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HP Shatters Excessive Packaging World Record
An anonymous reader writes "HP customers will be familiar with their bizarre packaging practices (5 pounds of packaging for 8 license keys!); lets just say this story is not an isolated incident ... " I've seen some excessive packaging, but perhaps nothing to top this.
And I thought the MSDN CDs ya get posted were bad.
They come in a box about the size of an Eee PC (but taller), and contain just a CD in a sleeve cover.
Cost of shipping 150$?
Often times when you ask the shipping department to take care of a package containing hardware, let's say in a 12 x 12 x 4 cube, they are nice enough to protect by putting it in a box with extra padding. Sometimes, when you note it's out of IT and don't notice it's already reboxed, they'll do it again.
This is not that unusual. Clearly they ship out their licenses in a box. I'd just use an envelope like those free ones from the shipping companies. But why ask why, put it in a box. Got many boxes? Put the boxes in a box.
Why not be thoughtful and put 32 pages in one box? This presumes the shipping department knows what's in the box, and even they know, why would they want to deal with all these extra boxes when they can ship them off to the customer.
There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
I feel like being forced to download HP's 600MB installer just to get one printer driver is the software equivalent of this packaging phenomenon.
Yeah, recycling is terrible for the environment. Those harsh chemicals used for recycling are so much worse than the harsh chemicals used to manufacture cardboard in the first place. Not to mention the trees you get to cut down by making new cardboard. If you recycle, those trees will still be in the way somewhere.
This is +1 interesting? Really?
Spooooon!!!!!
At first I thought this was just a prank pulled by someone who didn't like HP, but after reading the comments I seem to have to believe it's true. It makes you see this in a whole new light.
-- Cheers!
The shipping department at HP probably get monitored on how many cubic ft of parcels they handle, with a bonus for the supervisors if they ship more than 300cuft of parcels per day.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
There's actually a good reason behind why the power cord(s) is/are packaged separately, and hence in their own boxes - international differences in electrical sockets.
It would suck for inventory and man power if you constantly had to manage how many of each of your servers have continental europe, british, north american and so on power cords with them in the box.
It appears that Carly is now one of McCain's campaign advisers. May she do as well with McCain's campaign as she did at HP.
...or perhaps Greenpeace takes into account more than packaging? I mean really, you're declaring their whole environmental study invalid based on a few anecdotes about excessive use of cardboard?
[Disclaimer: In general, I don't trust Greenpeace numbers, but even then, the parent's argument is off.]
How is this "non-geek"?
And yet, with all that thought going into your post, you don't seem to address the "why the hell would you use a foam-lined cardboard box for two sheets of paper in the first place" question.
ZFS: because love is never having to say fsck
I worked for HP for several years, so this is personal experience.
For a High Tech company, they are still extremely retarded in the way they handle things.
Here are some examples:
Leave application forms. Go to a website, fill in a form and then print it and fax it to your manager. There is no way to "submit" the form to a database which then emails the manager. I was probably one of the first people to print-to-pdf and email it instead.
Procurement: Once when I moved roles within HP, I needed to order a laptop. So I ordered a laptop, docking station, and carry case. These were standard laptops. The order processing centre was located in Singapore or Malaysia, and so the laptop, the docking station and the carry case were air freighted to me from Singapore even though my office was about 5 Kms from their Warehouse in Sydney.
Paper recycling is pointless. It biodegrades...
Theoretically. Practically, no, not once it goes into a landfill. That's why you can still find readable newspapers from half a century ago.
As a rule, stuff doesn't really biodegrade once it goes to the dump.
From the strength of your opinions I'm guessing you've never seen a paper mill or know that making pulp from trees for use in cardboard creates sulfur dioxide.
'Here is a list of things recycled paper is environmentally better for than virgin paper: less bleaching, less energy, less pollutants, more benign pollutants, less impact on natural resources, less water, less waste to dispose of. The only waste product that is more of a problem with recycled paper is the sludge produced by removing ink and additives. However, this sludge is material that would otherwise be in landfills and it has repeatedly been proven to be non-toxic.'
- From The Society for Natural Resources Conservation, Cornell University
Yeah, I know you're going to come back at me with a quote from Rush Limbaugh or some advertisement you saw on tv... Or dismiss Cornell University as a hippy haven of intellectuals... Whatever.
Large warehouse management systems usually have a "footprint code" (or some other similar term) for all the items in the system that they ship. If someone is lazy and doesn't put one in (or uses some default setting) then the system picks the wrong size box to ship the product. The crew working shipping can't change it so they just ship it and tell the monkeys in charge they've got a bad footprint. *Hopefully* someone cares enough to actually change it to the right code. I've seen 100 CD's go out in 100 separate boxes for this reason.
As for trees? Do you still think we live in the days of lopping rainforests? Majority of cardboard and paper are harvested from tree FARMS! Fast growing ones designed for making paper
Only in parts of the world where we've already chopped down all the readily available trees.
We don't believe in radical loony monotheistic religions from the middle east -- we're Christians.
