There's an odd thing you've probably noticed about a lot of the products you and I buy. Quite often the part that is most resistant to destruction - in fact, the one piece you can't seem to dent no matter what you do - is the blister package the actual product you wanted comes in. This peculiar aspect of modern technology recently led one reader to some interesting thoughts about the current state of industrial design.
The reader writes:
"Okay, this is a minor annoyance; but it's pervasive. I knocked my Logitech wireless mouse off the desk the other week and the left button is now very stiff. After a few times wedging a screwdriver blade under it and levering the plastic button top out and to the left with minimal and only temporary improvement, I decided to cut my losses and buy a new one. I stopped at Staples on the way home and emerged with a new Logitech cordless mini mouse in a $35 plastic clamshell. Then the fun began.
"Even with heavy shears the plastic was difficult to cut. I got the clamshell open without slicing my hand on the sharp edged heavy plastic -- if I had, I'd be spending this time talking to a hungry personal injury lawyer. Then came the real fun, getting the mouse itself out of the raised blister. Because the sides of the mouse are concave, a rather useless nod to ergonomic design lost on all but those with the tiniest of hands, and one that was never missed on the previous mouse, the blister gripped it tightly. The heavy plastic would not flex enough to allow the mouse to pop out, so I ended up having to wedge the shears along the sides and cut up the sides of the blister until it was freed. Despite taking care, the mouse is now scratched along the side. No big thing, just a near final insult.
"The topper was when I went to install the battery: the polarity diagram for which direction to insert the battery, and various other information is printed in light gray against a medium gray background. I'm sure the industrial designer -- perhaps a dropout from the Rhode Island School of Boombox Design -- thought it looked just great, but on a functional plane it's a total flop.
"What is with these people? It's not just Logitech. Remember the 'ovoid Hell' 1998 Taurus station wagon, or any of the current 'rising belt line' styled cars and vans with the limited rear quarter visibility that entails. Not to mention the 'Biff Bimbo, Steroid Abuser' jawline so many cars feature today -- the Dodge Magnum suffers from both Biff Bimboism AND rising belt line disease. Has industrial design gone the way of Microsoft software design?"
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