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Standardized shipping containers massively decreased the cost of global commerce which is perhaps the most important force in the modern world.
by harryh 7y ago
Standardized shipping containers massively decreased the cost of global commerce which is perhaps the most important force in the modern world.
- arcturus17 7y agoNice one, but we could get into a debate on whether a convention counts as an invention.
- harryh 7y agoYa, I dunno if it counts either. Just seemed like an interesting answer so I threw it out there.
- mjd 7y agoThe often-overlooked Twistlock is an important part of this, and I think it answers the objections about the “invention” being only a convention. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twistlock https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twistlock On review: another comment here says the same. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22291068 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22291068
- riskneutral 7y agoI’ve got an even simpler one: the standardized shipping pallet.
- harryh 7y agoAn excellent example of complementary goods! :)
- ken 7y agoDoes standardization count as an invention? Then I'd put the metric system higher than shipping containers. I'm not sure "you can pretty much build it yourself", either. The actual process is pretty involved [1]. Even if each step is simple, it's a lot of work, and building a large 3D object to precise specifications is not easy. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7l6AQN1KV0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7l6AQN1KV0 On that note, though, I submit arc welding as a simple modern invention of great importance. Living in a city, it's rare that I'm not within 2 steps of some object that was joined with arc welding. The basic structure of an arc welder is really simple: an electric current, a wire feeder, and some way (like a noble gas) to protect it.