the.world.is.flat-第24部分

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16；　2003）。　〃You　couldn't　bribe　your　way　to　get　into　an　IIT　。　。　。　Candidates　are　accepted　
only　if　they　pass　a　grueling　entrance　exam。　The　government　does　not　interfere　with　
the　curriculum；　and　the　workload　is　demanding。　。　。　Arguably；　it　is　harder　to　get　into　
an　IIT　than　into　Harvard　or　the　Massachusetts　Institute　of　Technology。　。　。　IIT　alumnus　
Vinod　Khosla；　who　co…founded　Sun　
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Microsystems；　said：　'When　I　finished　IIT　Delhi　and　went　to　Carnegie　Mellon　for　my　
Masters；　I　thought　I　was　cruising　all　the　way　because　it　was　so　easy　relative　to　the　
education　I　got　at　IIT。'〃　
For　most　of　their　first　fifty　years；　these　IITs　were　one　of　the　greatest　bargains　
America　ever　had。　It　was　as　if　someone　installed　a　brain　drain　that　filled　up　in　New　
Delhi　and　emptied　in　Palo　Alto。　
And　then　along　came　Netscape；　the　1996　telecom　deregulation；　and　Global　Crossing　and　
its　fiber…optic　friends。　The　world　got　flattened　and　that　whole　deal　got　turned　on　
its　head。　〃India　had　no　resources　and　no　infrastructure；〃　said　Dinakar　Singh；　one　
of　the　most　respected　young　hedge　fund　managers　on　Wall　Street；　whose　parents　
graduated　from　an　IIT　and　then　immigrated　to　America；　where　he　was　born。　〃It　produced　
people　with　quality　and　by　quantity。　But　many　of　them　rotted　on　the　docks　of　India　
like　vegetables。　Only　a　relative　few　could　get　on　ships　and　get　out。　Not　anymore；　
because　we　built　this　ocean　crosser；　called　fiberoptic　cable　。　。　。　For　decades　you　
had　to　leave　India　to　be　a　professional。　。　。　Now　you　can　plug　into　the　world　from　
India。　You　don't　have　to　go　to　Yale　and　go　to　work　for　Goldman　Sachs　＇as　I　did。＇〃　
India　could　never　have　afforded　to　pay　for　the　bandwidth　to　connect　brainy　India　with　
high…tech　America；　so　American　shareholders　paid　for　it。　Sure；　overinvestment　can　
be　good。　The　overinvestment　in　railroads　turned　out　to　be　a　great　boon　for　the　American　
economy。　〃But　the　railroad　overinvestment　was　confined　to　your　own　country　and　so　
too　were　the　benefits；〃　said　Singh。　In　the　case　of　the　digital　railroads；　〃it　was　
the　foreigners　who　benefited。〃　India　got　to　ride　for　free。　
It　is　fun　to　talk　to　Indians　who　were　around　at　precisely　the　moment　when　American　
companies　started　to　discover　they　could　draw　on　India's　brainpower　in　India。　One　
of　them　is　Vivek　Paul；　now　the　president　of　Wipro；　the　Indian　software　giant。　〃In　
many　ways　the　Indian　information　technology　＇outsourcing＇　revolution　began　with　
General　Electric　coming　over。　We're　talking　the　late　1980s　and　early　'90s。　At　the　
time；　Texas　Instruments　was　doing　some　chip　design　in　India。　Some　of　their　key　
designers　＇in　America＇　were　Indians；　and　they　basically　let　them　go　back　home　and　
work　from　there　＇using　the　rather　crude　communications　networks　that　existed　then　
to　stay　in　touch。＇　At　that　time；　I　was　heading　up　
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the　operations　for　GE　Medical　Systems　in　Bangalore。　＇GE's　chairman＇　Jack　Welch　came　
to　India　in　1989　and　was　completely　taken　by　India　as　a　source　of　intellectual　
advantage　for　GE。　Jack　would　say；　'India　is　a　developing　country　with　a　developed　
intellectual　capability。'　He　saw　a　talent　pool　that　could　be　leveraged。　So　he　said；　


