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cable out there。 Long…distance phone rates went from 2 a minute to 100。 And the
transmission of data was virtually free。 〃The telecom industry has invested itself
right out of a business；〃 Mike McCue； chief operations officer of Tellme Networks；
a voice…activated Internet service； told CNET News。com in June 2001。 〃They've laid
so much fiber in the ground that they've basically commoditized themselves。 They are
going to get into massive price wars with everyone and it's going to be a disaster。〃
It was a disaster for many of the companies and their investors （Global Crossing filed
for bankruptcy in January 2002； with 12。4 billion in debt）； but it turned out to
be a great boon for consumers。 Just as the na
tional highway system that was built in the 1950s flattened the United States； broke
down regional differences； and made it so much easier for companies to relocate in
lower…wage regions； like the South； because ithad become so much easier to move people
and goods long distances； so the laying of global fiber highways flattened the
developed world。 It helped to break down global regionalism； create a more seamless
global commercial network； and made it simple and almost free to move digitized
labor…service jobs and knowledge work…to lower…cost countries。
（It should be noted； though； that those fiber highways in America tended to stop at
the last mile…before connecting to households。 While a huge amount of long…distance
fiber cable was laid to connect India and America； virtually none of these new U。S。
telecom companies laid any substantial new local loop infrastructure； due to a failure
of the 1996 telecom deregulation act to permit real competition in the local loop
between the cable companies and the telephone companies。 Where the local broadband
did get installed was in office buildings； which were already pretty well served by
the old companies。 So this pushed prices down for businesses…and for Indians who
wanted to get online from Bangalore to do business with those businesses…but it didn't
create the sort of competition that could bring cheap broadband capability to the
American masses in their homes。 That has started happening only more recently。）
The broad overinvestment in fiber cable is a gift that keeps on giving； thanks to
the unique nature of fiber optics。 Unlike other forms of Internet overinvestment；
it was permanent： Once the fiber cables were laid； no one was going to dig them up
and thereby eliminate the overcapacity。 So when the telecom companies went bankrupt；
the banks took them over and then sold their fiber cables for ten cents on the dollar
to new companies； which continued to operate them； which they could do profitably；
having bought them in a fire sale。 But the way fiber cable works is that each cable
has multiple strands of fiber init with a potential capacityto transmit many terabits
of data per second on each strand。 When these fiber cables were originally laid； the
optical switches…the transmitters and receivers…at each end of them could not take
full advantage of the fiber's full capacity。 But every year since then； the optical
switches
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at each end of that fiber cable have gotten better and better； meaning that more and
more voices and data can be transmitted down each fiber。 So as the switches keep
improving； the capacity of all the already installed fiber cables just keeps growing；
making it cheaper and easier to transmit voices and data every year to any part of
the world。 It is as though we laid down a national highway system where people were
first allowed to drive 50 mph； then 60 mph； then 70 mph； then 80 mph； then eventually
150 mph on the same highways without any fear of accidents。 Only this highway wasn't
just national。 It was international。
〃Every layer of innovation gets built on the next；〃 said Andreessen； who went on from
Netscape to start another high…tech firm； Opsware Inc。 〃And today the most profound
thing to me is the fact that a fourteen…year…old in Romania or Bangalore or the Soviet
Union or Vietnam has all the information； all the tools； all the software easily
available to apply knowledge however they want。 That is why I am sure the next Napster
is going to come out of left field。 As bioscience becomes more computational and less
about wet labs； and as all the genomic data becomes easily available on the Internet；
at some point you will be able to design vaccines on your laptop。〃
I think Andreessen touches on what is unique about the flat world and the era of
Globalization 3。0。 It is going to be driven by groups and individuals； but of a much
more diverse background than those twelve scientists who made up Andreessen's world
when he created Mosaic。 Now we are going to see the real human mosaic emerge…from
all over the world； from left field and right field； from West and East and North
and South…to drive the next generation of innovation。 Indeed； a few days after
Andreessen and I talked； the following headline appeared on the front page of The
New York Times （July 15； 2004）： 〃U。S。 Permits 3 Cancer Drugs from Cuba。〃 The story
went on to say； 〃The federal government is permitting a California biotechnology
company to license three experimental cancer drugs from Cuba…making an exception to
the policy of tightly restricting trade with that country。〃Executives of the company；
CancerVex； said that 〃it was the first time an American biotechnology company had
obtained permission to license a drug from Cuba； a country that some industry
executives and scientists say is surprisingly strong in
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biotechnology for a developing nation 。 。 。 More than 1 billion was spent over the
years to build and operate research institutes on the west side of Havana staffed
by Cuban scientists； many of them educated in Europe。〃
Just to summarize again： The PC…Windows flattening phase was about me interacting
with my computer and me interacting with my own limited network inside my own company。
Then came along this Internet…e…mail…browser phase； and it flattened the earth a
little bit more。 It was about me and my computer interacting with anyone anywhere
on any machine； which is what e…mail is all about； and me and my computer interacting
with anybody's Web site on the Internet； which is what browsing is all about。 In short；
the PC…Windows phase begat the Netscape browsing…e…mail phase and the two together
enabled more people to communicate and interact with more other people anywhere on
the planet than ever before。
But the fun was just beginning。 This phase was just the foundation for the next step
in flattening the flat world。
Flatten
Work Flow Software
Let's Do Lunch： Have Your Application
Talk to My Application
I met Scott Hyten； the CEO of Wild Brain； a cutting…edge animation studio in San
Francisco that produces films and cartoons for Disney and other major studios； at
a meeting in Silicon Valley in the winter of 2004。1 had been invited by John Doerr；
the venture capitalist； to test out the ideas in this book to a few of the companies
that he was backing。 Hyten and I really hit it off； maybe beca