I need to summarize it a little bit and paraphrase it. Thanks Flattener #1: “11/
ID: 1131866 • Letter: I
Question
I need to summarize it a little bit and paraphrase it. Thanks
Flattener #1: “11/9/89, The New Age of Creativity: when the walls came Down and the Windows Went Up." On 11/9/89, the Berlin Wall fell ("the Walls Came Down") and the citizens of the former Soviet empire were suddenly able to participate in the global economy. Friedman uses the fall of the Berlin Wall as a symbol for a general global shift towards democratic governments and free-market economies (where consumers determine prices based on what they're willing to pay) and away from authoritarian governments and centrally planned economies (in which prices are set by government officials). India made the conversion from a centrally planned economy to a free-market system two years after the Berlin Wall fell, when its economy was on the brink of collapse. Their annual rate of India's growth soared from 3% per year to 7%. Friedman argues that the Berlin Wall also represented a barrier to seeing the world as a "a single market, a single ecosystem, and a single community" (p. 53). When it fell, it became easier for the world to see itself as one gigantic economic playing field. Six months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, in May 1990, Microsoft shipped its breakthrough operating system, Windows 3.0 ("The Windows Went Up"). This may not sound like a big deal, but this operating system was so much easier to use than previous versions that Friedman argues it is in large part responsible for popularizing personal computing everyda)y people began using computers. The reason that personal computing is influential is that it fostered people's interaction with digital media content - music, pictures, video, and text that is represented as 1's and O's on a computer and thus can be stored, manipulated, and shared in an infinite number of ways. Film is replaced with memory cards. Records are replaced with electronic files on MP3 players. This is what Friedman means when he calls this period "The New Age of Creativity" - it is the time when people are given the tools to author and share new information faster and easier than ever beforeExplanation / Answer
Flattener #1: “11/9/89, The New Age of Creativity: When the Walls came down and Windows went up”.
The Berlin Wall came down on 11/9/89 and this marked the transition from centrally planned economies (where the government authoritatively set the prices) to free-market economies ( where prices were set up by the forces of demand and supply). When India made this transition to free-market economy two years after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, its annual growth rate jumped from 3% per year to 7%. According to Friedman, the Berlin Wall was barrier to seeing the world as one economic entity or community.
In May 1990 Microsoft marketed its breakthrough operating system (Windows 3.0) six months after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Personal computing was made easy. Friedman called this “The New Age of Creativity” as people are given tools to author and share information faster than before.