4 ms·

I highly recommend the book "The Box" which goes deep into the history of the shipping container. http://www.amazon.com/The-Box-Shipping-Container-Smaller/dp/06

by jedc 13y ago

I highly recommend the book "The Box" which goes deep into the history of the shipping container. http://www.amazon.com/The-Box-Shipping-Container-Smaller/dp/0691136408/ http://www.amazon.com/The-Box-Shipping-Container-Smaller/dp/... In a nutshell, it was messy. It's not easy in the physical/infrastructure world to create a standard and then impose it world-wide. (ie, competing standards, etc.) Then the container literally created and destroyed neighborhoods & cities, but as the article notes revolutionized world trade. I can HIGHLY recommend the book.

jashmenn 13y ago
If I may piggy-back on this thread, the idea of "containerization" is one of our inspirations at IFTTT. Information is currently being transported in "break-bulk" [1] - everyone has a different way of shuffling it around. What we hope to do at IFTTT is develop a containerization of information; a common interface for moving data from point a to point b. Now, I realize we run the risk of creating the 15th competing standard [2], but we have some big ideas on the horizon of how we can make this work in a really general (and beautiful) way. BTW, if these types of problems interest you, we're hiring :) [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Break_bulk_cargo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Break_bulk_cargo [2] http://xkcd.com/927/ http://xkcd.com/927/
- eli_gottlieb 13y ago
  We have a containerized standard for moving data around. It's called TCP/IP. What you're developing is a containerized standard for moving understanding around, manipulating data in a relatively standard way while still maintaining its context.
  - lsb 13y ago
    Understanding, or just information. Data is "things that have been given [to you]", from the Latin, whereas information is something that informs you [about the world].
mcantelon 13y ago
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/mind-your-language/2012/jan/29/literally-a-much-misused-word http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/mind-your-language/2012/jan/...

by jedc 13y ago

jashmenn 13y ago

If I may piggy-back on this thread, the idea of "containerization" is one of our inspirations at IFTTT. Information is currently being transported in "break-bulk" [1] - everyone has a different way of shuffling it around. What we hope to do at IFTTT is develop a containerization of information; a common interface for moving data from point a to point b. Now, I realize we run the risk of creating the 15th competing standard [2], but we have some big ideas on the horizon of how we can make this work in a really general (and beautiful) way. BTW, if these types of problems interest you, we're hiring :) [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Break_bulk_cargo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Break_bulk_cargo [2] http://xkcd.com/927/ http://xkcd.com/927/

eli_gottlieb 13y ago
We have a containerized standard for moving data around. It's called TCP/IP. What you're developing is a containerized standard for moving understanding around, manipulating data in a relatively standard way while still maintaining its context.
- lsb 13y ago
  Understanding, or just information. Data is "things that have been given [to you]", from the Latin, whereas information is something that informs you [about the world].

mcantelon 13y ago

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/mind-your-language/2012/jan/29/literally-a-much-misused-word http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/mind-your-language/2012/jan/...