var json_comments = new Array("
\"user-pic\"
techstar25
June 18, 2009 3:48 PM
Moderate | Flag for review

Crazy that a THUMB drive package is literally the size of a grown man's TORSO. Wow.

Reply
7 replies
\"user-pic\"
valthun
June 18, 2009 4:57 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@techstar25: I know that Costco likes these big sleeves for packaging and display for electronic stuff. The gift cards are in a similar size package too. It allows them to stack easily all over the store. But yeah, it makes no sense why it isn't the cardboard wrap with thin plastic bubble as opposed to this. Because most of what I see packaged that way at Costco is cardboard with the plastic bubble glued inside.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
FLConsumer
June 19, 2009 9:17 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Bowildhax: Anything that reduces the volume of trash is a step in the right direction. FWIW, I do have fun seeing how quickly I can open these clamshell packages using nothing more than what I normally carry on me. Car & house keys usually.

I forget what the most recent item was, but took me no more than 10 seconds to open the \"anti-theft\" packaging. No tools -- that'd be cheating. Blister-packs & clamshells still have their weak spots.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
johnva
June 18, 2009 4:09 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@HungryTuna: Whoever invented those things is a terrorist and should be treated as such.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Mike Zuniga
June 18, 2009 3:52 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@techstar25: I think it's a costco thing. We have SanDisk drives at my work (FedEx Office) that have that label and they actually use less plastic. It looks exactaly like what you're holding except for the plastic wraparound. It's just a cardboard sleeve with a piece of plastic covering the drive itself. I think that bulky plastic is a Costco theft prevention thing.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Rav Gar
June 24, 2009 6:19 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Mike Zuniga: yeah my costco does that with some stuff for others it makes you purchase a huge cardboard knock off and then you trade it in at the customers service desk for the real thing, i guess its more eco friendly since the cardboard thing can be reused
but it does nothing to the inner shoppaholic in me

Reply
\"user-pic\"
TheUncleBob
June 18, 2009 4:03 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Mike Zuniga: What this guy said. All SanDisk drives used to be packaged similar to what is shown in the photo above. Now, they're honestly packaged using less plastic (small plastic bubble around the drive/memory card, sealed between the cardboard).

This clamshell package (with the \"Less plastic\" logo) is something I've never seen before - so I'm assuming it's a Costco thing. If this is the case, between the clamshell and the inner plastic bubble - this actually uses MORE PLASTIC.

Yay Costco!

Reply
\"user-pic\"
TouchMyMonkey
June 18, 2009 4:03 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Mike Zuniga: So why so much cardboard, and why does the cardboard appear to be perfectly designed for the big-ass plastic shell?

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
hypnotik_jello
June 18, 2009 3:49 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I'm sure it has something to do with deterring theft.

Reply
6 replies
\"user-pic\"
Smooooth
June 18, 2009 6:16 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@hypnotik_jello: Theft? Thumb drives are dirt cheap now. I think I have a dozen sitting in my laptop bag. Vendors hand them out like candy.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
drjayphd
June 19, 2009 12:40 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Smooooth: I must be in the wrong line of work, seeing as I never got a free flash drive from anyone...

Reply
\"user-pic\"
nybiker
June 19, 2009 4:04 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@drjayphd: My most recent one was a 2GB one from NetApp. It was at a lunch & learn event.

What line of work are you in and do you ever go to your industry's trade shows?

Reply
\"user-pic\"
HungryTuna
June 18, 2009 3:53 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@hypnotik_jello:


All a theif would need to do is show up with an exacto-knife..


As a consumer, my hatred for these Plastic cases runs so deep that on several occasions I decided that the effort involved in prying out the gadget was not worth making the purchase.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
mac-phisto
June 18, 2009 8:29 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@HungryTuna: As a consumer, my hatred for these Plastic cases runs so deep that on several occasions I decided that the effort involved in prying out the gadget was not worth making the purchase.

after a recent trip to a department store, i've discovered the ONE AND ONLY product that these impossible-to-open \"blister packs\" should come standard on (& yet they don't): underwear.

when you see a pile of rummaged thru undies, there's really only one sane response...\"GNOMES! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! AAAAYYYYYEEEEEEE!\"

Reply
\"user-pic\"
kaceetheconsumer
June 19, 2009 1:07 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@mac-phisto: Phase Two was \"Fondle Retail Supply of Undies\"? I still don't know how that got them to Phase Three: Profit.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Skaperen
June 18, 2009 5:47 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@HungryTuna: Those are hard to open with an Exacto knife. This is thick plastic. Even my garden shears have trouble getting through it. I have to use the bandsaw in my shop.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
ganmerlad
June 18, 2009 4:47 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@HungryTuna:
I have cut myself on the clamshells on several occasions trying to get the thing out. Maybe we could get a recall on all clamshell packaging due to laceration dangers. (and they are flammable too!)

