arbitrary error prevention

How Amazon organises its books chaotically (not how I organise mine!) – an interesting way of using computers to optimise space, with a useful side-effect:

This arbitrary placement can even help with accuracy as it makes mix-ups less likely when picking orders for shipment.

The first example I remember coming across, of using a computer to help optimise storage, is Heinlein’s The Number of the Beast, from 1980.  Any earlier examples?

(via Kevin Kelly)

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