the.world.is.flat-第15章

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that　he　was　backing。　Hyten　and　I　really　hit　it　off；　maybe　because　after　hearing　my　
arguments　he　wrote　me　an　e…mail　that　said；　〃I　am　sure　in　Magellan's　time　there　were　
plenty　of　theologians；　geographers；　and　pundits　who　wanted　to　make　the　world　flat　
again。　I　know　the　world　is　flat；　and　thank　you　for　your　support。〃　A　man　after　my　own　
heart。　

When　I　asked　him　to　elaborate；　Hyten　sketched　out　for　me　how　animated　films　are　
produced　today　through　a　global　supply　chain。　I　understood　immediately　why　he　too　
had　concluded　that　the　world　is　flat。　〃At　Wild　Brain；〃　he　said；　〃we　make　something　
out　of　nothing。　We　learn　how　to　take　advantage　of　the　flat　world。　We　are　not　fighting　
it。　We　are　taking　advantage　of　it。〃　
Hyten　invited　me　to　come　and　watch　them　produce　a　cartoon　segment　to　really　appreciate　
how　flat　the　world　is；　which　I　did。　The　series　they　were　working　on　when　I　showed　
up　was　for　the　Disney　Channel　and　called　Higglytown　Heroes。　It　was　inspired　by　all　
the　ordinary　people　who　rose　to　the　challenge　of　9/11。　Higglytown　〃is　the　typical　
1950s　small　town；〃　said　Hyten。　〃It　is　Pleasantville。　And　we　are　exporting　the　
production　of　this　American　small　town　around　the　world…literally　and　figuratively。　
The　foundation　of　the　story　is　that　every　person；　all　the　ordinary　people　living　their　
lives；　are　the　heroes　in　this　small　town…from　the　schoolteacher　to　the　pizza　delivery　
man。〃　
This　all…American　show　is　being　produced　by　an　all…world　supply　chain。　〃The　recording　
session；〃　explained　Hyten；　〃is　located　near　the　artist；　usually　in　New　York　or　L。A。；　
the　design　and　direction　is　done　in　San　Francisco；　the　writers　network　in　from　their　
homes　（Florida；　London；　New　York；　Chicago；　LA；　and　San　Francisco）；　and　the　animation　
of　the　characters　is　done　in　Bangalore　with　edits　from　San　Francisco。　For　this　show　
we　have　eight　teams　in　Bangalore　working　in　parallel　with　eight　different　writers。　
This　efficiency　has　allowed　us　to　contract　with　fifty　'stars'　for　the　twenty…six　
episodes。　These　interactive　recording/writing/　animation　sessions　allow　us　to　record　
an　artist　for　an　entire　show　in　less　than　half　a　day；　including　unlimited　takes　and　
rewrites。　We　record　two　actors　per　week。　For　example；　last　week　we　recorded　Anne　Heche　
and　Smokey　Robinson。　Technically；　we　do　this　over　the　Internet。　We　have　a　VPN　＇virtual　
private　network＇　configured　on　computers　in　our　offices　and　on　what　we　call　writers'　


