Archive
Standards
The Shipping Container Standard Was a Committee Fight
The committee that wrote the shipping container standard threw out Malcom McLean’s 35-foot box, and the two pioneers of container shipping fought the result.
Why Every Sheet of Paper in the World Is the Same Shape
There is a button on every office photocopier that shrinks an A3 page down onto A4. It works perfectly. Nothing is cropped, nothing is stretched,…
Why Your Plug Does Not Fit
Most households have a drawer with adapters in it. Not one adapter — several, accumulated over years, none of them quite the one you need.…
