Despite, or perhaps because of, its simple design, the shipping container is one of the most disruptive inventions of the past century. It allows cargo to be moved cheaply from one mode of transport to another and has facilitated the development of the complex supply chains all modern economies rely on. Transfer from truck to giant cargo ship to freight train is seamless and the container can be used again and again, drastically reducing the cost of long-distance shipping. That's the magic of inter-modal transport -- and it's something the futuristic and potentially game-changing Clip-Air concept hopes to emulate.