Editor's Note: The Iconoclast suggests that Tom Friedman's The World is Flat should be mandatory reading for all of us, as it tells us how our 21st Century world might look. (One suspects, however, that Friedman's flat world is sort of wrinkled–China and Bangalor do not make a whole world. For some, his view is a very pretty picture, but for many it will appear quite grim. In this first of a multi-part series, our resident image-smasher takes a look at a flat world of claims and insurance in the coming decades.

One of the Iconoclast's columns back in February of 1981 was entitled, The 21st Century Adjuster. Many of those predictions have become commonplace; on others, he missed the mark. We have a paperless, computer-driven system. We have automatic communication, and electronic bank deposits. Vehicle appraisals, while not exactly without human involvement, are largely automated. But the prediction about medical science eliminating pain has not yet come to pass, nor has the concept of “trial by computer” he suggested, where both sides submit digitized briefs to the court's computer data bank and the computer renders the verdict. We're close, however–negotiation by computer is now commonplace, almost old hat. Technology makes skills “transferable,” and that's what can make the world flat.

In labeling a “flat” world, Friedman cites the fact that instead of just a normal eight-hour day, there are 24 hours in the world that can be used. While those of us on the East Coast are having our lunch, the folks in California can take up the slack of incoming business calls, simply by having the phones transferred. Likewise, while North America is sleeping, eager young college graduates in India can do the work that otherwise would be awaiting us the next morning. The tool is the trans-Atlantic fiber-optic cable and powerful computers. The doctor takes an X-ray at five in the afternoon, electronically sends it to India, and the next morning at eight there's the radiology report.