Flatteners #10 ("Steroids"): How do the technologies Friedman calls "steroids" (wireless, mobile, digitization, etc.) amplify the power of the other nine flatteners?
Here is the translation:
Good question—it really nails a core idea in The World is Flat. Friedman’s name for the tenth flattener, "The Steroids," is pure genius. Let’s break down in plain language how this powerhouse supercharges the other nine flatteners.
The Steroids: Turbocharging the Flatteners
Think of it this way: Steroids alone won’t turn an average person into a world champion, but they make a trained athlete stronger, faster, and more resilient.
Friedman’s "Steroids"—digital, mobile, personal, and virtual technologies—work exactly like that. They’re not standalone flatteners but potent accelerators injected into the first nine (e.g., the fall of the Berlin Wall, Netscape’s IPO, outsourcing, supply chains, etc.).
They amplify those nine forces in three key ways:
1. Shattering the Wires: Unleashing "Anywhere, Anytime"
Before Steroids, flattening forces like outsourcing, supply-chaining, and in-forming relied on fixed internet connections and desktop computers. You had to be at a desk.
- With "Steroids":
- Outsourcing & Offshoring: An Indian programmer isn’t chained to an office desk in Bangalore. With a laptop and Wi-Fi, they can code for a U.S. company from home, a café, or even a train back home—making global talent pools far more fluid and scalable.
- Supply-Chaining: A Walmart manager no longer rushes back to the office to check inventory. With a tablet in hand, they can walk through a warehouse, tracking shipments from China in real-time and spotting restocking needs instantly. Efficiency and responsiveness skyrocket.
- Uploading & Open-Sourcing: Contribute to Wikipedia via your phone on the subway or approve open-source code while waiting for coffee. Collaboration breaks free from physical constraints.
2. Empowering Individuals, Not Just Organizations
Pre-Steroids, joining global collaboration required being part of an organization. Steroids scaled down powerful tools for individuals.
- With "Steroids":
- In-forming: It’s not just "Googling at your desk." Now, scan a product barcode with your phone in a store to instantly pull up specs, prices, and reviews. Knowledge becomes immediate, ubiquitous power.
- Workflow Software: Complex corporate systems gave way to mobile apps like Slack, DingTalk, or Feishu. Small teams—or even solo players—can now collaborate globally effortlessly, slashing the cost and complexity of running transnational projects.
- Insourcing: UPS repairing your Toshiba laptop once demanded intricate logistics. Today, a single courier with a handheld device handles pickup, data entry, route planning, and customer updates—supercharging every node in the chain.
3. Digitizing Everything: Near-Zero-Cost Collaboration
The essence of Steroids is digitization—transforming voice, files, video, and processes into streams of 0s and 1s.
- With "Steroids":
- Voice Transmission (VoIP): Tools like Skype and WhatsApp made cross-border communication nearly free, turbocharging outsourcing/offshoring. Expensive international calls? Replaced by instant video meetings.
- Everything Becomes Data: Health stats (smartwatches), location (GPS), payments (mobile wallets)—all become digital fuel for other flatteners, enabling new business models. Example: An Italian designer sends blueprints to a Chinese factory (offshoring), collects payment via mobile apps, and collaborates via chat (workflow software)—all from a smartphone.
In Short
"The Steroids" are like strapping GPS navigation, autopilot, limitless nuclear fuel, and shape-shifting tools onto the original flatteners.
They transform flattening forces by making them:
- Mobile over fixed: Untethered from location.
- Personal over institutional: Accessible to all.
- Low-/zero-cost over costly: Collaboration barriers vaporized.
- Always-on over scheduled: Connected 24/7.
So Friedman declared the world flat—but the Steroids laid down an ultra-smooth sheet of ice, sending information, capital, and workflows racing farther, faster, and frictionlessly across the leveled field.