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Plastic Packages Cause Injuries, Revolt
massysett writes "Everybody has been frustrated by plastic retail packaging that's nearly impossible to open. New toys and electronic gadgets arrive encased in plastic bubbles. Manufacturers say the packages protect goods and make them look nice, but opening them can be difficult enough to cause injuries that land people in the emergency room. Manufacturers have an appropriate term for the frustration: wrap rage. One man even invented a cutter designed specifically for cracking open plastic clamshells."
I've sure wondered about this. The only reasonable way I've found of opening "modern" plastic packaging is with a pair of aviation snips (i.e. compound-leverage sheet-metal cutters). They work great, but what do people do who don't have them sitting right there in the top compartment of the toolbox in a corner of their living room? And why haven't there been any personal-injury lawsuits yet from all the people who've tried using a box-cutter or other sharp knife, which always gouges out sideways in a wickedly unpredictable and unsafe way?
I just had this happen... I find the plastic wrap not only dangerous to me to remove, but it can be difficult to get the product out of the packaging sometime without damaging it.
I just bought a mini-jack to RCA cable by Dynex. I cut carefully around the edge and when separating the clamshell halves nearly cut myself on the hard sharp plastic... what the heck? Not an unusual occurance with today's annoying packaging but I've gotten pretty good at it. The problem with this package?
Turns out, there was an inner-shell piece "cleverly" designed to hold the ends of the cable in display in middle of the package, a third piece of plastic I couldn't see, and didn't anticipate. In extracting the cable (finally!) the edge of one of the plastics nicked the exterior of the cable... no harm, no foul I guess, but a tug a little harder or in a slightly different direction and the cable could have been compromised.
Also had a remote control I bought for my Dad a couple of months ago. I easily navigated the surrounding plastic and strategically popped out the remote only to find what had appeared to be a cardboard insert was instead the user's manual now cut in half replete with pages of remote codes (for universal remote). So, I had to tape the manual back together to look up the codes.
Throw into the rage mix CD packaging, infuriating! I've had CD jewel cases damaged in the process of freeing my music. And how annoying that "pull" tape holding the jewel case shut! It's almost impossible to remove cleanly and even if you get it off there's almost always some annoying residue.
I don't know if the intent is to be clever with packaging, prevent theft, but it's gotten so bad I have started factoring in how much pain the packaging looks to promise vs. how much I want the product. Sounds silly, but after a few plastic cuts for a couple of two-buck knick knacks...
The stuff that gets me down:
Plastic Clamshells
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Not only are these packages hard to open, many are difficult to recycle. What a waste of petroleum!
Did it look anything like this?
Alternately, they insist that the obviously-enormous forces you used to open the package must have damaged the product, so it's not their problem.
Yeah, both are bogus and if you stand up for your rights you get action -- but what do you want to bet a lot of people don't?
Lacking <sarcasm> tags,
I find the best way to remove the extra glue which stays behind is to use the sticky tape which came off, or an piece of packaging tape and keep applying it and pulling it off the stickum until it's all removed. Sometimes you may need to burnish the packing tape over the residue a bit, but it gets the job done and you've only wasted about 5 minutes of your life for the bastards who think this is an appropriate way to conduct business
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
editors: you should have waited 25 days, and accepted the story at about... oh 11:00 am on december 25th
then you would have gotten a buttload of seriously frustrated, angry, and demented comments in the affirmative
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
I've wondered how this fairly hazardous method of packaging made it past the worry warts of the world without getting a safety tag stuck to it. I've given myself some pretty substantial cuts on my fingers from the ragged edges of the plastic. Rather than calling a lawyer, I chose to learn a lesson and figure out a better way of dealing with the packs.
Then, some genius came out with a specialized tool for deconstructing the dreaded bubble packs with ease: the OpenX (http://www.myopenx.com/). It's somewhat of a Catch 22 though, as the tool comes packaged within the very packaging one needs the tool to open. I don't own one, but it'd probably be a good stocking stuffer.
I just don't understand how spilling hot coffee on oneself is grounds for a lawsuit, but shredded fingers is not. Especially in America.
Often in Error, Never in Doubt.
Most importantly, how do the manufacturers imagine people are supposed to open those things? I would really like to know the answer to this. (Even better, I'd like somebody like Michael Moore to entrap an executive into a candid, on-camera attempt to open one of his own company's packages using only the everyday household appliances to hand.)
