Tom Johnson wrote: > Yes, it is a feature story, but the content -- and context -- is also > a wonderful, almost-perfect example of humans developing/evolving > Complex Adaptive Systems. > > Rai, Saritha. "In India, Grandma Cooks, They Deliver." __The New York > Times__ 29 May 2007. 29 May 2007 < > http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/business/worldbusiness/29lunch.html?_r=1&oref=slogin > > <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/business/worldbusiness/29lunch.html?_r=1&oref=slogin>>. > > > > "...In India, where many traditions are being rapidly overturned as a > result of globalization, the practice of eating a home-cooked meal for > lunch lives on. To achieve that in this sprawling urban amalgamation > of an estimated 25 million people, where long commutes by train and > bus are routine, Mumbai residents rely on an intricately organized, > labor-intensive operation that puts some automated high-tech systems > to shame. It manages to deliver tens of thousands of meals to > workplaces all over the city with near-clockwork precision. At the > heart of this unusual network is a chain of delivery men called > dabbawallas...." > > "The service is at once simple and complex. A network of wallas picks > up the boxes from customers' homes or from people who cook lunches to > order, then delivers the meals to a local railway station. The boxes > are hand-sorted for delivery to different stations in central Mumbai, > and then re-sorted and carried to their destinations. After lunch, the > service reverses, and the empty boxes are delivered back home. > > The secret of the system is in the colored codes painted on the side > of the boxes, which tell the dabbawallas where the food comes from and > which railway stations it must pass through on its way to a specific > office in a specific building in downtown Mumbai." > > > > -tj > -- > ========================================== > J. T. Johnson > Institute for Analytic Journalism -- Santa Fe, NM USA > www.analyticjournalism.com <http://www.analyticjournalism.com> > 505.577.6482(c) 505.473.9646(h) > http://www.jtjohnson.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > "You never change things by fighting the existing reality. > To change something, build a new model that makes the > existing model obsolete." > -- Buckminster Fuller > ========================================== > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org Tom
I liked this. Did you read the article "The World ISN'T Flat!"? The cool stuff is still happening locally. Friedman, as usual, is just full of Friedman. Where are you in the universe? Love, Merle ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