'footballs；'　or　special　laptop　computers　that　can　connect　over　any　cat…5　Ethernet　
connection　or　wireless　broadband　connection　in　the　'field。'　This　VPN　allows　us　to　
share　the　feed　from　the　microphone；　images　from　the　session；　the　real…time　script；　
and　all　the　animation　designs　amongst　all　the　locations　with　a　simple　log…in。　There…　
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fore；　one　way　for　you　to　observe　is　for　us　to　ship　you　a　football。　You　connect　at　
home；　the　office；　most　hotel　rooms；　or　go　down　to　your　local　Starbucks　＇which　has　
wireless　broadband　Internet　access＇；　log　on；　put　on　a　pair　of　Bose　noise…reduction　
headphones；　and　listen；　watch；　read；　and　comment。　'Sharon；　can　you　sell　that　line　
a　little　more？'　Then；　over　the　eleven…week　production　schedule　for　the　show；　you　can　
log　in　twenty…four　hours　a　day　and　check　the　progress　of　the　production　as　it　follows　
the　sun　around　the　world。　Technically；　you　need　the　'football'　only　for　the　session。　
You　can　use　your　regular　laptop　tofollow　the　'dailies'　and　'edits'　over　the　production　
cycle。〃　
I　needed　to　see　Wild　Brain　firsthand；　because　it　is　a　graphic　example　of　the　next　
layer　of　innovation；　and　the　next　flattener；　that　broadly　followed　on　the　Berlin　
Wall…Windows　and　Netscape　phases。　I　call　this　the　〃work　flow　phase。〃　When　the　walls　
went　down；　and　the　PC；　Windows；　and　Netscape　browser　enabled　people　to　connect　with　
other　people　as　never　before；　it　did　not　take　long　before　all　these　people　who　were　
connecting　wanted　to　do　more　than　just　browse　and　send　e…mail；　instant　messages；　
pictures；　and　music　over　this　Internet　platform。　They　wanted　to　shape　things；　design　
things；　create　things；　sell　things；　buy　things；　keep　track　of　inventories；　do　somebody　
else's　taxes；　and　read　somebody　else's　X…rays　from　half　a　world　away。　And　they　wanted　
to　be　able　to　do　any　of　these　things　from　anywhere　to　anywhere　and　from　any　computer　
to　any　computer…seamlessly。　The　wall…Windows…Netscape　phases　paved　the　way　for　that　
by　standardizing　the　ways　words；　music；　pictures；　and　data　would　be　digitized　and　
transported　on　the　Internet…so　e…mail　and　browsing　became　a　very　rich　experience。　
But　for　all　of　us　to　go　to　the　next　stage；　to　get　more　out　of　the　Internet；　the　
flattening　process　had　to　go　another　notch。　We　needed　two　things。　We　needed　
programmers　to　come　along　and　write　new　applications…　new　software…that　would　enable　
us　really　to　get　the　maximum　from　our　computers　as　we　worked　with　these　digitized　
data；　words；　music；　and　pictures　and　shaped　them　into　products。　We　also　needed　more　
magic　pipes；　more　transmissions　protocols；　that　would　ensure　that　everyone's　software　
applications　could　connect　with　everyone　else's　software　applications。　In　short；　we　
had　to　go　from　an　Internet　that　just　connected　peo74　
pie　to　people；　and　people　to　their　own　applications；　to　an　Internet　that　could　connect　
any　of　my　software　programs　to　any　of　your　software　programs。　Only　then　could　we　really　
work　together。　
Think　of　it　this　way：　In　the　beginning；　work　flow　consisted　of　your　sales　department　
taking　an　order　on　paper；　walking　it　over　to　your　shipping　department；　which　shipped　
the　product；　and　then　someone　from　shipping　walking　over　to　billing　with　a　piece　of　
paper　and　instructing　them　to　churn　out　an　invoice　to　the　customer。　As　a　result　of　
the　Berlin　Wall…Windows…Netscape　phases；　work　flow　took　a　huge　leap　forward。　Now　your　


sales　department　could　electronically　take　that　order；　e…mail　it　to　the　shipping　
department　within　your　own　company；　and　then　have　the　shipping　department　send　out　
the　product　to　the　customer　and　automatically　spit　out　a　bill　at　the　same　time。　The　
fact　that　all　the　departments　within　your　company　were　seamlessly　interoperable　and　
that　work　could　flow　between　them　was　a　great　boost　to　productivity…but　this　could　
happen　only　if　all　your　company's　departments　were　using　the　same　software　and　
hardware　systems。　More　often　than　not；　back　in　the　1980s　and　early　1990s；　a　company's　
sales　department　was　running　Microsoft　and　the　inventory　department　was　running　
Novell；　and　they　could　not　communicate　with　each　other。　So　work　did　not　flow　as　easily　
as　it　should。　
We　often　forget　that　the　software　industry　started　out　like　a　bad　fire　department。　
Imagine　a　city　where　every　neighborhood　had　a　different　interface　for　connecting　the　
fire　hose　to　the　hydrant。　Everything　was　fine　as　long　as　your　neighborhood　fire　
department　could　handle　your　fire。　But　when　a　fire　became　too　big；　and　the　fire　engines　
from　the　next　neighborhood　had　to　be　called　in；　they　were　useless　because　they　could　
not　connect　their　hoses　to　your　hydrants。　
For　the　world　to　get　flat；　all　your　internal　departments…sales；　marketing；　
manufacturing；　billing；　and　inventory…had　to　become　interoperable；　no　matter　what　
machines　or　software　each　of　them　was　running。　And　for　the　world　to　get　really　flat；　
all　your　systems　had　to　be　interoperable　with　all　the　systems　of　any　other　company。　
That　is；　your　sales　department　had　to　be　connected　to　your　supplier's　inventory　
department　and　your　supplier's　inventory　department　had　to　be　seamlessly　connected　
to　its　supplier's　supplier；　which　was　a　factory　in　China。　That　way；　when　you　

