Solution 26370: Removing a new Texas Instruments calculator from the package | Hacker News Reader

Solution 26370: Removing a new Texas Instruments calculator from the package

education.ti.com

58 pointssoegaard48 comments

This hard plastic stuff is super dangerous, not only because you need tools to open them but also because unless your tool is very sharp you're going to use quite a bit of force and if your tool is sharp that means it can cut you just as easily as it can cut the plastic unless it is especially designed for the job. And once opened the plastic itself becomes sharp enough to cut with.

because unless your tool is very sharp you're going to use quite a bit of force

Hence the old saying, "a sharp knife is safer than a dull one."

except, i would rather try to catch a falling dull knife, it's safer to catch than a sharp one.

(pointing it out mostly because I'm annoyed by the "never try to catch a falling knife" metaphor for the stock market, because a rising knife would be just as dangerous to catch which makes sense but completely nullifies the metaphor.)

On the danger of packaging, there's that terrific cartoon of a guy stranded alone on a desert island trying to open his blister packed survival kit, but then bleeding to death

Have you tried to catch either? A dull knife, assuming it can break skin, is a far worse experience. I have cuts from both, but my scars are only from dull knives.

> i would rather try to catch a falling dull knife, it's safer to catch than a sharp one.

> "never try to catch a falling knife" metaphor for the stock market

I've only ever heard this as literal advice: if you drop a knife, do not try to catch it. Move your feet/make sure the knife doesn't hit you, but do not attempt to grab it.

easy to check

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=%22never+try+to+catch+a+fal...

the plurality of results are references to investment markets.

>your tool is sharp that means it can cut you just as easily as it can cut the plastic unless it is especially designed for the job.

I don't want to be snarky but the article says to use scissors and I wouldn't think this was a problem for most people?

Cutting paper with scissors is easy. Cutting wooden boards with scissors is hard. Modern packaging plastic is more similar to boards than to paper.

Cutting that thicker plastic can really be painful (and injurious). Scissors will tend to push one side up and the other down. The newly cut plastic is razor sharp. The plastic requires a lot more force than regular paper scissors are meant for.

I have an indoor pair of tin snips for just this occasion. Cuts smoothly through the plastic, and keeps my hand further away from the sharp bits.

I also use tin snips on these packages!

that is why you have to locate the spot on the package where the cut has already been started and use the grove that is scored into the package.

My Leatherman Wingman multi tool has a “package opener” which is perfect for opening plastic clamshell packaging.

'most people' -> especially the elderly have serious problems with this (as well as with various food packaging). Scissors range from industrial shears to household scissors and especially the latter are not going to be able to cut this stuff without risk to the user, it's actually bad advice (the scissors can flip sideways suddenly due to the asymmetric loading and the relatively high force required).

Which is why I call stuff like this “the victory of the packaging industry”. The packaging wins, the user loses.

If it's that blister packaging stuff with the folded edges, I use a manual can opener to open those. You just run it around the folded edge and it gets cut off, just like the rim of a can. Works great.

Oh that's clever I will definitely try that.

I tore a nail off and cut my hand trying to open a heatsealed plastic wrap around an Archos MP3 recorder I got delivered to hotel about 20 years ago. Some packaging can be insanely tough. I wound up using nail clippers and broke a hotel pen leveraging it open (I was too excited to go down to the hotel business centre and borrow some scissors)

I once needed to check a friend's battery, so I bought a multimeter - which came in a clamshell package I had no way to open. So we went to a CVS and bought a pair of scissors, only to realize they were also in a clamshell package that required scissors to open.

You beat me to it, that scissors thing happened to me too. Highly frustrating.

Comments like these always cause me to spend 3 hours on wikipedia trying to rebuild industry from scratch using bone tools to work a rock into a knife.

A good safety catch is when you start working your way towards making teflon coated dental floss. Its just not worth it, it’s too hard. Just (ha!) cut your losses.

I always get stuck moving from lathe technology 1 to lathe technology 2.

Hey there was a Curb about that: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt1484411/plotsummary

I needed a screwdriver to assemble some flatpack furniture for my new place. All my other stuff was weeks away from being delivered.

I go buy a reasonable quality multi-bit screwdriver. It's packaging comes with a large, hard plastic shell around the handle.

What's the shell secured with? A screw.

So you need to buy two of them so you can unscrew one, and return the other.

