A Slate Article about the boring world of logistics. I would say they hit gold here, if Thomas Friedman did not dedicate whole chapters to this idea in his book, The World is Flat.

Since we are on the subject, I read the World is Flat last summer and might be the only person in the world who was disappointed. I enjoy Friendman’s op-eds. His genius lies in finding a compelling anecdote. This book, on the whole, could allows him the space and time to make a stronger case for his arguments, which can be weak in his columns, but he just really fails to do so. Instead of one anecdote, we get many, but neither amounts to extrapolated arguments in a good social science sense. Some of his anecdotes, such as his discussion of UPS, are very strong. Friedman has written is an excellent primer for the uninitiated to the world in which technology rewrites rules but little more.

By reading his book you would think cities like Bangalore are paradises. With empowered citizens basking in the modern economy. How many Indians speak English? Use PCs? Can afford a Dell? Want to answer phones for the rest of their life? Yes, Friedman acknowledges, there are problems: poverty, illiteracy, disease, and so on. Exactly how these problems interact with his glorious vision is hard to say. Friedman is so focused on India, China, Eastern Europe and the US that he forgets the rest of the world. Africa gets a brief acknowledgment, and no more. I don’t recall reading anything about South America. Actors in the global economy need to be thinking about interactions beyond those countries that are becoming technology havens. We need to think about a world where a rising tide truly raises all boats, not just the ones we care to think about this half-century.