Thomas Friedman talks of 10 things that made the world flat:

1. Fall of the Berlin Wall The events of November 9, 1989, tilted the worldwide balance of power toward democracies and free markets.

2. Netscape IPO The August 9, 1995, offering sparked massive investment in fiber-optic cables.

3. Work flow software The rise of apps from PayPal to VPNs enabled faster, closer coordination among far-flung employees.

4. Open-sourcing Self-organizing communities, � la Linux, launched a collaborative revolution.

5. Outsourcing Migrating business functions to India saved money and a third world economy.

6. Offshoring Contract manufacturing elevated China to economic prominence.

7. Supply-chaining Robust networks of suppliers, retailers, and customers increased business efficiency. See Wal-Mart.

8. Insourcing Logistics giants took control of customer supply chains, helping mom-and-pop shops go global. See UPS and FedEx.

9. In-forming Power searching allowed everyone to use the Internet as a “personal supply chain of knowledge.” See Google.

10. Wireless Like “steroids,” wireless technologies pumped up collaboration, making it mobile and personal.