3 ms·

Wow, blast from the past. I worked on frustration-free packaging at Amazon back then (the article is from 2010). 'Twas an interesting gig.

sizzle 13y ago
can you give us some personal anecdote, I'm genuinely curious to hear your story.
sizzle 13y ago
can you give us some personal anecdotes, I'm genuinely curious to hear your story.
- jacquesm 13y ago
  I'm not sure about his personal anecdotes but having recently almost found one of my fingers amputated after trying to get an SD card out of its theft proof package after shopping on the go I think that frustration free packaging should be mandatory and should be re-branded as injury free packaging. That plastic is as sharp as any knife and it can really get you while you're trying to retrieve your goodies without access to proper tools.
  - ggreer 13y ago
    This sort of outlook is untenable in almost every other domain. For example, we don't ban bottles requiring an opener, even though many foolish people lose teeth or otherwise injure themselves trying to open them.[1] If I understand correctly, you went to a store, saw a hard-to-open package, and bought it. Then you used incorrect tools and/or techniques to open it and almost seriously injured yourself. Now you want to pass a law banning said packaging? I'm confused by the moral and ethical view that puts such a responsibility upon companies. You're the one pushing a knife toward your own fingers.[2] You could simply avoid buying products with bad packaging. You could also contact companies that do have poor packaging and give them a piece of your mind. And if you do buy something that's hard to open, use the right tools the right way! Always cut away from yourself. And remember: Sharper knives are safer. They require less pressure to cut, meaning something will be less likely to slip. Frustrating packaging is not a new thing, and these rules apply when using any cutting tool. 1. If you're willing to bite that bullet and say all bottles must be twist-off, I'm OK with that. That reasoning can lead to a lot of other weird things though. 2. It occurs to me that many people may not know how to use knives safely. It was in Boy Scouts that I was taught to always cut away from yourself, not school.
    - jacquesm 13y ago
      > So if I understand correctly, you went to a store, saw a hard-to-open package, and bought it. Then you used incorrect tools and/or technique to open it and almost seriously injured yourself. No, it looks like you don't understand correctly at all. I did injure myself in spite of being very good with tools and general tradecraft, to the point of having had my own machine shop. If I can get injured with such packaging so could you and just about everybody else. As far as I'm concerned there is no good reason to package things like this for general consumption, but here we are. Opening a package like this results in razor sharp plastic edges using just about any technique that I am aware of. Using your teeth for bottle opening is just dumb, trying to open a plastic package with the aid of a pair of scissors is really all it should take. Unfortunately that stuff is a bit tougher than it sometimes looks with surprising results even for the seasoned. As for the 'correct technique' I would love to be enlightened.
      - vacri 13y ago
        As for the 'correct technique' I would love to be enlightened. Depending on the clamshell, it may be easier to cut at the bubble rather than at the edge. In this case you're dealing with a thin, easily cut bit of flat plastic, rather than a corrugated thick plastic weld. This requires a knife rather than scissors, though sometimes you may be able to get away with using a single scissor blade. This is just a technique that sometimes helps; I wouldn't give it the officialness of 'correct' :)
        jacquesm 13y ago
        The tensile strength of the packaging (about 0.8 mm worth of it) is such that you need brute force to even pierce it. Maybe a chopping block as a base and a stanley knife should be part and parcel of any tourist's apparel about to buy an SD card.
      - ggreer 13y ago
        > I did not want to hold anybody responsible other than myself and did not ask for a law. Ah, I apologize for misinterpreting you. When you said, "I think that frustration free packaging should be mandatory and should be re-branded as injury free packaging." I assumed you meant a law should be passed, since that's about the only way to make things mandatory for companies. > As for the 'correct technique' I would love to be enlightened. My usual technique is to take a sharp, pointy knife to stab inside the edge and cut around. Typically, going halfway around is enough to get the item out. This often cuts any manuals or documentation that may be in the packaging, but I throw that stuff away anyway. The important thing is to avoid cutting through the edge. The edge is extremely hard and even sharp tools require a lot of pressure to cut through it. Despite my replies, I should make it clear that I also hate frustrating packaging. I avoid it when I can, and I think the world would be a better place without it. I have also injured myself while trying to open frustrating packaging. One time, I had to go to the ER and get stitches. It was painful, embarrassing, and had I lacked insurance, expensive. But it was my fault.