I bought a new 80gb iPod and one of those silicone skins to keep it in.
While I was removing the theft-deterrent plastic packaging, one of the sharp plasic edges cut clean through the silicone.
The good news is that the folks at the Apple store took it back without complaint, even though they could have said I damaged it myself (which I did) and not taken it back. The gal behind the counter even went so far as to call it a pretty frequent occurrence.
Message contains 1 attachment: spam.gif
but opening them can be difficult enough to cause injuries that land people in the emergency room.
Oh, gimme a break. A pair of scissors applied in the correct spot will open just about anything you can fit on your lap (you may need something more heavy-duty for larger items, I will admit).
As the bigger problem here, many stores balk at taking back defective goods if you've turned the packaging into confetti. Given that we have packaging so sturdy that you can't remove it without reducing it to a pile of ragged plastic strips, that makes it difficult to take back most products (although in most states, they legally must take it back if defective, and that includes software/dvds/cds - Look up "warrant of merchantability" and your state's laws on the subject - "State law" trumps "store policy" every time).
Personally, I think every product should have a sort of magic pull-string... Just untape the string and pull it, and the otherwise-invulnerable packaging neatly falls away in two or three tidy chunks to reveal its contents (and which, with a bit of care, you could reassemble the packaging enough to return it to the store without much fuss).
For opening those plastic bubbles, I use EMT shears. You can get them at a hardware store and they aren't expensive. (I think I paid US$3 for mine.)
For round bubbles, I take my pocket knife and punch a starter hole, then switch to the EMT shears to open the package. But often there is a flat heat seal around the package, and you can simply take cut the seal part off and get the package open.
steveha
lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
if they could just create something to unwrap the Barbies - It takes 20 minutes to untie all of the metal bands and plastic ties. (Before you ask, I have two daughters.)
This message was brought to you by "Lack of Sleep."
Yeah, I agree the packaging is annoying, but all the comments here are perplexing me (e.g., "how do the manufacturers expect people to open these?", "Using a knife is dangerous!!")
Like, have people on Slashdot never heard of this fancy gadget called "scissors"? Come down from the trees, my monkey brethren, and let me show these wacky things called "tools".
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
Do you know how many times the US Customs dept calls up and asks us what specieces of CLAM is we are importing?
Our answer is always: "Domesticus Plasticus" followed by a long pause...
Kevlar-reinforced DVD cases! Annoying plastic wrap got you down? Our-easy to open* kevlar-reinforced DVD cases will prevent in store theft! *requires purchase of our new thermite-based case opener. May potentially destroy contents. Thermite case opener now shipped in new kevlar casing.
It's not just consumer electronics and such that are overwrought with packaging. Many packaged foods are also very difficult to access. I remember when you could get into breakfast cereal just using your hands. Now you needs scissors to get into most packaged foods. Some are very difficult, and it's also possible to wreck the food or product you're trying to get to because of the packaging.
The worst packaging is for computer accessories and such. The thickness and strength of the plastic used is absolutely ridiculous. It's obvious no consumer pre-market testing ever takes place. I've seen this develop in the past 20 years and it's gotten completely out of control. I wonder how it is for the elderly and disabled to get into many household goods and such.
I've also wondered about why it has come to pass. I understand the need for keeping food fresh and products safe from damage, but I feel the current packaging "paradigm" is way out of control and needs to be reigned in.
Some other interesting things to ponder is that all this packaging is made from plastic, derived from oil, and will end up in a landfill, and take quite a few years to decompose. So in effect you have an extremely inefficient use of resources and energy to protect products and food that is also very detrimental to the environment.
We play the game with the bravery of being out of range
My wife nearly killed herself, literally, trying to open one of these plastic fortresses. It was an individually wrapped steak knife. She cut the plastic around the knife and began to pull the knife out by the handle (which was outside of the plastic), but it got stuck on the way out, jumped, and proceeded to slash her wrist about 5 inches long, from the middle of her palm to just past the wrist-bone. Took her to the ER where she proceeded to get 16 stitches and a "you were lucky" speech from the doctor. 1 milimeter one way or the other and she would have severed either a main artery or damaging nerves and tendons, potentially losing the usage of her hand. Doctor said, "you're lucky blood wasn't squirting all over your ceiling." I can't even imagine what would have happened if I were not there to tourniquet her arm and get her to the ER. All of this 2 weeks before our wedding. Yeah, now the story is funny to tell, but at the time it was scary as fuck. Plus, do you know what it's like explaining to your family why your finance has a slashed open wrist 2 weeks before your wedding? Hah! This packaging is ridiculous and needs to go.