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
John Henschen
June 18, 2009 3:49 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

All they need is about 500 plastic twist ties and zip strips to unwind and/or cut off to get them off the paperboard backing, too.

Reply
","","","
\"user-pic\"
HiPwr
June 18, 2009 3:56 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

The plastic is 1/10000 of an inch thinner.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
Canino
June 18, 2009 4:02 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

So...how much plastic was there before? It must have been the size of a car door.

Reply
1 replies
\"user-pic\"
kaceetheconsumer
June 18, 2009 4:21 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Canino: We spent that evening periodically naming bigger and bigger things it could have been, like maybe it used to be delivered in a plastic truck or sold in a plastic store.

Reply
","","","
\"user-pic\"
Jacquilynne
June 18, 2009 4:03 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I bought some printer cartridges at Costco a few months back that trumpeted less packaging, as well.

Inside the giant plastic clamshell, similar to the one in this story, each of the cartridges was in its own box. Inside each box was a foil bag and a plastic bag. Inside each foil bag was the actual printer cartridge, and inside each plastic bag was the instructions for installing it, along with a couple of sheets of marketing material for HP.

I couldn't quite fathom how that much packaging could possibly have been *less*.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
BartleyR7
June 18, 2009 4:03 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

This has got to be a Costco thing where they add things like this to the product for their own stores. That same label is on all of the new Sandisk packages, and it really is less plastic (before Costco adds their extra stuff). Case in point - I just purchased two Sandisk SDHC cards from a local retailer (Micro Center), and they had the same green \"less plastic\" logo on the packages. The only plastic was directly around the memory card. The rest of the package was paper. I haven't been to Costco in a while, but I seem to remember them doing this with a lot of stuff they sell - especially for small electronics. At one point, didn't they (or Sam's Club) put DVDs in those huge plastic containers too?

Reply
2 replies
\"user-pic\"
Cant_stop_the_rock
June 18, 2009 4:13 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@BartleyR7:

Sounds like a simple miscommunication. Sandisk decides to reduce the plastic packaging for all of their products, so they have their graphic department add that graphic to all of the cardboard bits. Costco gets special packaging though, and their packaging wasn't reduced. Graphics department adds the graphic anyway, because no one told them not to add it to the Costco packaging. They never even see the packaging, so they're none the wiser.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
BartleyR7
June 18, 2009 9:11 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Cant_stop_the_rock:

Yeah, that's definitely what I think happened. I've also seen those three-pack USB drives in other stores, and the regular packaging (minus the large plastic encapsulation extra package) wasn't that large. This also leads me to believe that what you said is what happened. At the very least, it's probably not MORE plastic...

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
B
June 18, 2009 4:09 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I like how the husband was so outraged by the waste of plastic in the packaging he bought the thumb drives anyways. I guess the price was too good to pass up.

Reply
2 replies
\"user-pic\"
kaceetheconsumer
June 18, 2009 4:19 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@B: He wasn't outraged...more baffled. And he needed them for work the next day and costco was the only place close enough before closing where he knew he could get them. And it was the label that hurt our brains more than anything.

For the record, the plastic is in the recycle bin.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
nybiker
June 19, 2009 4:09 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@kaceetheconsumer: I'm curious. Here in NYC, we recycle only the 1- & 2-coded plastic. Is the packaging coded that way? Or does your locality take any and all plastic? Plus we have to ensure it's narrow-width botttle and not a wide-mouth. It's confusing to have to refer to our recycling guide to see if we trash something or recycle it.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
kaceetheconsumer
June 19, 2009 8:08 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@nybiker: Austin now takes all plastics. When we first moved here we had the only 1 and 2, only narrow mouth thing too, but recently they implemented a huge automated sorting system and now they take it all.

I'd have to check the package (and it's out in the garage, where I can't get to in the wheelchair) but I suspect it's #1.

