The World Isn't Exactly Flat, But It's Looking Mighty Svelte

So. After poring over the reasons why the world is flattening, I have come across a somewhat familiar topic in the Uploading section. And although I haven't read anything groundbreaking, I have encountered some new evidence into why this new movement is going to change the world. One example has to deal with the experiment that Goldcorp, Inc. used the technology seen through open-sourced programs such as Linux. The mining corporation knew that there was gold in their area, but were having difficulty obtaining the gold. So they held a contest of sorts, where different companies were given the opportunity to use all of Goldcorp's resources to see if they could find gold for a big cash prize. And as crazy as the idea may have seemed, it worked with suprising gusto. "For McEwen [CEO of Goldcorp, Inc.], the contest itself was a gold mine. 'We have drilled four of the winners' top five targets and have hit on all four,' he says. 'But what's really important is that from a remote site, the winners were able to analyze a database and generate targets without ever visiting the property. It's clear that this is part of the future.'" (Friedman 115)
So. It can be seen that open-source software has a multi-lateral potential for every industry. And regarding Warlick's question of 'what our students should be learning', this has limitless boundaries. If a mining company, perhaps the strangest (at least on paper) recipients of the benefits of computer technology, can use technology that we will be using in our class rooms successfully, then uploading is bound to be a boon in our classrooms. If we can show students examples such as these, then hopefully they will feel uninhibited in their willingness to experiment and test the waters of using sources like Wikipedia and blogging (I would say Linux, but that's a little more complicated to use and understand).