My brother-in-law is a plastic surgeon specializing in hands. He told me last year that fully a *third* of his surgeries are to repair damage caused by these plastic packages. Most commonly, people get frustrated and apply extra force with a knife, which then slips and cuts across the palm of the hand, slicing through some of the tendons and nerves that control the fingers. It is a real mess to repair apparently. Or people cut themselves up on the sharp plastic edges by trying to rip open the package with their hands and brute force.
Bad for us non-surgeons, but good for them - he has a really nice boat!
...And while you are at Home Depot buy some glue, so after you open the clamshell you can repair the thing you ordered.
The only way to stop this is to put a ban on this. Obviously the products look shiny, but they are difficult to handle, dangerous, difficult to return and unfriendly to the environment. Most of the time I don't even see the idiotic plastic casing until after I've asked the store for the product. If you are ordering online, the chances of seeing the packaging is almost zero. So to level the playing field, this kind of packaging (where the bulk of the waste is not even in the product) should be banned. Lets see what they come up with if they cannot sell anymore in the US or in Europe. Just use a small plastic front that you can slide out between two layers of cardboard for instance, this is already much in use and works perfectly well.
Sorry, tried to un-UK the link, forgot the domain name.
You flip open the top of a new bottle of ketchup. You squeeze. Nothing comes out.
Oh, yeah. You forgot about the inner seal.
You unscrew the top and are faced with a circular round piece of foil which seals the opening. Attached to this is a white plastic semi-circle. This is sticking up, implying that by pulling you will also remove the silver foil seal, allowing access to the product.
You pull at the semi-circle [gently|firmly|side-to-side|straight up] and it detaches completely, leaving the silver seal in place and the product as inaccessible as before.
I'm sick and tired of these hip, "ironic" sigs. This is an actual, honest-to-goodness no-nonsense sig!
One of the problems the manufacturers have is that people demand nice, crystal-clear transparent plastics in their packaging, so they can ogle the merchandise without actually putting their hands all over it (which the retailers do not want, for obvious reasons).
But what makes plastics very transparent is also what makes them form those nasty sharp edges when broken or cut. In the jargon, you need plastics that are very 'glassy' at room temperatures.
So the situation ends up not much different than with glass (silica) itself. It's lovely stuff, very transparent, easy to form into different shapes at a low temperature, quite cheap -- but, alas, forming those nasty strong, sharp edges when you break it.
You can certainly go back to polyethylene for packaging, which is nice and soft, easy to open, without sharp edges. But it's a lot cloudier, since it's much more crystalline, and people don't like that, apparently.
Even easier is the so-called Baym technique for opening CDs. Just pop the hinge of the jewel case off. The case will then be hinged on the sticky tape, and it's trivial to pull off at that point. There's some minor risk of breaking the hinge, but I've only had it happen once, as far as I remember.
Once I used this technique on a White Zombie CD I bought from Best Buy, only to find that the disc inside was an old, horribly scratched Black Sabbath tribute album. I reassembled the case before removing the tape and had an interesting time explaining to the people at Best Buy how I knew it had the wrong CD inside...
Steven N. Severinghaus
I can't believe that no one has linked this yet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTjeAR2bnfU
From march 2006
Philosophy.
trauma shears.
Should be able to pick them up for $4 or so. Get a couple. They're extremely handy.
No good for precision cutting, but perfect for cutting through tough, thick plastic, cardboard, or card stock.
There are no trails. There are no trees out here.
I thought the OpenX sounded like a great stocking stuffer. I bought 4 last year. I almost cut myself the minute I tried it!
OpenX has two cutterblades, a safe one for pushing and a hidden dangerous one that pops out of the bottom for starting the cutting process with a piercing cut. It's this latter blade I almost cut myself with. Clamshells are just too tough for the blades and it is highly likely that the package will slip when you try to use the starting cutter. I pictured family members trying to use the opener at Christmas with Clamshells on their lap--shudder. I decided not to give the gift of possible genital mutilation and exsaguination for Christmas and tossed all 4 in the trash. By some heavy duty sheers instead.
IMO
No one has a problem with nice, clear plastic windows in packaging so you can see the item in the box.
What people have a problem with is when that clear plastic FRONT window is thermally, ultrasonically, or RF welded to a matching BACK clamshell.