That being said I do know about problems in recycling streams and overstock and all that. But yes, in theory at least, we are recycling it.

Reply
","","","
\"user-pic\"
John Henschen
June 18, 2009 4:16 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

You all do know that the reason they make the packaging so big is that because they'd be so easy to steal otherwise, right? Its the same logic that's behind the key to the gas station bathroom being attached to a cinder block.

Reply
8 replies
\"user-pic\"
schmendrick12
June 18, 2009 10:34 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@John Henschen: Sure. But then they shouldn't bother making ridiculous statements about their green-friendly packaging.

Either admit that you design packaging primarily to deter theft, or stop claiming that \"less plastic\" is your priority.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
CFinWV
June 18, 2009 9:05 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@John Henschen: LOL I think I used the bathroom at that gas station!

Reply
\"user-pic\"
MadAsFishGrease_GitEmSteveDave
June 18, 2009 7:39 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@John Henschen: Except more people carry around pocket knives(In addition to Costco selling cutting tools) than carry around bolt/chain cutters for bathroom keys.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
YourTechSupport
June 18, 2009 5:39 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@John Henschen: It's bigger packaging because a.) it might get lost or hidden in the cart with other, presumably large boxes of bulk items, thus it's b.) harder to steal.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
kduhtoe
June 18, 2009 4:45 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@John Henschen: Honestly, was anyone confused by that? Did anyone think there would be another reason Costco would have packaging like that?

Reply
\"user-pic\"
wardawg
June 18, 2009 6:40 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@kduhtoe: I thought they just loved to rape the environment and slaughter kittens?

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Jacquilynne
June 18, 2009 4:37 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@BartleyR7: Costco doesn't add packaging to things on their own -- though they do dictate pretty heavily what kind of packaging they want, including their own product numbers on boxes, and have the buying power to do it. I suspect BartleyR7's explanation is the most likely.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
HungryTuna
June 18, 2009 4:33 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@John Henschen:


I'm secretly amassing a collection of gas station keys that are attached to cinder block. I soon will have enough blocks to build an extension to my home

Reply
","","","","","","","","
\"user-pic\"
H3ion
June 18, 2009 5:06 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I know it's Costco but why do you need to buy three thumb drives? Won't one satisfy the sneakernet requirements?

Reply
3 replies
\"user-pic\"
kaceetheconsumer
June 19, 2009 1:10 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@H3ion: I asked hubby...he said he had the course material for the training class he was teaching on them, and buy having three drives instead of one, all of the participants could download them to their laptops that much faster.

I know in the past he's used multiple drives for swapping with research colleagues at work as well. He has referred to the boss at a previous company having a \"dice bag full of thumb drives\". I gather that it's an efficient way to swap files amongst researchers.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
kaceetheconsumer
June 19, 2009 1:12 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@VarneyCoeurl: Good idea. We've bought other highly-thievable things from them by taking a card to the window. I wasn't there when he made the purchase but maybe I should go send a note as well.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
kaceetheconsumer
June 19, 2009 8:09 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@kaceetheconsumer: Heyyyy...this attached to the wrong comment...

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Skaperen
June 18, 2009 5:43 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@H3ion: Sneakernet is not the only use I make of drives like these. I use them in lieu of CD/DVD drives to boot system installers on various PCs. I use them to send data to friends via snailmail (16GB at a time, sometimes). That's why I have about a dozen of them (now all larger than 4GB).

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
crazymatt1
June 18, 2009 5:06 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

If I had to guess, it's less plastic because that's the same package that they use for 1 drive. By putting 3 drives in the same size package, they reduced their plastic by 2/3.

Not that the new packaging is appropriate, mind you...

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
RobertW.TX
June 18, 2009 5:13 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I would image it is just a printing mistake. They are probably using the less plastic logo on their normal packaging. Someone just accidentally left the less plastic logo in the design when they scaled it up for warehouse clubs.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
Anonymous
June 18, 2009 5:31 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

as a costco member, i've just sent them a very polite nastygram detailing changes i feel would deal with this type of packaging: the simplest is a proxy that is filled at the checkout counter after payment. i'd suggest that any costco members reading this do the same (offer suggestions)...