Oh, for a minute there I assumed this was all about removing a TI calculator chip from the package. I was very confused why people were doing that with knives vs a band saw or a grinding wheel..

But if you are going to cut open one of those Costco clamshell things, just take the same approach you would cutting thin sheet steel. Stout gloves and a nibbler.

I've put the "Package Opener" tool on my Leatherman Wingman (https://www.leatherman.com/wingman-11.html) to good use for many years against these clamshell/blister/etc. packages. It's a good design. Sharp but not too sharp, pointy enough to push through the plastic to get started, and angled properly so you can pull a clean cut around the perimeter.

I got a little “looks like a key but is a foldable pocket knife” as a gift a few years ago - and was amazed at how often I ended up using it.

This was one of the causes of the creation of the Frustration-Free Packaging:

https://www.bebolddigital.com/blog/what-is-amazon-frustratio....

That’s pretty cool from the sound of it, although I read it and still have absolutely no idea what it is, what it looks like, and what actually makes it easier/frustration free to open.

I wonder who that article is for tbh, like what target audience would read that and walk away satisfied/with their questions answered?

Read from the top and it's very simple to understand, they even give you an item by item list of what it takes to qualify as frustration free

Item 1 is "Your product must be 100% recyclable", which means most products (including calculators) cannot qualify for frustration free packaging. In fact, most of the "frustration free packaging" requirements listed are about the product, not the packaging. Item 11, "Your product must be prep free packaging", makes no sense.

Later parts of the article seem generated by an LLM or someone without good English and make little sense, e.g. the "Tell me the packaging requirement?" section, which says it lists the requirements but doesn't, or the "Does my product meet Amazon's requirements for frustration-free packaging?" section which starts "This question is interesting" and contains "Tell us what Amazon is looking for when testing products that are frustration-free. The bag must be packed in about 2 minutes. 2. Packaging of the actual product is not larger than 2 cm." What?

The list literally starts with:

> "there are a few key things to keep in mind when doing packaging design"

So these are guidelines are about package design, not the product that goes inside.

"Your product must be prep free packaging"... apparently "Prep Free Packaging" is a thing in package design: https://apasslab.com/prep-free-packaging-pfp-over-boxing/

The later parts of the article are targeted at people who do this stuff for a living: apparently Amazon gives 120 seconds (2 minutes) for undoing the contents of the package if something qualifies for frustration free for example.

I mean sure maybe the english isn't impeccable, but even half of the 10+ item list at the top is enough to give even a layperson an idea of what frustration free means.

I think Amazon FFP is probably not a specific thing or composition, but something seller applies and Amazon qualifies. The line-between is it's simple cardboard box. Article do seem like an SEO spam to me as well...

My primary experience with this has been with Kindles, and they are a delight to unbox due to FFP.

An ancient tribe in Indonesia found a way to open these clamshells easily, they simply wrap dental floss around the package and pull quickly, the heat produced will cut the plastic.

Did the ancient tribe used standard or waxed floss?

Any particular flavor work better (eg - cinnamon, mint)?

> An ancient tribe in Indonesia found a way to open these clamshells easily...

I have some questions about the provenance of this claim.

I have a pair of tin snips that make short work of any kind of packaging. They're absurd overkill, but for less than $20 you can get a pair of scissors that can handle cold-rolled steel sheets.

You can also cut pennies in half if you're ever bored with traditional packaging.

I got this package opener in 2007 from Amazon for $12. It has two parts - a retractable blade to start the cut in the plastic and a "nibbler" to work its way around the plastic. Still works.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006ACWEQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b...

And of course, in a beautiful show of irony, it comes in clamshell packaging!

Your future self time travels back to lend you their clamshell opener, so you can open the clamshell opener you bought.

Paradox resolved!

https://www.sliceproducts.com/products/safety-cutter works and works well. It's cheap too.

A handheld can opener will remove plastic shells if the shape of the package allows.

Hard to open packages are tamper evident. These transparent packaging are only used heat sealed in markets where otherwise kids would open boxes and steal products.

Which markets DON'T require tamperproof packaging ? Kids only?

:) -- or, better, :(

I don't know specifically for TI calculators, but generally speaking, online sales, bulk business purchases, etc. Products normally kept on the shelf behind counters are less likely to be in these, as well.

I personally love blister packs, not for the packaging but because it makes great crafting material (for, say, plastic shims)

Didn't Amazon have a service to open such packages for the customer?

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