　
were　going　to　get　endlessly　rich　in　an　endlessly　expanding　digital　universe…were　their　
American　shareholders。　When　the　bubble　burst；　they　were　left　holding　either　worthless　
or　much　diminished　stock。　The　Indians；　in　effect；　got　to　be　the　second　buyers　of　the　
fiber…optics　companies。　
They　didn't　actually　purchase　the　shares；　they　just　benefited　from　the　

overcapacity　in　fiber　optics；　which　meant　that　they　and　their　American　clients　got　
to　use　all　that　cable　practically　for　free。　This　was　a　huge　stroke　of　luck　for　India　
（and　to　a　lesser　degree　for　China；　the　former　Soviet　Union；　and　Eastern　Europe）；　
because　what　is　the　history　of　modern　India？　In　short；　India　is　a　country　with　
virtually　no　natural　resources　that　got　very　good　at　doing　one　thing…mining　the　brains　
of　its　own　people　by　educating　a　relatively　large　slice　of　its　elites　in　the　sciences；　
engineering；　and　medicine。　In　1951；　to　his　enduring　credit；　Jawaharlal　Nehru；　India's　
first　prime　minister；　set　up　the　first　of　India's　seven　Indian　Institutes　of　
Technology　（IIT）　in　the　eastern　city　of　Kharagpur。　In　the　fifty　years　since　then；　
hundreds　of　thousands　of　Indians　have　competed　to　gain　entry　and　then　graduate　from　
these　IITs　and　their　private…sector　equivalents　（as　well　as　the　six　Indian　Institutes　
of　Management；　which　teach　business　administration）。　Given　India's　1　billion…plus　
population；　this　competition　produces　a　phenomenal　knowledge　meritocracy。　It's　like　
a　factory；　churning　out　and　exporting　some　of　the　most　gifted　engineering；　computer　
science；　and　software　talent　on　the　globe。　
This；　alas；　was　one　of　the　few　things　India　did　right。　Because　its　often　dysfunctional　
political　system；　coupled　with　Nehru's　preference　for　pro…Soviet；　Socialist　
economics；　ensured　that　up　until　the　mid…1990s　India　could　not　provide　good　jobs　for　
most　of　those　talented　engineers。　So　America　got　to　be　the　second　buyer　of　India's　
brainpower！　If　you　were　a　smart；　educated　Indian；　the　only　way　you　could　fulfill　your　
potential　was　by　leaving　the　country　and；　ideally；　going　to　America；　where　some　
twenty…five　thousand　graduates　of　India's　top　engineering　schools　have　settled　since　
1953；　greatly　enriching　America's　knowledge　pool　thanks　to　their　education；　which　
was　subsidized　by　Indian　taxpayers。　