'We　spend　a　lot　of　money　doing　software。　Couldn't　we　do　some　work　for　our　IT　department　
here？'〃　Because　India　had　closed　its　market　to　foreign　technology　companies；　like　
IBM；　Indian　companies　had　started　their　own　factories　to　make　PCs　and　servers；　and　
Welch　felt　that　if　they　could　do　it　for　themselves；　they　could　do　it　for　GE。　
To　pursue　the　project；　Welch　sent　a　team　headed　by　GE's　chief　information　officer　
over　to　India　to　check　out　the　possibilities。　Paul　was　also　filling　in　as　GE's　business　
development　manager　for　India　at　the　time。　〃So　it　was　my　job　to　escort　the　corporate　
CIO；　in　early　1990；　on　his　first　trip；〃　he　recalled。　〃They　had　come　with　some　pilot　
projects　to　get　the　ball　rolling。　I　remember　in　the　middle　of　the　night　going　to　pick　
them　up　at　the　Delhi　airport　with　a　caravan　of　Indian　cars；　Ambassadors；　based　on　
a　very　dated　1950s　Morris　Minor　design。　Everyone　in　the　government　drove　one。　So　we　
had　a　five…car　caravan　and　we　were　driving　back　from　the　airport　to　town。　I　was　in　
the　back　car；　and　at　one　point　we　heard　this　loud　bang；　and　I　thought；　What　happened？　
I　shot　to　the　front；　and　the　lead　car's　hood　had　flown　off　and　smashed　the　
windshield…with　these　GE　people　inside！　So　this　whole　caravan　of　GE　execs　pulls　over　
to　the　side　of　the　road；　and　I　could　just　hear　them　saying　to　themselves；　'This　is　
the　place　we're　going　to　get　software　from？'〃　
Fortunately　for　India；　the　GE　team　was　not　discouraged　by　the　poor　quality　of　Indian　
cars。　GE　decided　to　sink　roots；　starting　a　joint　development　project　with　Wipro。　Other　
companies　were　trying　different　models。　But　this　was　still　pre…fiber…optic　days。　
Simon　&　Schuster；　the　book　publisher；　for　instance；　would　ship　its　books　over　to　India　
and　pay　Indians　50　a　month　（compared　to　1；000　a　month　in　the　United　States）　to　type　
them　by　hand　into　computers；　converting　the　books　into　digitized　

electronic　files　that　could　be　edited　or　amended　easily　in　the　future　…particularly　
dictionaries；　which　constantly　need　updating。　In　1991；　Manmohan　Singh；　then　India's　
finance　minister；　began　opening　the　Indian　economy　for　foreign　investment　and　
introducing　competition　into　the　Indian　telecom　industry　to　bring　down　prices。　To　
attract　more　foreign　investment；　Singh　made　it　much　easier　for　companies　to　set　up　
satellite　downlink　stations　in　Bangalore；　so　they　could　skip　over　the　Indian　phone　
system　and　connect　with　their　home　bases　in　America；　Europe；　or　Asia。　Before　then；　
only　Texas　Instruments　had　been　willing　to　brave　the　Indian　bureaucracy；　becoming　
the　first　multinational　to　establish　a　circuit　design　and　development　center　in　India　
in　1985。　TI's　center　in　Bangalore　had　its　own　satellite　downlink　but　had　to　suffer　
through　having　an　Indian　government　official　to　oversee　it…with　the　right　to　examine　
any　piece　of　data　going　in　or　out。　Singh　loosened　all　those　reins　post…1991。　A　short　
time　later；　in　1994；　HealthScribe　India；　a　company　originally　funded　in　part　by　
Indian…American　doctors；　was　set　up　in　Bangalore　to　do　outsourced　medical　
transcription　for　American　doctors　and　hospitals。　Those　doctors　at　the　time　were　
taking　handwritten　notes　and　then　dictating　them　into　a　Dictaphone　for　a　secretary　
or　someone　else　to　transcribe；　which　would　usually　take　days　or　weeks。　HealthScribe　
set　up　a　system　that　turned　a　doctor's　touch…tone　phone　into　a　dictation　machine。　
The　doctor　would　punch　in　a　number　and　simply　dictate　his　notes　to　a　PC　with　a　voice　
card　in　it；　which　would　digitize　his　voice。　He　could　be　sitting　anywhere　when　he　did　


