"The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the Economy Bigger" Discussion

1. Identify a selection from this chapter that you found particularly interesting and explain why you selected it.
            I enjoyed the section of the passage in which the author describes the process of shipping goods, both before and after the development of shipping containers. I liked this part best because I've never worked in (or seen up-close) a facility which transports goods, and I was unaware of the difficult processes involved with loading, unloading, sorting, and other tasks. This section made it easier for me to understand what exactly is necessary in shipping and global transportation; this led to a better understanding of the difference that shipping containers make.

2. How does the author see the development of the shipping container contributing to globalization?
            The author describes the importance and impact of innovation, citing examples of past innovations such as railroads, steamships, and the refrigerated railcar. He then goes on to discuss how the container is similar to these innovations in that it is something we take for granted nowadays, but long ago it was a very important transition. He claims that with the container came the ability to move many objects all at once, making loading and unloading less daunting of a task. Containers also allowed a way to store goods all in one place; this helped with keeping track of many goods at one time. For example, rather than labeling each individual gear in a shipment of machinery, all of the gears could be packaged together and labeled. This would cut down on time searching for and counting up all of the gears at the unloading site. Because of these efficiencies, the author says that globalization of trading goods became overall an easier process, allowing the global market for these goods to expand.

3. Who do you see gaining and losing from this transformation of global transportation?
              The companies which buy and sell transported goods would benefit from he saved time and energy which came with the development of shipping containers. However, at the same time, there would be a significant decrease in need for workers who used to carry out the tasks that are no longer needed, such as loading and unloading many items (now it is possible to load or unload one box containing all of these items) or labeling, sorting, finding, and gathering items (which are now all kept neatly together). Although global transportation's new efficiency is expanding the global market, there are many losses where these tedious tasks used to provide jobs.