Jun 21
Have just finished reading Inside Steve’s Brain which talks about Apple’s obsession with packaging and the ‘unboxing’ experience. Jobs is apparently obsessive about people’s first interaction with his product, and it should be as seamless and as in keeping with Apple’s overall philosophy as possible (such as the handle of the original iMac being the first thing you see when you open the box).
Sounds neat, but maybe a little over the top. That was until I ordered my Logitech presenter. I used one at Lotusphere and it was great to be able to click through slides without having to return to a laptop. It has to be the most difficult packaging to open ever. It’s not a big device, just fits in the palm of your hand, and it comes in a moulded plastic wrap about the size of a greeting card. Which is impossible to open. It required scissors and a rather dangerous slashing motion with a sharp kitchen knife to get past the plastic. Once open, the instructions for such a simple device had to be ripped out of their plastic wrapping and were completely over-engineered.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great product, but the packaging has me already annoyed. Maybe Steve has a point…
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June 27th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Jon, couldn’t agree more, but you didn’t mention the impact to the environment of all that plastic packaging
Given my age I have an excuse, but I do believe that you are becoming “a grumpy old man”!
By the way believe that it was my device you used at Lotusphere …..I wonder if I can get some commission!!
July 2nd, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Don’t get me started on the packaging…
July 14th, 2008 at 9:54 am
Sealed firm plastic packaging - whilst good for protecting products in transit, is very annoying to open. You persist for a few minutes trying to prize it open and then resort to hunting for scissors and risking injury when cutting into the plastic. It’s a frustrating experience because all you want to do is experience your new device or gadget and you now need to get out of your arm chair
On a more serious point, I’m sure this sort of packaging presents an accessibility issue for some people. I do also wonder how cost effective and eco-friendly it is versus other possible options.