it。　Thanks　to　the　satellite；　a　housewife　or　student　in　Bangalore　could　go　into　a　
computer　anddownloadthat　doctor's　digitized　voice　and　transcribe　it…not　in　two　weeks　
but　in　two　hours。　Then　this　person　would　zip　it　right　back　by　satellite　as　a　text　
file　that　could　be　put　into　the　hospital's　computer　system　and　become　part　of　the　
billing　file。　Because　of　the　twelve…hour　time　difference　with　India；　Indians　could　
do　the　transcription　while　the　American　doctors　were　sleeping；　and　the　file　would　
be　ready　and　waiting　the　next　morning。　This　was　an　important　breakthrough　for　
companies；　because　if　you　could　safely；　legally；　and　securely　transcribe　from　
Bangalore　medical　records；　lab　reports；　and　doctors'　diagnoses…in　one　of　the　most　
litigious　
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industries　in　the　world…a　lot　of　other　industries　could　think　about　sending　some　of　
their　backroom　work　to　be　done　in　India　as　well。　And　they　did。　But　it　remained　limited　
by　what　could　be　handled　by　satellite；　where　there　was　a　voice　delay。　（Ironically；　
said　Gurujot　Singh　Khalsa；　one　of　the　founders　of　HealthScribe；　they　initially　
explored　having　Indians　in　Maine…that　is；　American　Indians…do　this　work；　using　some　
of　the　federal　money　earmarked　for　the　tribes　to　get　started；　but　they　could　never　
get　them　interested　enough　to　put　the　deal　together。）　The　cost　of　doing　the　
transcription　in　India　was　about　one…fifth　the　cost　per　line　of　doing　it　the　United　
States；　a　difference　that　got　a　lot　of　people's　attention。　
By　the　late　1990s；　though；　Lady　Luck　was　starting　to　shine　on　India　from　two　directions：　
The　fiber…optic　bubble　was　starting　to　inflate；　linking　India　with　the　United　States；　
and　the　Y2K　computer　crisis…the　so…called　millennium　bug…started　gathering　on　the　
horizon。　As　you'll　remember；　the　Y2K　bug　was　a　result　of　the　fact　that　when　computers　
were　built；they　came　with　internalclocks。　In　order　tosave　memory　space；　these　clocks　
rendered　dates　with　just　six　digits…two　for　the　day；　two　for　the　month；　and；　you　
guessed　it；　two　for　the　year。　That　meant　they　could　go　up　to　only　12/31/99。　So　when　
the　calendar　hit　January　1；　2000；　many　older　computers　were　poised　to　register　that　
not　as　01/01/2000　but　as　01/01/00；　and　they　would　think　it　was　1900　all　over　again。　
It　meant　that　a　huge　number　of　existing　computers　（newer　ones　were　being　made　with　
better　clocks）　needed　to　have　their　internal　clocks　and　related　systems　adjusted；　
otherwise；　it　was　feared；　they　would　shut　down；　creating　a　global　crisis；　given　how　
many　different　management　systems…from　water　to　air　traffic　control…were　
computerized。　
This　computer　remediation　work　was　a　huge；　tedious　job。　Who　in　the　world　had　enough　
software　engineers　to　do　it　all？　Answer：　India；　with　all　the　techies　from　all　those　
IITs　and　private　technical　colleges　and　computer　schools。　
And　so　with　Y2K　bearing　down　on　us；　America　and　India　started　dating；　and　that　
relationship　became　a　huge　flattener；　because　it　demonstrated　to　so　many　different　
businesses　that　the　combination　of　the　PC；　the　Internet；　and　fiber…optic　cable　had　
created　the　possibility　of　a　whole　new　form　of　collaboration　and　horizontal　value　
creation：　outsourcing。　
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Any　service；　call　center；　business　support　operation；　or　knowledge　work　that　could　


be　digitized　could　be　sourced　globally　to　the　cheapest；　smartest；　or　most　efficient　
provider。　Using　fiber…optic　cable…connected　workstations；　Indian　techies　could　get　
under　the　hood　of　your　company's