〃The　IITs　became　islands　of　excellence　by　not　allowing　the　general　debasement　of　the　
Indian　system　to　lower　their　exactingstandards；〃　noted　The　Wall　StreetJournal　（April　
16；　2003）。　〃You　couldn't　bribe　your　way　to　get　into　an　IIT　。　。　。　Candidates　are　accepted　
only　if　they　pass　a　grueling　entrance　exam。　The　government　does　not　interfere　with　
the　curriculum；　and　the　workload　is　demanding。　。　。　Arguably；　it　is　harder　to　get　into　
an　IIT　than　into　Harvard　or　the　Massachusetts　Institute　of　Technology。　。　。　IIT　alumnus　
Vinod　Khosla；　who　co…founded　Sun　
105　
Microsystems；　said：　'When　I　finished　IIT　Delhi　and　went　to　Carnegie　Mellon　for　my　
Masters；　I　thought　I　was　cruising　all　the　way　because　it　was　so　easy　relative　to　the　
education　I　got　at　IIT。'〃　
For　most　of　their　first　fifty　years；　these　IITs　were　one　of　the　greatest　bargains　
America　ever　had。　It　was　as　if　someone　installed　a　brain　drain　that　filled　up　in　New　
Delhi　and　emptied　in　Palo　Alto。　
And　then　along　came　Netscape；　the　1996　telecom　deregulation；　and　Global　Crossing　and　
its　fiber…optic　friends。　The　world　got　flattened　and　that　whole　deal　got　turned　on　
its　head。　〃India　had　no　resources　and　no　infrastructure；〃　said　Dinakar　Singh；　one　
of　the　most　respected　young　hedge　fund　managers　on　Wall　Street；　whose　parents　
graduated　from　an　IIT　and　then　immigrated　to　America；　where　he　was　born。　〃It　produced　
people　with　quality　and　by　quantity。　But　many　of　them　rotted　on　the　docks　of　India　
like　vegetables。　Only　a　relative　few　could　get　on　ships　and　get　out。　Not　anymore；　
because　we　built　this　ocean　crosser；　called　fiberoptic　cable　。　。　。　For　decades　you　
had　to　leave　India　to　be　a　professional。　。　。　Now　you　can　plug　into　the　world　from　
India。　You　don't　have　to　go　to　Yale　and　go　to　work　for　Goldman　Sachs　＇as　I　did。＇〃　
India　could　never　have　afforded　to　pay　for　the　bandwidth　to　connect　brainy　India　with　
high…tech　America；　so　American　shareholders　paid　for　it。　Sure；　overinvestment　can　
be　good。　The　overinvestment　in　railroads　turned　out　to　be　a　great　boon　for　the　American　
economy。　〃But　the　railroad　overinvestment　was　confined　to　your　own　country　and　so　
too　were　the　benefits；〃　said　Singh。　In　the　case　of　the　digital　railroads；　〃it　was　
the　foreigners　who　benefited。〃　India　got　to　ride　for　free。　
It　is　fun　to　talk　to　Indians　who　were　around　at　precisely　the　moment　when　American　
companies　started　to　discover　they　could　draw　on　India's　brainpower　in　India。　One　
of　them　is　Vivek　Paul；　now　the　president　of　Wipro；　the　Indian　software　giant。　〃In　
many　ways　the　Indian　information　technology　＇outsourcing＇　revolution　began　with　
General　Electric　coming　over。　We're　talking　the　late　1980s　and　early　'90s。　At　the　
time；　Texas　Instruments　was　doing　some　chip　design　in　India。　Some　of　their　key　
designers　＇in　America＇　were　Indians；　and　they　basically　let　them　go　back　home　and　
work　from　there　＇using　the　rather　crude　communications　networks　that　existed　then　
to　stay　in　touch。＇　At　that　time；　I　was　heading　up　
106　
the　operations　for　GE　Medical　Systems　in　Bangalore。　＇GE's　chairman＇　Jack　Welch　came　
to　India　in　1989　and　was　completely　taken　by　India　as　a　source　of　intellectual　
advantage　for　GE。　Jack　would　say；　'India　is　a　developing　country　with　a　developed　
intellectual　capability。'　He　saw　a　talent　pool　that　could　be　leveraged。　So　he　said；　


'We　spend　a　lot　of　money　doing　software。　Couldn't　we　do　some　work　for　our　IT　department　
here？'〃　Because　India　had　closed　its　market　to　foreign　technology　companies；　like　
IBM；　Indian　companies　had　started　their　own　factories　to　make　PCs　and　servers；　and　
Welch　felt　that　if　they　could　do　it　for　themselves；　they　could　do　it　for　GE。　
To　pursue　the　project；　Welch　sent　a　team　headed　by　GE's　chief　information　officer　
over　to　India　to　check　out　the　possibilities。　Paul　was　also　filling　in　as　GE's　business　
development　manager　for　India　at　the　time。　〃So　it　was　my　job　to　escort　the　corporate　
CIO；　in　early　1990；　on　his　first　trip；〃　he　recalled。　〃They　had　come　with　some　pilot　
projects　to　get　the　ball　rolling。　I　remember　in　the　middle　of　the　night　going　to　pick　
them　up　at　the　Delhi　airport　with　a　caravan　of　Indian　cars；　Ambassadors；　based　on　
a　very　dated　1950s　Morris　Minor　design。　Everyone　in　the　government　drove　one。　So　we　
had　a　five…car