Low-speed, electrified, increasingly autonomous vehicles are going to be the norm, not the outlier. Standardized roro boxes and cargo trikes are part of it.
I’m racking my brain for any examples where consumer standards followed directly from a container dimensional limitation, and I’ve come up empty. Obviously, manufacturers and shippers take those considerations seriously so as to maximize volumetric efficiency, but I would think if a consumer good can fit multiple units onto a standard pallet, the shipping system can accommodate it.
Non-standard pallets exist, but I’ve yet to come across one which was over 2.4 meters (8 ft) on one side, and that was because a leg press is necessarily an odd size.
I’d posit to say that consumer standardization is more focused on components, like Shimano HG-compatible sprockets or USB C. That still leaves room for creating value by combining standardized components into appealing products of different sizes and shapes. But you’re right that vendors – particularly older industries using tech as a differentiator (eg automakers) – are increasingly diverging from standards to trap people into their ecosystems.
Good thoughts, I was thinking about USB too. I’d love to see standardization of batteries for power tools, but seems like it would require regulation.
These things seem to line up with profit incentive - if it saves the company money, standardize, if it makes the company money, create variation…
As an aside, I vaguely recall many years ago, a major TV manufacturer announced a flat panel TV – maybe plasma? – so large that it had to be shipped by airplane. And only one such TV could fit, because when placed horizontally it would only fit at the widest part of the cabin.
This is, of course, an incredible waste of aircraft hauling capacity, but I suspect it was more of a tour-de-force than meant for sale. And since that stunt many years ago, LCD manufacturing yields have improved remarkably and TVs have never been cheaper and larger. Once these TVs exceed the height of a TEU, then I think that would be an example of a container limitation affecting the consumer, whichever oddball consumer needs an 2.5 meter high TV lol
I’ll be surprised if TVs get much larger. We’re already have Modular wall displays if you want a theater at home, though most still use projectors in that situation.
The problem is that most homes don’t have a big enough room for a TV wider than 60 inches or so.
Agreed. It would have to be something really decadent to warrant larger TVs, like outfitting rooms without windows so that they can still have a floor-to-ceiling “sea view” despite being on the interior of an apartment tower.
And such a thing would be closer to home furnishings rather than what we’d normally consider as consumer goods.
