Amazon looking to remove all blister packing from products

Here is a story for you! All the way back in 2005, when the PSP first launched, I had a plane to catch the morning I was picking up the handheld. It was going to be a hassle, but I knew I could squeeze in buying the handheld, a game or two, and an extra memory stick before rushing of to the airport. Thankfully, it all worked out very well, and I got there so much ahead of time that I had loads of time on my hands, and I knew this would be the perfect time to try out my PSP. Everything was going good, and I was able to open the box, and tear that plastic wrap of the game without to much bother.

However then everything started to go downhill, as I found out the supposed packed in 32MB memory card was missing. Thankfully, this was not the end of the world, as I had bought the extra card – a beautiful 1GB one in fact. The beauty was however locked inside some blister packing, and as I was stuck at an airport terminal this caused a big problem. Nevertheless, I tried to open it, and actually made some headway into accessing what I once thought was an impenetrable box. In fact, after much biting, tearing, squashing and moaning, yes moaning, I made a crack appear. Obviously, I had now created a weakpoint, and after seeing it I decided to attack it (for massive damage!). At this point more biting, tearing, squashing happened.

At some point during the tearing the pack busted open, and the card went flying escaping its plastic prison. However, this joy was short lived as somehow a sharp edge in the packing made a HUGE CUT at the base of two of my fingers. This fucking hurt lots, and as it started to spout blood I needed help. Thankfully, there was help at hand, and I did not die. However, I ended up having to get stitches.

Because of this, I really hate blister packing – even more than most other people. So, the fact that Amazon.com have announced they also share my hatred is good news. In fact, they’ve revealed they will be pushing a new “Frustration-Free Packaging” initiative that will mean many of their products will come in packaging made from the likes of recyclable cardboard instead of the usual plastic death.

Nineteen products from the likes of Fisher-Price, Mattel, Microsoft and Transcend have already joined the initiative, with the CEO of the company commenting he hopes to have the “entire catalogue of products in Frustration-Free Packaging” in a few years down the line. It is not yet known if the Euro based sites will follow their lead yet.

By the way, as a rather sad ending to my story I never found the memory stick afterwards, which means someone else benefited from all my work – and my near death experience. And, to make matters worse, I could not play my PSP for nearly two weeks after due to the stitches. Obliviously, more people need to follow Amazon lead very quickly! Someone is going to loose a finger dammit!

Source: Engadget