This is why it's so cheap to ship things halfway around the world

Perhaps it's because I have an interest in infrastructure [1], or because I found The Box [2] (a book about shipping containers) a fascinating read (no, really!), or because I have an interest in automation [3], I found Dan Williams talk [4] at the Cambridge Internet of Things [5] really interesting (link via Tom Scott [6], which itself is an interesting video about the loading and unloading of a container ship in port). From a wholesale mall (only in lots of 100, please) in China the size of a city to showing just how automated a cargo ship really is (running Microsoft Windows no less—and yes, they have to reboot the computers from time to time), it's worth watching the presentation.

Okay, okay, I found it interesting. Your milage may vary.

=> [1] https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0393349837/conmanlaborat-20 | [2] https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0691136408/conmanlaborat-20 | [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWsMdN7HMuA | [4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_4273726119&feature=iv&src_vid=zCfPlxTayqY&v=JifYVGp727c | [5] http://www.meetup.com/cambridge-internet-of-things/ | [6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCfPlxTayqY

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