Sunday, November 25, 2012

TWIF Flattener 3 - Work Flow Software

Use one of the current events sources linked at http://mrsfridaysclass.wikispaces.com/Current+Events to find a recent news article that relates to, supports, or refutes Friedman's assertion that work flow software was a "flattener."  Your comment should include the title of the news article, a link to the article, and a summary of the article including an explanation of how the article relates to this point.  Don't forget to check your rubric for evaluation criteria!

7 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
  2. Despite a Slowdown, Smartphones Advances are Still Ahead
    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/17/technology/despite-a-slowdown-smartphone-advances-are-still-ahead.html?pagewanted=all

    This article talks about how productive smart phones are and how they are becoming even more advanced. Smart phones contain computing horsepower to enable big advances in software. Major advances in smartphone materials, software and even batteries could lead to substantial changes in how smartphones look and function in the years ahead. In Friedman's third flattener he talks about how advances in software and technology make it much easier for humans to send and recieve information such as email and docuements. The acrticle supports Friedman's theory because it describes how advances in smart phones make it much easier for people to communicate. For example, smartphones are becoming so advanced that they are starting to replace computers. There is no need to sit in front of a computer when you can send and recieve emails and go on the internet just by taking the phone out of your pocket.

    ReplyDelete
  3. From a Facebook Founder Comes a Way to Streamline Work Flow
    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/21/technology/from-a-facebook-founder-a-social-network-for-the-office.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

    The third flattener in Friedman's book The World is Flat expands on how the Internet became a tremendous asset to the workforce, including those who own their own businesses. Friedman also suggests how machines needed to "comunicate" with one another in order to produce more efficient platforms. This aspect allowed people to create their own personal invoices and allowed people to communicate with each other through the global workforce. The article mentioned above explains how a former employee of Facebook has created his own software called Asana. Asana is a software that shows a company's task list. Various tasks set up by the software may be assigned to a team of people in the company at anytime. Also, a task may be deleted from the software. In addition, workers in the company are capable of ranking the importance of each task that needs to be completed and managers can keep track of the work being performed. The article relates to this flattener because it mentions how this new software can impact the flow of work in many companies. People all over the world who work for the same company are able to contribute to the task list and see what needs to be accomplished. Asana will make work flow globally a much quicker process.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Birmingham, AL, police department deploys 911 technology from New World Systems
    http://www.gsnmagazine.com/node/28288?c=access_control_identification

    A New World Systems' computer aided dispatch software was recently introduced by the Birmingham police department. The software makes 911 response more efficient, and notifies first responders of important information. This is work flow software being used by police and fire departments. Friedman describes work flow software as what allows "workers in different locations to collaborate efficiently." The new software allows policeman to communicate and get to the emergency quicker. Efficiency is everything when it comes to responding to emergencies and this work flow software streamlines the process.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  6. New software, not Congress, may kill spam
    http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9810/09/spamsoft.idg/index.html?iref=allsearch

    This article is about how a specific program, Bright Light, is helping to permanently eliminate spam. It is composed up of thousands of fake email id's that receive messages and determine if the message is spam. If it is, it automatically blocks the sender of the spam from your computer. Currently four companies are supporting this software. They are AT&T, Concentric Networks, EarthLink, and USA.Net. It is also about the different attempts from the government to limit spam and how they all have or will fail to eliminate spam, and sometimes increase it. This relates to work flow software because it shows some of the problems with it.

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.