Amazon announces next wave of Frustration-Free Packaging
Now, this one we can all probably get behind. Amazon -- which announced its "Frustration-Free Packaging" initiative back in November of last year, promising to kill clamshell plastic casings and the like -- is making good on its word and stepping up the effort again. Joining the ranks of partners Fisher-Price, Mattel, Microsoft and Transcend, Amazon's announced that Kingston Technologies is throwing its weight behind the drive to end our sadness and frustration as well. David Sun, co-founder and chief operating officer of Kingston also pointed out the eco-friendliness of such measures -- which surely won't be lost upon any of us, either. Kudos!


















+1 Amazon.
That's good news...
Save us, Amazon.
Hip Hip!...
Hurray?
Yes, Dear God, YES!
Yeah, I know the sensation...
hey, I have that "tool", actually comes in handy every once in a while.
Although it came packaged in clamshell packaging!!
dun dun dun!
what are they called?
Scissors
Actually, aren't these classified as "cutters"?
Or "shears" perhaps?
No, these are cutters:
http://media.photobucket.com/image/emo/brittany7645/emo.jpg
@roosma
Thanks, I just blew tea out of my nose...
Best comment for ages!
I have the same tool. It was in a clamshell with cardboard backing, and the cardboard was perforated, similar to a package of batteries. It didn't require any cutting to open it and get it out.
We also have that tool and it's pretty good, although I wish it was engineered a bit better. Ours doesn't stay closed anymore (the clip...does nothing.)
And yes, the irony of a tool designed to make clamshell packages easier to open itself being packaged in a annoying clamshell was not lost on us.
I too have that tool... very handy for these types of packages...
I wish EVERY company did this. I just got a Harmony remote and two pairs of headphones from Sennheiser and Coby, respectively, and spent 5-10 minutes on each package trying to get the contents out without ruining them (the headphones were especially problematic since I was worried I would cut the cord)
Same thing happened to me! I bought a pair of $50 headphones, and while cutting open the box I cut the cable by mistake(FREAKING CABLE WRAPPED AROUND THE PART WHERE IT SAID CUT) and Walmart didn't take it back. So pissed that day.
That's what you get for shopping at Walmarx.
Only Dbags and PWT shop at walmart.
Why don't you just mail China your money directly and cut Walmart out of the loop!
So Chris, tell me where you got your American-made cellphone and your American-made computer.
great news ..... I am not strong as i use to be.
What you say?
I love what Amazon has been doing with the frustration free packaging. Not that I care about the eco-angle, but just that this stuff isn't a pain (literally) to open. I bought an kingston 8gb stick last week, and the frustration free packaging was the reason i picked it over other brands.
Great news. Since Amazon has no worries about shoplifting or making the item packaging catch your eye in the store there's pretty much zero need for all that clamshell crap. Everyone wins!
I actually just bought a Kingston USB drive with the frustration-free packaging. It was nice, it basically was just dropped in an envelope in a small two piece clear plastic thing barely bigger than the drive itself.
about friggen time, what is this we are protecting, NU-clear waste
that explains why my daughters' Fisher-Price KidTough Camera was just in a cardboard box instead of that crazy plastic packaging.....and this was 4 months ago....good stuff
you look a little bit angry in that photo. maybe it was taken right after opening a clamshell plastic package?
I think that's just his "I'm trying to look hard" face.
try?? lol
It's cool to be green so of course they'll point out the eco-benfits.
Of course the main reason they don't mind is because it saves them the cost of packaging, main reason for clamshell packaging is because it makes it harder to steal stuff. You can't steal from an online store so it's not needed for that. Don't need attractive eye-catching stuff either, so a cheap brown box will do.
Still it's good there doing this, just don't be oblivious of why.
That would be really awesome if the started doing this will all online stores. Don't expect it to change in retail stores though. The whole point of it in the first place was to keep thieves from easily taking items out of packages and concealing them.
Cant count how many times I've messed around with these damned packages and how many times I've ended up cutting my hands ether with the plastic or the knife...
"Only Dbags and PWT shop at walmart.
Why don't you just mail China your money directly and cut Walmart out of the loop!"
If you shop online at Amazon the same is true...might as well just send the money straight to China !
What is particularly funny about the picture in this post is that the device shown is sold encased within clamshell packaging. OH THE IRONY!!!
Frustration free packaging from microsoft? are the days of the Box Opening instructions on Vista and Office 2007 boxes over?
It is all good what Amazon is doing. But it is really just call OEM package before Amazon turn it into a campaign.
Last time I checked, Fisher Price and Mattel don't make OEM components. Not even for Macs.
I like clamshells because they show it's not a faulty returned product put back on the shelf, but of course with online ordering that won't work anyway, but in real shops I like them, and I'm a human with opposable thumbs and all so I am able to open packaging amazingly.
I don't know if you've just never had to deal with particularly bad clamshell packaging, but you'll need a lot more than just your thumbs to open it. I usually use scissors, but even that sometimes proves not enough.
This is much easier for a company like Amazon to do, that doesn't have to worry about theft. For a retail store, you need to have packaging that doesn't come apart in 2 seconds flat, otherwise that's just how long it will take for your product to walk out the door. Don't get me wrong - I hate the annoying packages, but the fault lies with thieves, not the manufacturer or store.
Those look lethal
Amazon needs to learn how to pack vinyl. They suck.
I could be wrong, but any blister-pack or clamshell plastic packaging I've run into is usually easily opened by cutting around the edge of the product with scissors. Don't stab at the shiny item in the middle like an overly excited monkey -- read the opening instructions. Is it really that hard?
i ordered a pair of scissors from amazon - how am i supposed to open those!
I know it’s for security purpose. But a box cutter can open it in two second flat. Anyone gotten hurt try to open it up even with a kitchen scissors?
Last time I checked Amazon charges for their "frustration free" packaging. for example look up: Jabra SP700 Bluetooth Headset [Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging] vs the original packaging. $38.00 and $41.69 (us) respectively. Not all items are more, but if money is an issue you probably should just get your grandchildren to open it for you. Oh, and for all you emo's (don't cry): all savings to the environment are lost the moment they put your item in a box five times the size and weight of the contents.