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I really like the idea of standardization. Even if there are 500 standards, that's much better than an unbounded number. Regulation would certainly force the i

I really like the idea of standardization. Even if there are 500 standards, that's much better than an unbounded number. Regulation would certainly force the issue, but one way or another the consumer packaged goods industry (and other industries) need to get their heads around focusing competition around everything BUT packaging. When packaging has become standard, no one competes there any more. If everyone has the mindset that this is expected and OK, just focus competitive efforts elsewhere -- product quality, branding, better ingredients/parts, lower price, whatever. Your packaging design/pollution budget is now free for other opportunities. There is some advantage in selecting the right standard size, but you either know what your industry is doing or you pay a consultant to tell you which one to try next. What you don't do is spend lots more money designing your own custom packaging that may or may not help sales and will never be recycled. And then there is the entire packaging design industry, not a small one, who will not like this at all. Anyone want to play devil's advocate and guess what they might say?

oblio 6y ago
> When packaging has become standard, no one competes there any more. If everyone has the mindset that this is expected and OK, just focus competitive efforts elsewhere -- product quality, branding, better ingredients/parts, lower price, whatever. Your packaging design/pollution budget is now free for other opportunities. They can still brand the packaging. Just use biodegradable, safe glues, paper, paint, etc. to put on top of the actual bottle. Yes, the bottles will be a bit generic, but there's a lot you can do with a bit of creativity. What they're doing is like developers rewriting the Python library 1 billion times because they all want to be special snowflakes. Though rewriting does happen, the vast majority of developers build on top of the standard library, not besides it. > And then there is the entire packaging design industry, not a small one, who will not like this at all. Anyone want to play devil's advocate and guess what they might say? When a few benefit and many lose, that's called corruption. Any proposal will have some people against it, you can't please everyone all the time.

oblio 6y ago

> When packaging has become standard, no one competes there any more. If everyone has the mindset that this is expected and OK, just focus competitive efforts elsewhere -- product quality, branding, better ingredients/parts, lower price, whatever. Your packaging design/pollution budget is now free for other opportunities. They can still brand the packaging. Just use biodegradable, safe glues, paper, paint, etc. to put on top of the actual bottle. Yes, the bottles will be a bit generic, but there's a lot you can do with a bit of creativity. What they're doing is like developers rewriting the Python library 1 billion times because they all want to be special snowflakes. Though rewriting does happen, the vast majority of developers build on top of the standard library, not besides it. > And then there is the entire packaging design industry, not a small one, who will not like this at all. Anyone want to play devil's advocate and guess what they might say? When a few benefit and many lose, that's called corruption. Any proposal will have some people against it, you can't please everyone all the time.