My education may be vast and even I found that some of the smallest things actually made the biggest impacts on our planet. For instance, the ability to get and have all the products that we have was all based on a small invention from thousands of years ago. The most amazing thing I have heard is that a box was actually the most important invention and most influential creation of all time. I am not exaggerating either, this item has literally given us a whole new way to be international.
The truth is that it was during a law class that I actually discovered what changed the world. At the time we were studying international business transactions and the law that goes along with buying and selling internationally from different countries. Now granted the class was generally based on the issues that can happen during international travel and who was liable for what when something bad happened. Sales was also a big part of this whole area and all aspects of it matter. But the most interesting fact I learned was that the creation of the shipping container has actually been the most influential and world changing device created. Millions of them are being used every single day and is the item that brings almost all the goods to every country across the world. The cost-efficiency of the shipping container is the reason that we are able to purchase items from other countries at the low prices we have. No one ever credits this little thing for all the stuff we have. But everything is designed to fit in them and be the most efficient. Especially cars are designed for them.
So think about all the things that need to fit in them and all the advantages that can be created from the efficiency of packing. The most popular shipping supplies item is made of metal and it is the absolute reason why international business is actually possible and readily available. It is without a doubt the greatest creation of all time. No other single item has brought down the travel cost of anything ever as much as this. So what are these containers? They are simply made of corrugated metal and can be scaled up to be near watertight. They are generally 10 by 20 feet long and can be stacked very high and wide and placed on ships. Ships and items are almost always designed to fit inside a regular shipping container and even cars are designed to be a certain height to stack them two high in each container. That is the reason these companies build cars the way they do.
No joke, but the entire car industry was created to use shipping crates for international shipping. This makes it the most important of shipping supplies because most things are simply made to fit inside of it the most efficient way possible. So the creation of the shipping crate has been one of the most influential items ever made. When anyone asks you if there is an item that changed the world more than anything, no you know the actual answer.
This is the way the world really works. Commerce is the biggest part of it and inventions are all based on getting those to another country efficiently.
Sustainable Ideas 