# What idiot designed this package? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 11, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-idiot-designed-this-package/480807 "2009-01-11T17:37:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-idiot-designed-this-package/480807/21 "2009-01-12T05:41:56Z")
> [@Miss\_Woodhouse](#): > > I hate the Disney DVDs because the case almost always comes with those stupid tabs that keeps the case closed. No one else uses them, so every time I go to watch a movie with the kids I get thrown by the stupid package that won’t open because once again I’ve forgotten that _that_ particular DVD case has tabs! > > I hate the tabs. Yes! Although I console myself with the thought that they’re obviously kid’s movies, and my kid can’t open the case herself and give the DVD to the cat to bat around when I’m in the other room. > [@dropzone](#): > > The standard CD jewel case. Unbraced arms made of brittle clear polystyrene. Can only be opened if you have two hands. Possibly the worst industrial design of the 20th century. YES! Why on earth that won out over the competing designs, I have no idea. Actually, I have no idea why CD players weren’t designed to take the case off after you insert the whole thing into the player. Same for DVDs. Surely we have the technology that would allow such an arrangement and play us our music and movies with little or no chance of ruining the discs by taking or leaving them out of their cases until they’re safe in the machines! [Zyrtec](http://www.shoplocal.com/detailonline.aspx?spid=53761021)comes in these ridiculous little single caplet blister pack which, unsatisfied with the usual torturous medical blister packs, involves tearing, peeling, and turning yourself all about. I hated having so much packaging waste for a once a day pill! (Yes, if you buy a larger quantity, you can get a bottle with pills in it, but for a starter quantity, a blister pack of the single serve blister packs was the only option.) ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-idiot-designed-this-package/480807/22 "2009-01-12T06:12:26Z")
I have confirmed the utility of the humble can opener. My wife says, “Thanks, Straight Dope!” ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-idiot-designed-this-package/480807/23 "2009-01-12T06:34:26Z")
> [@whiterabbit](#): > > It doesn’t work as an anti-theft thing either; what they did at a store I worked at was to steal some scissors and use them to open the packages and take the stuff and leave the rest for us to deal with. Increasingly, I’m noticing that stores seal scissors shut, either with plastic ties around the fingerholes, or … in those plastic packages. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-idiot-designed-this-package/480807/24 "2009-01-12T08:18:55Z")
What about the people who send you something in a ridiculously large box? Yeah, let’s use a 3’x3’x3’ box with about 5 trees worth of newspaper to ship a few rolls of tape.:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Amblydoper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@Amblydoper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amblydoper)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-idiot-designed-this-package/480807/25 "2009-01-12T08:44:57Z")
Commercial sized plastic wrap. Everyone just tears off the top piece of cardboard, so why bother with the perforated tabs and slots? If you carefully feed the plastic through the slot, and close the box, the plastic will eventually wind itself back inside the box, and you have to repeat the process over again. After 4 or 5 times, you just tear off the lid in frustration anyway. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-idiot-designed-this-package/480807/26 "2009-01-12T10:31:16Z")
I take enough medications, that I should be proficient at opening any packaging of pills. But there’s one pill I take that comes in a container that can only be opened with a screwdriver and brute force. And, as others have mentioned, the blister packs where you have to peel off the backing, then push the pill through . . . a lot of medications are taken by elderly or sick people who don’t have that kind of dexterity. And how much extra are we paying for that kind of unnecessary packaging? I usually just take a scissors and snip off the end of the opening. ---
**Author:** ![seodoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@seodoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seodoa)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-idiot-designed-this-package/480807/27 "2009-01-12T11:32:46Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Actually, I have no idea why CD players weren’t designed to take the case off after you insert the whole thing into the player. Same for DVDs. Surely we have the technology that would allow such an arrangement and play us our music and movies with little or no chance of ruining the discs by taking or leaving them out of their cases until they’re safe in the machines! This idea was used with some [early](http://techpubs.sgi.com/library/dynaweb_docs/hdwr/SGI_EndUser/books/PChall_XL_OG/sgi_html/figures/4-4.load.cd.in.caddy.gif) [CD-ROM](http://myoldmac.net/Sellpicts/MacCD-Caddy1.jpg) [drives](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://myoldmac.net/Sellpicts/MacCD-Caddy1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://hup.hu/node/63004&usg=__u12OWrHW3UX2w-aVMruYKV5l610=&h=435&w=482&sz=60&hl=en&start=3&um=1&tbnid=0_ERkh_qwBgckM:&tbnh=116&tbnw=129&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcd%2Bcaddy%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN), but they were, IIRC, incredibly unpopular with the unwashed masses. Also, the caddies were not the actual case, rather, you would remove the CD from the case, insert it into the caddy, and then insert the caddy into the drive. However, we always left CDs permanently in labeled caddies, one caddy per CD, for safety reasons. With the incredibly low number of CD-ROMs that we actually used, it wasn’t financially prohibitive to buy the extra caddies. WRT OP: Anything that uses more packaging then necessary. Or anything that makes it particularly difficult to sort garbage. For example, paper labels glued to plastic containers or vice versa. My city’s waste management service is really strict about garbage separation and will not accept that plastic bottle if it has paper glued to it. They don’t even like it if there is glue still stuck to it. Anything that takes more than a minute to separate immediately gets a black mark in my book. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-idiot-designed-this-package/480807/28 "2009-01-12T13:43:46Z")
annoyingly with a lot of the pills we got that kind of packaging thanks to meth production. and to make it more fun they often change the layout of the pills to prevent the meth heads from building a tool to open them all in one shot. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-idiot-designed-this-package/480807/29 "2009-01-12T14:40:52Z")
