3 ms·
Plastic likes: 'waterproof' (fluid proof for many things) Difficult to shatter (drop safe-ish) Shows stuff off 'nicely' Priced inexpensively (damage
by mjevans 1y ago
Plastic likes:
'waterproof' (fluid proof for many things)
Difficult to shatter (drop safe-ish)
Shows stuff off 'nicely'
Priced inexpensively (damage to the commons is not factored in...)
- verelo 1y agoIt’s almost like we just gave up on making glass less breakable when we found plastic
- Henchman21 1y agoI'm haunted by a story I read once, about East German beer glasses that were unbreakable. They developed them because of a serious shortage of raw materials as I recall. I would be happy to buy two dozen and pass them on to my family when I die. But that's the problem, isn't it? The lack of sales. Just ask Pyrex, I guess?
- bnc319 1y agohttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41173177 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41173177
- Henchman21 1y agoAha! I'd forgotten where I'd read it, but it makes sense it was here. Thank you!
- nine_k 1y agoA plastic bottle is not just less breakable. It's also way lighter weight than glass, and harder to dent and pierce than aluminum.
- cma 1y agoAlso needs to be robust to salt and acid, aluminum cans have a plastic lining.
- kyriakos 1y agoPart of the reason that a lot of drinks in aluminium have short shelf life. Acidity eventually makes aluminium leak into the drink.
- saagarjha 1y agoOn a very long timeline, sure
- cma 1y agoSlightly different situation with steel in contact with the contents, but this can happen rapidly: https://kaiserscience.wordpress.com/chemistry/electrochemistry/lasagna-cell/ https://kaiserscience.wordpress.com/chemistry/electrochemist... I'm not sure if there is a scenario something similar could happen with a drink.
- thaumasiotes 1y agoMore importantly, and unlike glass, if you do break plastic, it's not dangerous.
- fastball 1y agoYep, plastic has a lot of benefits. But I genuinely don't think the translucency is that much of a selling point. If plastic could not be translucent and was always opaque, I think we would still use it for almost all of the same use-cases as we do today, on the back of durability + weight alone.
- masklinn 1y ago> If plastic could not be translucent and was always opaque, I think we would still use it for almost all of the same use-cases as we do today, on the back of durability + weight alone. - any sort of housing window and display protection, I have at least half a dozen within easy reach not including actual computer displays - transparent food packaging is important to both identify the product and ascertain its state (especially at the store e.g. berries) - viewing liquid levels at a glance is extremely useful