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The OpenX plastic package opener saves me again from nasty plastic cuts

A repost from 2006: I just reread an editorial from John Dvorak that he was ticked off at the plastic packaging that encased most gadgets at retail these days.  Timely, as I was about to open a package of PC memory with a pair of old scissors, a package that you’d think was being packaged for long term storage for the next mission to Mars…

Is anyone other than me sick and tired of the hard plastic packaging that far too many products are encased in nowadays? You need metal shop tin snips to open them. Knives will not cut the stuff. If you tear it you risk cutting your hand wide open, as the plastic turns into a razor blade when torn. Some of these packages have perforated tear-open doors, but often they do not fully release the product. Whose idea was it to develop this sort of crappy package? I hate it! Now I appreciate the fact that in certain European Union countries the law limits the amount of plastic that can be used for packaging.

If we get lucky, a few of these companies will be sued when someone nearly bleeds to death when the plastic slices someone’s wrist. A few lawsuits will do the trick. I’ve cut myself a number of times.

I recall a post I made in late 2006 (during the holidays, actually). I’m mentioning this with no professional endorsement: purely a personal view here.

How many gifts given this year come in those form-fitting clear plastic packages? I know that one present Santa brought to our five-year-old — a new ATM machine — came in such. You know the type: no matter what you do, or what tool you use, you are bound to either a) cut the item or instructions securely bound in the package, b) injure yourself or others in the family to a degree requiring a holiday trip to the urgent care clinic for some holiday-coloured stitches, or c) return the product to the store without opening in quiet protest of such packaging.

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I saw that Steve was worried about the same thing, and thought that I would offer this inexpensive, innovative tip: get an OpenX. This is the best thing to hit since the Olfa touch knife I tried to master in my days doing graphic design oh so many years ago. This little device now saves me agonizing injuries (I still have one little scar on my wrist from a plastic shard that continues to give me the willies) and is easy enough to use.

There are packages that are a dream to open (as I wrote about my zune OOBE), and then there are packages that double as medieval torture devices.

IMHO, the OpenX is awesome.

Tags: openx, gadgets.

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