Book Review on "Thank You For Being Late" by Thomas Loren Friedman.

1. BOOK REVIEW ON
“THANK YOU FOR BEING LATE”
BY THOMAS LOREN FRIEDMAN.
Submitted By:
1. Chahat Jain (17BCH005)
2. Keval Devdhara (17BCH010)
3. Jay Shah (17BCH043)
4. Chirag Shir (17BCH045)
5. Vandan Dudhat (17BCH055)

2. ABOUT AUTHOR
THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Thomas L. Friedman is a renowned author, reporter and columnist. He is the recipient of three
Pulitzer Prizes – two for international reporting from the Middle East and a third for his columns
written about 9/11. He is the author of seven New York Times bestsellers — From Beirut to
Jerusalem, The Lexus and the Olive Tree, Longitudes and Attitudes, The World Is Flat, Hot Flat
and Crowded and most recently, Thank You For Being Late. Friedman was born in Minneapolis,
Minnesota, on July 20, 1953, and grew up in the middle-class Minneapolis suburb of St. Louis
Park.

3. INTRODUCTION
Title: Thank you for being late
Author: Thomas L Friedman
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Page count: 486
ISBN: 9780241301449
Originally published: 22 November 2016
Through his book, Friedman engages in an intelligent but overlong discussion of the faster
paces of change in technology, globalization, and climate around the world. His core argument
is that “simultaneous accelerations in the Market, Mother Nature and Moore’s law” (the
principle that the power of microchips doubles every two years) constitute an “Age of
Accelerations,” in which people who feel “fearful or unmoored” must “pause and reflect”
rather than panic.

4. SUMMARY
• In his most ambitious work, Thomas L. Friedman shows that we have entered an age of sudden
acceleration and explains coping with it. Due to an exponential increase in computing power, people
living at ends of world enjoy cell-phone service and self-driving Tesla cars are on the roads. A parallel
explosion of economic interdependency has created new riches. Meanwhile, Mother Nature is also
seeing climate changes as carbon dioxide levels rise and species go extinct, with unfortunate results.
• He then offers personal and policy recommendations for coping with accelerations, such as self-
motivation, a single-payer health care system, lifelong learning, and encouraging more people to
follow the Golden Rule.
• The first part looks at three accelerations, beginning with technology. It explores Moore’s law and the
boom in computer processing power, leading to new opportunities in big data, the internet of things,
and cloud computing.

5. MOORE'S LAW AND YEAR 2007
• The first part looks at three accelerations, beginning with technology. It explores Moore’s law and the
boom in computer processing power, leading to new opportunities in big data, the internet of things, and
cloud computing.
• Moore's law is the observation that the number of transistors in a dense integrated circuit doubles about
every two years. The observation is named after Gordon Moore, the co-founder of Fairchild
Semiconductor and was the CEO of Intel, whose 1965 paper described a doubling every year in the
number of components per integrated circuit, and projected this rate of growth would continue for at
least another decade.
• Author states Year 2007 was a legendary time for the exponential growth of technology.
• More than hundred events took place and iconic companies came to market. Following events are part of
this year.
• The Apple Computer Company announces the release of the very first iPhone during January of 2007.
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs revealed the product during one of his famous keynote addresses.
• NASA launches the Phoenix Mars Lander during August.

6. REVIEW
• We can all do more, as individuals, than any generation before us – and that’s true for both makers and ‘breakers’ – those
who want to do good in the world, and those who want to wreck stuff. It weighs up the benefits and dangers of hyper-
globalization, and sets the whole thing in the context of climate change.
• Friedman suggests that Technological advance won’t be curbed, and neither will globalization. Climate effects are only
beginning. We urgently need to find ways to adapt faster. As individuals, nothing will help more than a commitment to
lifelong learning, something I would agree with. As nations, we need faster and more responsive governments and
workplaces.
• One of Friedman’s big strengths is that as a well-respected commentator, he can get an interview with anyone. And with
decades of experience as a Middle East correspondent, he’s not afraid to go where the action is. So we get first-hand
accounts from the front lines of change, conversations with Silicon Valley engineers, Syrian freedom fighters, Somali
refugees, Chinese entrepreneurs, all sorts.

7. • Unfortunately, Friedman’s intriguing facts and ideas are all but buried under too many autobiographical anecdotes and
lengthy recollections about the circumstances of interviews he conducted and research he completed, giving readers the
recipe and history of all the ingredients along with the meal.
• Rather than resist or try to regulate technology and globalization, Friedman argues, we should remake our institutions in the
image of the cloud. This isn’t complicated: the most educated people who plug into the most flows and enjoy the best
governance and infrastructure win,” he writes, and the best governance, to him, is governance that fosters disruptive
innovation. Labour unions, government regulation, progressive populism, idle pleasures, and the consolations of philosophy:
All of these just serve to impede flow and inhibit the sort of entrepreneurial ferment that brought us WeChat and Periscope.
• Despite of everything, Thank you For bring Late is a thoughtful, generous, and hopeful reflection on the state of our world.
CONTINUED

8. BIBLIOGRAPHY
• https://www.thomaslfriedman.com/thank-you-for-being-late/
• https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26114127-thank-you-for-
being-late
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Friedman
• https://www.nytimes.com/column/thomas-l-friedman
• https://www.cnet.com/news/iphone-at-10-apple-steve-jobs-make-
iphone-history-remembering/

9. THANK YOU