😕 > [@CoG888](#): > > Commercial sized plastic wrap. **Everyone just tears off the top piece of cardboard** , so why bother with the perforated tabs and slots? I have to say I don’t know anyone who tears off the cardboard. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-idiot-designed-this-package/480807/30 "2009-01-12T14:47:28Z")
> [@Miss\_Woodhouse](#): > > I hate the Disney DVDs because the case almost always comes with those stupid tabs that keeps the case closed. No one else uses them, so every time I go to watch a movie with the kids I get thrown by the stupid package that won’t open because once again I’ve forgotten that _that_ particular DVD case has tabs! > > I hate the tabs. Tear them off. They come off so easily that I suspect that they were designed to do so. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-idiot-designed-this-package/480807/31 "2009-01-12T15:01:15Z")
> [@tr0psn4j](#): > > What about the people who send you something in a ridiculously large box? > > Yeah, let’s use a 3’x3’x3’ box with about 5 trees worth of newspaper to ship a few rolls of tape.:smack: My grandmother did this once. It turned out to be a coin in a box, but to get to the coin, I had to go through a series of nesting boxes stuffed with brown kraft paper. I got a huge kick out of it, but when I shared that with Grandmother, she failed to see the humor in it. Robin ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-idiot-designed-this-package/480807/32 "2009-01-12T16:04:10Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > HIJACK > A neat tip for opening those impossible “clamshell” packages - use a standard [can opener](http://www.surlatable.com/gs/swingaway-opener-openers-cooks-tools-kitchen-bar-tools-2.shtml). It works great, and there’s very little risk of cutting off your fingers with a big knife or heavy scissors. Seriously?! Neat-O. Honest, this is the coolest tip I’ve read in a while. Now I need to go buy something packaged in yard-o-plastic to try it. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-idiot-designed-this-package/480807/33 "2009-01-12T16:29:21Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > The standard CD jewel case. Unbraced arms made of brittle clear polystyrene. Can only be opened if you have two hands. Possibly the worst industrial design of the 20th century. At least the CD case is only the case. I’ve got a Transformers toy where some bright spark decided to use the two unbraced arms of brittle clear polystyrene on the toy itself. For a transformation hinge. Which required excessive force to open or close. So now I have a _Slave I_ toy with no canopy. Bastards. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-idiot-designed-this-package/480807/34 "2009-01-12T17:44:29Z")
Worst design ever: there are some DVD cases that have a ridge completely around the periphery of the disc. Including the finger slots. This makes removing the DVD pretty hard, and negates the utility of the finger slots. It’s so stupid, that I’m inclined to believe that it’s a mistake- no one caught it until the mold was made, and they just let it go. It’s too stupid a design for me to imagine that it was deliberate. ---
**Author:** ![gravitycrash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@gravitycrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gravitycrash)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-idiot-designed-this-package/480807/35 "2009-01-12T17:44:58Z")
I used to think the makers of the serrated pull tabs like on half gallon boxes of ice cream were exceptionally evil. You know, pull the tab and it tears about 1/3 of the way through and you end up pulling out a knife to finish the job. Then one day I noticed on the box that it said to pull _slowly_. I gave it a try and damned if it didn’t go all the way across. I thought bullshit, just a fluke. Six boxes later and still no tearing. Maybe I should take the time to read the instructions closer…naw. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2009, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-idiot-designed-this-package/480807/36 "2009-01-12T18:33:29Z")
I have a solution for pills where you’re supposed to tear off the paper and then push it through the foil (my personal bane is Claritin): take a nail file and trace around the pill. It’s easier than trying to cut it open. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-idiot-designed-this-package/480807/37 "2009-01-13T05:49:46Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Worst design ever: there are some DVD cases that have a ridge completely around the periphery of the disc. Including the finger slots. This makes removing the DVD pretty hard, and negates the utility of the finger slots. It’s so stupid, that I’m inclined to believe that it’s a mistake- no one caught it until the mold was made, and they just let it go. It’s too stupid a design for me to imagine that it was deliberate. This is what I was going to post. I hate this. It’s so friggin stupid that it actually makes me angry. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2009, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-idiot-designed-this-package/480807/38 "2009-01-13T06:02:54Z")
> [@Silver Tyger Girl](#): > > I have a solution for pills where you’re supposed to tear off the paper and then push it through the foil (my personal bane is Claritin): take a nail file and trace around the pill. It’s easier than trying to cut it open. I’ve found that a key works in a pinch. Smart, Beautiful, Artistic, Witty, and Horse Sense- I want the key to your sardine (sea kitty) tin. RRROWRRR!!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-idiot-designed-this-package/480807.md?page=1)