xkcd, I am disappoint

[Balog]

EU did this and magically product packaging got a lot smaller and simpler.

Why do you think non regulated packaging is the size and type it is now? Using more costs more, so if there was not a loss of functionality then companies would be doing it already.

[Scout26]

Most large or oversized packaging is as a shoplifting deterrent.

Thorium reactors would be better.

[charby]

Why do you think non regulated packaging is the size and type it is now? Using more costs more, so if there was not a loss of functionality then companies would be doing it already.

Perhaps its cheaper for the company to produce at that time, but what about the disposal costs as the package is passed onto the consumer? Last time I checked the packaging didn't magically disappear when I was done with it. Sometimes the package is recyclable, such as cardboard, glass and certain packages, many times it unable to be recycled so it is sent to a landfill or burnt in an incinerator (sometimes generating electricity). Maybe a few extra pennies on the part of the producer, which is passed on to the consumer will save $$ in the long run.

[Ben]

Amazon seems to be doing okay with "frustration free" packaging. It seems like a win-win for company and consumer. I could be wrong, but I find it hard to believe a ginormous plastic package that cuts the hell out of my hands is cheaper to create than a small cardboard box or envelope. I do understand that this is harder to do in brick and mortar stores due to damn thieves.

[KD5NRH]

Amazon seems to be doing okay with "frustration free" packaging. It seems like a win-win for company and consumer. I could be wrong, but I find it hard to believe a ginormous plastic package that cuts the hell out of my hands is cheaper to create than a small cardboard box or envelope. I do understand that this is harder to do in brick and mortar stores due to damn thieves.

This, and I do hope there's a special hell for companies that take an item that would ship just fine in a padded CD mailer, stick it in a cubic foot of foam and then stuff it all down into a Flat Rate Medium box.

[RevDisk]

http://xkcd.com/1162/

[Doggy Daddy]

This, and I do hope there's a special hell for companies that take an item that would ship just fine in a padded CD mailer, stick it in a cubic foot of foam and then stuff it all down into a Flat Rate Medium box.

I recently experimented with ordering dog food from Amazon Prime.  Got 2 40# bags.  Each bag was in it's own oversized cardboard box, and padded with a generous amount of bubble wrap!

I really have to give our UPS guy props.  Same guy, most of the time.  Always smiling and friendly, even with the weird parcels we tend to get.


Bubble-wrapped 40# bags of dog food!!!   

[Balog]

I recently experimented with ordering dog food from Amazon Prime.  Got 2 40# bags.  Each bag was in it's own oversized cardboard box, and padded with a generous amount of bubble wrap!

I really have to give our UPS guy props.  Same guy, most of the time.  Always smiling and friendly, even with the weird parcels we tend to get.


Bubble-wrapped 40# bags of dog food!!!   

Interesting, ours always came in a box stuffed with that brown shipping paper.

[MechAg94]

Why would Amazon need anti-shoplifting packaging?

[Balog]

Why would Amazon need anti-shoplifting packaging?

There are lots of different types of packaging, many of which have nothing to do with shoplifting.

[Perd Hapley]

Perhaps its cheaper for the company to produce at that time, but what about the disposal costs as the package is passed onto the consumer? Last time I checked the packaging didn't magically disappear when I was done with it. Sometimes the package is recyclable, such as cardboard, glass and certain packages, many times it unable to be recycled so it is sent to a landfill or burnt in an incinerator (sometimes generating electricity). Maybe a few extra pennies on the part of the producer, which is passed on to the consumer will save $$ in the long run.

I guess I can't figure out why the packaging on a sold item is (or ought to be) the responsibility of the manufacturer or vendor. Is it not, in most cases, sold along with the item? I've read that there are manufacturers that arrange for their distributors to return used shipping containers, but that is their choice.

[zahc]

Like kegs

[charby]

I guess I can't figure out why the packaging on a sold item is (or ought to be) the responsibility of the manufacturer or vendor. Is it not, in most cases, sold along with the item? I've read that there are manufacturers that arrange for their distributors to return used shipping containers, but that is their choice.

Because the manufacturer made the choice to make a large package for a small item. Look at items like flash drives, compared to the size of the item the package is freaking huge and usually made of out non recyclable plastic.

[KD5NRH]

There are lots of different types of packaging, many of which have nothing to do with shoplifting.