This is what makes you have to break out the damn jackhammer to get to the item inside.
It's all to help prevent shoplifting.
A work that expires before its copyright never enters the public domain and thus enjoys eternal copyright protection.
... opening them can be difficult enough to cause injuries that land people in the emergency room.
This is what product liability legislation is about: Making companies pay for the damage their products cause, so they think twice about producing dangerous products.
A few mulitmillion dollar judgements for people who cut the nerves in their hands on the sharp edges created by opening the packaging should make some execs start balancing "inventory shrinkage" from shoplifing more sanely against bottom-line shrinkage from damage to their customers' bodies.
That should make a BIG difference in package design quite quickly.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Did you sue? I sure as hell would have. The only thing that is going to stop this madness is for everyone these things happen to sue. And don't just go for medical bills. File for unspecified punitive damages for the mental anguish you went through almost losing your [lw]ife.
With the event you described, any decent ambulance chaser would take the case and negotiate a settlement, and the business will likely settle for an amount just less than their projected cost to win at trial. The lawyer will take most of that, so you won't end up with much. Nevertheless, if this happens often enough, the corporation will learn a lesson.
As much as I hate the way this country has become one big lawsuit factory, nowadays (often silly) personal injury lawsuits are often the only way to effect change in corporate cheapness.
The preceding comments reflect the author's personal opinion and are public domain, unless explicitly stated otherwise.
Has anyone noticed on kids toys (like cars, planes) that come in a box where you can push the buttons to hear the noises it makes? Try popping those puppies out of the box. Gee whizz! By the time you get all the wire wraps off of them, you've got 10 feet of wire! And whoever ties those stupid things has an evil side. They will wrap some of them clockwise, and some counterclockwise. Grrrrrrrrrrr
don't come packaged like that
That IS funny!
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
There's a double-edged sword that the manufacturers LOVE about this packaging.
1. Nearly impossibly for the product to shrink (ie, someone walks up, takes the item from the packaging, leave the package, takes the item.
2. People feel guilty taking something back to the store that looks destroyed. I've actually gotten dirty looks from sales associates when I took a bluetooth headset back that didn't work right. The packaging was mangled because at the time the only thing I had handy to open it were my keys. So I poked holes in it until I could get my fingers into it, ripped it open, charged it....didn't work. Took a manager to get them to take it back.
So yeah. The stores won't put an open item that looks like *that* back on the shelf, so fewer returns. Win-win in their eyes. They don't really care about convenience on this one. In fact, the more inconvenient, the better.
Karma: Chameleon (mostly due to the fact that you come and go).
I use tin snips. They work pretty well, and you can find them at any hardware store.
AMD used to use clamshell packaging on their Athlon processors. It was a nightmare, and I cut myself more than once opening them. I lavished them with praise (through the reseller channel) a couple of years ago when they switched to a mixed packaging of cardboard, cornstarch-based molding, and a little plastic. That new package is easy to open, easy to reuse, and is easy to disassemble for appropriate recycling.
The Core2 Duo processors I have been receiving are coming in plastic inside cardboard. There's more plastic, but it's not hard to open. I still prefer the AMD packaging, and I hope Intel does something similar soon, as the plastic looks resealable, but isn't.
Vidar
The brains of a chicken, coupled with the claws of two eagles, may well hatch the eggs of our destruction.
They've already made ink pack gadgets to protect clothes.
There are similar protective containers for dvds.
The cashier takes them off with another gadget of some sort (magnets?).
So solutions are near at hand with little/no creativity required.
That being said this is what *I'd* like to see:
A new package which is easy to open but makes a loud bang. Ever pulled a christmas cracker?
If the bang is hard to avoid thieves should be deterred.
As a bonus christmas mornings should get much more fun.
"(that was funny:)" or "(that was funny:))"?
:)
You'd need to escape the smileyparen. Like so: "(that was funny:\))"
FRA: STFU GTFO
Well, nationally the number is that 50% of all loss if from employee theft.
You miss my point. If you're properly staffed, then when a customer comes in, you move towards him, greet him, establish needs, present solutions, overcome objections, close, and add-on product/services. Lather, Rinse, Repeat.
Doesn't anyone know how to actually SELL things in a retail environment, or has everyone resigned themselves to just dealing with stock pickers, and cashiers?
Technology -- No Place For Wimps! Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia Chatroom -- http://www.wemissjerry.org