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Author is really reaching here. UPS is not the stodgy, antiquated fossil it's being portrayed as. UPS has been quick to embrace tech and is really not that far
by potatolicious 13y ago
Author is really reaching here. UPS is not the stodgy, antiquated fossil it's being portrayed as. UPS has been quick to embrace tech and is really not that far removed from Amazon.
This is the company that automatically distributes packages and generates optimal routes for its trucks. It's the company that can automatically account for changes in its transport graph and reroute. It's the company that does fuel consumption analysis and incorporates it into its truck routing algo.
Author really doesn't give UPS enough credit. It may have failed some deliveries yesterday, but crowing about how it's a stodgy beast and should embrace logistical technology like Amazon is preaching to the choir.
- toomuchtodo 13y agoNo amount of data will allow perfect predictions. And the physical world doesn't scale like AWS. UPS oversubscribed their transport network, that's all. At some point, they should've stopped accepting packages for Dec 24th delivery, just like Amazon halted accepting new Prime members to maintain service for existing members.
- craigkerstiens 13y agoThe virtual world doesn't always scale for that matter either. Try getting a new, in demand, instance type days or even weeks after release, you'll be waiting in line for access to that virtual instance just as you would for a new iPhone on release day.
- toomuchtodo 13y agoSort of. You're banging the hell out of my JSON API with gets? I'll just write it out into S3 and serve from various S3 endpoints around the globe (or even Cloudfront/Cloudflare, depending on how stale the data is permitted to get). I need instances? I can get them from AWS, Rackspace, Digital Ocean, etc. There is only so much road, aircraft, and people willing to work Christmas Eve/Day out there. The physical world is inherently inelastic.