made　a　sale；　an　item　was　automatically　shipped　from　your　supplier's　warehouse；　and　
another　item　was　automatically　manufactured　by　your　supplier's　supplier；　and　a　bill　
was　generated　from　your　billing　department。　The　disparate　computer　systems　and　
software　applications　of　three　distinctly　different　companies　had　to　be　seamlessly　
interoperable　so　that　work　could　flow　between　them。　
In　the　late　1990s；　the　software　industry　began　to　respond　to　what　its　consumers　wanted。　
Technology　companies；　through　much　backroom　wrangling　and　trial　and　error；　started　
to　forge　more　common　Web…based　standards；　more　integrated　digital　plumbing　and　
protocols；　so　that　anyone　could　fit　his　hose…his　software　applications…onto　anyone　
else's　hydrant。　
This　was　a　quiet　revolution。　Technically；　what　made　it　possible　was　the　development　
of　a　new　data　description　language；　called　XML；　and　its　related　transport　protocol；　
called　SOAP。　IBM；　Microsoft；　and　a　host　of　other　companies　contributed　to　the　
development　of　both　XML　and　SOAP；　and　both　were　subsequently　ratified　and　popularized　
as　the　Internet　standards。　XML　and　SOAP　created　the　technical　foundation　for　software　
program…to…software　program　interaction；　which　was　the　foundation　for　Web…enabled　
work　flow。　They　enabled　digitized　data；　words；　music；　and　photos　to　be　exchanged　
between　diverse　software　programs　so　that　they　could　be　shaped；　designed；　manipulated；　
edited；　reedited；　stored；　published；　and　transported…without　any　regard　to　where　
people　are　physically　sitting　or　what　computing　devices　they　are　connecting　through。　


Once　this　technical　foundation　was　in　place；　more　and　more　people　started　writing　
work　flow　software　programs　for　more　and　more　different　tasks。　Wild　Brain　wanted　
programs　to　make　animated　films　with　a　production　team　spread　out　around　the　world。　
Boeing　wanted　them　so　that　its　airplane　factories　in　America　could　constantly　resupply　
different　airline　customers　with　parts；　through　its　computer　ordering　systems；　no　
matter　what　country　those　orders　came　from。　Doctors　wanted　them　so　that　an　X…ray　taken　
in　Bangor　could　be　read　in　a　hospital　in　Bangalore；　without　the　doctor　in　Maine　ever　
having　to　think　about　what　computers　that　Indian　hospital　had。　And　Mom　and　Dad　wanted　
them　because　they　wanted　their　e…banking　software；　e…brokerage　software；　office　
e…mail；　and　
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spreadsheet　software　to　all　work　off　their　home　laptop　and　be　able　to　interface　with　
their　office　desktop。　And　once　everyone's　applications　started　to　connect　to　everyone　
else's　applications…which　took　several　years　and　lot　of　technology　and　brainpower　
to　make　happen…work　could　not　only　flow　like　never　before；　but　it　could　be　chopped　
up　and　disaggregated　like　never　before　and　sent　to　the　four　corners　of　the　world。　
This　meant　that　work　could　flow　anywhere。　Indeed；　it　was　the　ability　to　enable　
applications　to　speak　to　applications；　not　just　people　to　speak　to　people；　that　would　
soon　make　outsourcing　possible。　Thanks　to　different　kinds　of　Web　services…work　flow；　
said　Craig　Mundie；　Microsoft's　chief　technology　officer；　〃the　industry　created　a　
global　platform　for　a　global　workforce　of　people　and　computers。〃　
The　vast　network　of　underground　plumbing　that　made　it　possible　for　all　this　work　to　
flow　has　become　quite　extensive。　It　includes　all　the　Internet　protocols　of　the　
previous　era；　like　TCP/IP　and　others；　which　made　browsing　and　e…mail　and　Web　sites　
possible。　It　includes　newer　tools；　like　XML　and　SOAP；　which　enabled　Web　applications　
to　communicate　with　each　other　more　seamlessly；