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
Skaperen
June 18, 2009 5:39 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Propel Water ... a drink with a small amount of flavor and sugar (partly sucrose and partly sucralose) in a container with a nice wide opening (very convenient for drinking) ... has switched to a bottle with less plastic. Yes, it really does have less plastic. But all the advantages of that product over the competition are now gone. In addition to all the complex ripples in the bottle (that used more plastic) being gone, the opening is now the narrow kind all the other bottled waters (flavored or not) use.

In addition, they changed the formula. It's now loaded with high-fructose corn syrup instead of sucrose. That makes it taste worse. And they dropped the one flavor that, at least in the 3 stores I bought them at, was the biggest seller (or the least distributed) ... they were always having troubling keeping that one flavor in stock. They also dropped the 24 ounce size (the most convenient).

So I don't buy their product anymore. I make my own at home, now.

Reply
2 replies
\"user-pic\"
Erin Cummins
June 18, 2009 8:44 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Skaperen: that's strange that Propel would switch to HFCS when others like snapple, lipton and temporarily pepsi were switching from HFCS to cane sugar

Reply
\"user-pic\"
dryfire
June 18, 2009 7:08 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Skaperen:

I noticed the same thing with propel. I purchased a six pack of Lemon and noticed they changed the formula after one sip. I don't think it's just the HFCS, but it's no longer drinkable imo. One of the main reasons I even bothered trying it was that is was HFCS free. The large opening was a bonus.

I hope the saved enough money to make up for the lost customers as I've stopped buying it as well.

Reply
","","","
\"user-pic\"
synergy
June 18, 2009 5:49 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Wow, I've bought the single thumbdrive packet from Sandisk and it was nowhere near that excessive with the plastic packaging. Maybe the mold used to be for packages that held bigger or more drives and got repurposed???

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
WiglyWorm must cease and decist
June 18, 2009 5:56 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I find it likely that they just switched to a lower gread, thinner walled plastic package. Any time an advertiser mentions using less plastic in their packagin, that is generally where the savings come from.

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
ludwigk
June 18, 2009 6:39 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Amazon really cuts out the plastic with their new packaging. I don't know if they keep the clamshells there, or if they get them direct from manufacturers in some other format, but you don't even get a clamshell. Just a memory card, the cardboard proof of purchase bezel, and no plastic at all, all stuffed into a cardboard envelope mailer, which they urge you to reuse (although I'm not sure how, since its a 'tear open' style envelope).

Reply
","","","","","","","","","","","","","","
\"user-pic\"
Telekinesis123
June 19, 2009 3:57 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

Lol, its so funny how he 'models' it just to show it self evident ridiculousness. This one made me laugh pretty good.

Reply
3 replies
\"user-pic\"
kaceetheconsumer
June 19, 2009 8:11 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Telekinesis123: We wanted to share my POV when this paiiiin was revealed unto me.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
nybiker
June 19, 2009 4:14 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Telekinesis123: Maybe he can be on the new show \"America's Next Top Male Model\"?

Reply
\"user-pic\"
kaceetheconsumer
June 19, 2009 8:12 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@nybiker: I'm sure my beloved geekboy would be amused at the thought. I'll make sure he knows you're a fan. But keep in mind, he's all mine!

Reply
","","","","
\"user-pic\"
Bowildhax
June 19, 2009 8:31 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

As a vendor that works with the club channel, theft is always an issue. The Loss Prevention group in most retail chains needs to \"approve\" the packaging. They are concerned about loss, not the environment.

Over the next year you will see retail and clubs move to a hybrid package that is part plastic (around the item to be shown) and cardboard. The glue holding the plastics to the cardboard is strong and just as difficult to open as the plastics. Get out your Open-X, scissors won't do it.

And of course, this is \"green\" packaging so that will be reflected by all the vendors.

Be happy that to note that most clubs have moved to tray packaging of cardboard \"product cards\" in some high theft products and that also allows the product to stay in the original packaging, negating the need for the plastic overpack. This also lowers $1-2 from the cost.

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
AbsurdHero
June 19, 2009 3:00 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I was going to point this out as a fine example of greenwashing, but after seeing Mike Zuniga's comment it looks like Sandisk's intentions were noble but were ignored by Costco.

Reply
","","","","","","
\"user-pic\"
Peter Pinard
June 20, 2009 12:42 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I recently bought a sandisk thumb drive, it only had a small plastic shell around the drive itself and the rest was paper, that massive over-shell was added by costco

Reply
","");