sizzle 13y ago

can you give us some personal anecdote, I'm genuinely curious to hear your story.

sizzle 13y ago

can you give us some personal anecdotes, I'm genuinely curious to hear your story.

jacquesm 13y ago
I'm not sure about his personal anecdotes but having recently almost found one of my fingers amputated after trying to get an SD card out of its theft proof package after shopping on the go I think that frustration free packaging should be mandatory and should be re-branded as injury free packaging. That plastic is as sharp as any knife and it can really get you while you're trying to retrieve your goodies without access to proper tools.
- ggreer 13y ago
  This sort of outlook is untenable in almost every other domain. For example, we don't ban bottles requiring an opener, even though many foolish people lose teeth or otherwise injure themselves trying to open them.[1] If I understand correctly, you went to a store, saw a hard-to-open package, and bought it. Then you used incorrect tools and/or techniques to open it and almost seriously injured yourself. Now you want to pass a law banning said packaging? I'm confused by the moral and ethical view that puts such a responsibility upon companies. You're the one pushing a knife toward your own fingers.[2] You could simply avoid buying products with bad packaging. You could also contact companies that do have poor packaging and give them a piece of your mind. And if you do buy something that's hard to open, use the right tools the right way! Always cut away from yourself. And remember: Sharper knives are safer. They require less pressure to cut, meaning something will be less likely to slip. Frustrating packaging is not a new thing, and these rules apply when using any cutting tool. 1. If you're willing to bite that bullet and say all bottles must be twist-off, I'm OK with that. That reasoning can lead to a lot of other weird things though. 2. It occurs to me that many people may not know how to use knives safely. It was in Boy Scouts that I was taught to always cut away from yourself, not school.
  - jacquesm 13y ago
    > So if I understand correctly, you went to a store, saw a hard-to-open package, and bought it. Then you used incorrect tools and/or technique to open it and almost seriously injured yourself. No, it looks like you don't understand correctly at all. I did injure myself in spite of being very good with tools and general tradecraft, to the point of having had my own machine shop. If I can get injured with such packaging so could you and just about everybody else. As far as I'm concerned there is no good reason to package things like this for general consumption, but here we are. Opening a package like this results in razor sharp plastic edges using just about any technique that I am aware of. Using your teeth for bottle opening is just dumb, trying to open a plastic package with the aid of a pair of scissors is really all it should take. Unfortunately that stuff is a bit tougher than it sometimes looks with surprising results even for the seasoned. As for the 'correct technique' I would love to be enlightened.
    - vacri 13y ago
      As for the 'correct technique' I would love to be enlightened. Depending on the clamshell, it may be easier to cut at the bubble rather than at the edge. In this case you're dealing with a thin, easily cut bit of flat plastic, rather than a corrugated thick plastic weld. This requires a knife rather than scissors, though sometimes you may be able to get away with using a single scissor blade. This is just a technique that sometimes helps; I wouldn't give it the officialness of 'correct' :)
      - jacquesm 13y ago
        The tensile strength of the packaging (about 0.8 mm worth of it) is such that you need brute force to even pierce it. Maybe a chopping block as a base and a stanley knife should be part and parcel of any tourist's apparel about to buy an SD card.
    - ggreer 13y ago
      > I did not want to hold anybody responsible other than myself and did not ask for a law. Ah, I apologize for misinterpreting you. When you said, "I think that frustration free packaging should be mandatory and should be re-branded as injury free packaging." I assumed you meant a law should be passed, since that's about the only way to make things mandatory for companies. > As for the 'correct technique' I would love to be enlightened. My usual technique is to take a sharp, pointy knife to stab inside the edge and cut around. Typically, going halfway around is enough to get the item out. This often cuts any manuals or documentation that may be in the packaging, but I throw that stuff away anyway. The important thing is to avoid cutting through the edge. The edge is extremely hard and even sharp tools require a lot of pressure to cut through it. Despite my replies, I should make it clear that I also hate frustrating packaging. I avoid it when I can, and I think the world would be a better place without it. I have also injured myself while trying to open frustrating packaging. One time, I had to go to the ER and get stitches. It was painful, embarrassing, and had I lacked insurance, expensive. But it was my fault.