rotomonkey.org

You know what I hate more than anything in the world? The stupid low-end packaging that lower priced consumer electronics come in. I don't know the name of it, but you know what I mean: they take a clamshell-like piece of really hard plastic, fold it in half around the product and then heat seal all of the seams. The problem is that the plastic is so thick and tough that you have to use a really good pair of scissors to cut through it. This, of course, dulls the hell out of your quite expensive Fiskars, thus ruining them for their intended purpose of making nice clean cuts in wrapping paper or fabric. Once you find something strong enough to cut through the kryptonite, however, the fun really begins. Because you've had such a hard time cutting the plastic, you are left with a nice ragged edge that you must reach through and around to attempt to extract the product. This ragged edge is slightly less dangerous than the top of a can of baked beans opened with a swiss army knife. Call me crazy, but I don't like to gash my hands open for the sake of a AAA battery or a Pleather case for my mobile phone. I don't want to even think about what that stuff (and its manufacturing process) is doing to the environment.

When the historians come to ask me when I thought western civilization began its descent, I will point to this moment: when package designers stopped caring about the user's opening experience as a trade off to being able to save a few cents in the manufacturing process.