4 ms·
The mention of Memphis and FedEx makes me think of a problem set I did in college, I think for an AI class. It involved calculating different types of distance
by divia 18y ago
The mention of Memphis and FedEx makes me think of a problem set I did in college, I think for an AI class.
It involved calculating different types of distance, such as Euclidean distance, Manhattan distance, and Memphis distance, where the Memphis distance was calculated by routing everything traveling through a single hub. We were told that it was called this because it used to be that all FedEx packages, no matter where they were going, were sent through Memphis. Googling for "Memphis distance" didn't seem to turn up anyone else using the term the same way though, so I'm beginning to wonder if I imagined it... I don't suppose anyone else has ever heard of it?
- tome 18y agoIn analysis class we used a similar metric. The "British Rail metric" is the distance between any two points when you travel via London!
- akd 18y agoI haven't herad of that phrase, but that is how FedEx operated for the first several years of its existence. FedEx a package from Boston to Cambridge and it would go through Memphis.