Well this is all very exciting. A couple of weeks ago we ordered a new laptop – from Lenovo, who took over the laptop business of IBM. I knew they were a Chinese company, and I was intrigued to notice that every time I spoke to them on the phone I got someone who spoke with an Irish accent. Their European Sales HQ is actually in Paris.

Eventually I received an email telling me that my laptop had been completed, and was on its way. I rang again, to find out how long that might take, as there was no delivery date, and I thought it might perhaps take a day or two from Ireland. The nice Irish guy gave me a UPS tracking number. And I’ve been spellbound ever since as I’ve watched the progress of my laptop – all the way from China. Here’s the tracking details so far (read from the bottom up):

Location	Date	Local Time	Activity
Warsaw, Poland	01/03/2011	18:41	Arrival Scan
Almaty, Kazakhstan	01/03/2011	18:28	Departure Scan
	01/03/2011	15:59	Arrival Scan
Incheon, Korea, Republic of	01/03/2011	12:35	Departure Scan
Castle Donnington, United Kingdom	28/02/2011	23:48	Package data processed by brokerage Waiting for clearance
	28/02/2011	23:48	Package data processed by brokerage Waiting for clearance / Released by clearing agency Now in-transit for delivery
Incheon, Korea, Republic of	01/03/2011	8:37	Arrival Scan
Shanghai, China	01/03/2011	6:05	Departure Scan
Shanghai, China	28/02/2011	20:15	Export Scan
	28/02/2011	19:34	Hub Scan
China	26/02/2011	6:22	Order Processed: Ready for UPS

Four countries, 20 hours and 5737 miles so far, and still another 931 miles to go. I’m amazed that there is any profit for anyone in all this! More to the point – all this is being done by air transport, and road in between. 7000 miles of travel just to get a laptop to me. Is it any wonder that many people feel we’re using the world’s resources too quickly? Have we just got used to everything being so cheap that we’re underestimating what all this really costs?