No its the fact that Ron Paul is a nutbar is the reason that people don't like Ron Paul.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
Because the more trees you chop down and replant to create all those boxes, the more CO2 you remove from the atmosphere.
:)
As long as you landfill the boxes aka sequester the carbon, you are removing CO2.
One reason for using boxes is that they are harder to steal by dropping them in a pocket. But ONE of those inner boxes would have sufficed without being complete overkill. Though common sense calls for a 9x12 envelope or mailer.
TANSTAAFL GIGO Acronyms to live by!
Alternatively I expect someone totally bored and with a sense of humour at work.
This is a load of rubbish. I agree that licenses are shipped in excessive packaging. I've seen things like that box delivered in that way to more than one customer indeed.
However, there are probably good reasons for these practices. HP, like any company, has product numbers attached to licenses. So when you buy a license from HP, you are buying a product.
These products are "manufactured" or "assembled" in a "factory". This line of reasoning stems from the fact that HP traditionally is a Hardware Shop.
This means that if a Data Protector license is ordered with part number B6951BA, that item is taken from the stock/warehouse and sent to the customer. This is very probably why they come in boxes. Ever wonder why every item in IKEA comes in a separate box? Same deal here.
Now we are not completely behind the times. If a customer so desires, he can now order certain software licenses for e-delivery, which is akin to the e-tickets you get from airlines. In the case of Data Protector, you could order B6951BAE instead, which is the same license for e-delivery.
Apart from this, numerous HP employees have been discussing this subject within HP. People like myself and other individuals from the Software branch have pointed out this is a wasteful approach. And judging by the brand spanking new e-delivery option and certain other efforts within HP, I see that this is actually worked on for SoftWare.
So it has Diddley to do with unhappy employees, drones, zombies and all of that poppycock. It's a simple matter of order handling, product numbering and logistics.
Probably the costs that are associated with a radical change of this system are quite high, because it's likely that many changes need to be made in databases, order systems, processes and procedures.
As said, I have seen indications this is being worked on, but one has to remember we are a company the size of a small country, and that makes it a little more difficult to maneuver than a one man company.
Just my USD 0.0126. This reaction is in no way shape or form tied to the policies, views and mission of my employer and should be treated as strictly personal, blah blah blah blah. You know the drill.
I understand many businesses actually fold papers on purpose before packing them in envelopes. I guess they have the silly nothing that such folding doesn't leave the document unreadable and useless. Go figure, we can't all be as wise as HP.
We hope your rules and wisdom choke you / Now we are one in everlasting peace
That also means she could receive a position in government, too, if McCain wins.
Suitably, my captcha for this morning is accident--understatement?
Mr Robson said that HP should be penalised for that but HP has already been penalised. The cost difference between sending an envelope and sending that mountain of boxes (presumably by courier) would not be insignificant.
It's kind of like an automatic fine for stupidity.
You are spot on with this comment. The problem with hemp is the fact that it is called hemp and this word is synonymous with marijuana so in the eyes of the public it is bad and for some competing business this is a good thing to foster. What many people fail to realise is that linen which is still a prized fabric is actually made from hemp and linen can last quite a long time (well over 100 years) because of its hard wearing properties (maybe that is why some business don't want to compete with it). Many beneficial products can be made from the hemp plant (not the one you get marijuana from) and today many countries are starting to realise that this plant has been much maligned. For more information on hemp this site is a good start .
Anyway back on topic. I get software informational updates from HP and also from other vendors and most vendors do provide a cardboard box with one or two slips of paper. This IMHO is annoying because I have no use for the box and in many cases the slips of paper are just as useless. From my personal experience the best vendor for reducing waste is Redhat. (others may have different experiences) I only get email advisories which is all I want. Actually many years ago HP did this as well.
Oh and what happened to "quote", even "blockquote" does not work properly?
There ain't no such thing as proprietary standards only proprietary formats. Standards are by definition open.
[q]...Indeed, mod parent 50% Offtopic, 50% Informative. ...[/q]
indeed, like most posts here it is informitively off-topic...
the significance of a signature is insignificant
Paper recycling is pointless. It biodegrades...
Theoretically. Practically, no, not once it goes into a landfill.
Well then, all the better. As long as the stuff stays intact, the carbon in it is sequestered, and we have less of that evil carbon dioxide stuff.
Here's your sig.
Funny that you mention IKEA packaging, one of the main reasons for their success is their highly efficient transport of goods, you'll notice that hardly a single cubic cm of air is wasted in their packaging.
molmod.com - computing tips from a molecular modeling
Hmmm... you're right. The constitution is not written on hemp.. However, George Washington was still a hemp farmer, and the draft of the declaration of independence was written on hemp (I did get that one mixed up, but hey, I'm not American. hemp farming is legal in my country). And DonaldM probably meant canvas, not linen, but I can't really speak for him.
Regardless, hemp is a very useful plant. And the very first paper mill in your country was started by Thomas Jefferson, and it made paper from hemp. If 35% of the trees cut down are to make paper, don't you think it would make sense to switch back to hemp? That was my original point.