You mean like the snapped clamshells; the ones that are ginormous compared to the product, as if to prevent shoplifting, but snapped instead of welded at the edges so you can just slip the product out and reclose the package?

How about the utterly pointless blister packs with cheap glue so the product and plastic are laying in the floor in front of a peg of undamaged cardboard sheets?

[MillCreek]

^^^ There have been articles in the emergency medicine literature about ER visits caused by those clamshell packs.  Usually two types of injuries: hand lacerations from the sharp edges of the cut or torn plastic, and knife cuts and stabs caused by slipping when trying to open the packages with a knife.

[AJ Dual]

http://www.rockynational.com/product/Gerber/Outdoors/31-001695/GDC-Hook-Knife?gclid=CKfR4fmN8r4CFRAV7AodvlMAJQ

[KD5NRH]

http://www.rockynational.com/product/Gerber/Outdoors/31-001695/GDC-Hook-Knife?gclid=CKfR4fmN8r4CFRAV7AodvlMAJQ

What sort of package does it come in?

[brimic]

http://www.rockynational.com/product/Gerber/Outdoors/31-001695/GDC-Hook-Knife?gclid=CKfR4fmN8r4CFRAV7AodvlMAJQ

Do they make a Bear Grylls edition?

[Balog]

Because the manufacturer made the choice to make a large package for a small item. Look at items like flash drives, compared to the size of the item the package is freaking huge and usually made of out non recyclable plastic.

Sounds like we need to fire up the SWAT teams, then. How dare those selfish sons of bitches make decisions about how to package their goods without consulting the fed.gov!

[KD5NRH]

Because the manufacturer made the choice to make a large package for a small item. Look at items like flash drives, compared to the size of the item the package is freaking huge and usually made of out non recyclable plastic.

Flash drives bug me anyway:
What's necessary (and doesn't end up bent from sticking way out of the port on a laptop or car stereo)


What they keep doing:


If I need it bigger for some reason, I'm perfectly capable of JB Welding some random crap onto the little one.  Then I can have a flash drive as impractical as this:

[AJ Dual]

Do they make a Bear Grylls edition?

http://www.amazon.com/SE-HQ93-Stainless-Funnel-Flasks/dp/B000MEMLGA/ref=sr_1_3?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1402503498&sr=1-3

[KD5NRH]

http://www.amazon.com/SE-HQ93-Stainless-Funnel-Flasks/dp/B000MEMLGA/ref=sr_1_3?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1402503498&sr=1-3

Twin size, made of cotton, programmable, with auto shut off.  Includes a wire whip and a flat beater.  An excellent example of how crappy Amazon's proofreading is.

[erictank]

Flash drives bug me anyway:
What's necessary (and doesn't end up bent from sticking way out of the port on a laptop or car stereo)


What they keep doing:


If I need it bigger for some reason, I'm perfectly capable of JB Welding some random crap onto the little one.  Then I can have a flash drive as impractical as this:

I have one of those little Sandisk ones, in 64GB (aux storage for my Nexus 7 tablet, used with an OTA cable - unfortunately, it won't just plug in). I like it. Attached a little lanyard to it, to make it easier to remove on the rare occasions I plug it into the PC. I ought to get a few more.

I also have a 128GB full-sized flash drive - also Sandisk, looking at it - which I use as a backup for my work files. Windows XP and 7 computers see that drive as an installed drive, not removable storage.

Neither was terribly expensive, though I *DID* get the big drive on a pretty good sale 3-4 months ago. But it's now at that sale price as the regular price, IIRC. The little 64GB drive pricing is about... 2/3 of where I bought it, 4-5 months ago? Got the tablet in late December, drive probably >1 month later, so it would have been January for that.

Both came in packages far larger than necessary.

[Ben]

To contribute to thread veer.

I actually like a larger USB for some things. I always carried a larger ruggedized one at work because it was easy to handle, easy to find in my ruck in the field, and harder to lose falling out of my pocket when I pulled out keys or whatever. I do like the smallest possible to stick in my vehicle audio system, or when running something like Linux on a Stick, where it stays plugged into a laptop.

[brimic]

What's necessary (and doesn't end up bent from sticking way out of the port on a laptop or car stereo)

I know... I have one on my keychain that is so small, I keep forgetting that I even have it.