Deflowering shiny things
May 25, 2006 8:43 AM Subscribe
A bound-to-happen mix of technofetish and appreciation of package design: Unboxing.com is a blog that documents the pleasure of OOBE--the out-of-box experience. Via core77.com.
More here: 1 2 3
More here: 1 2 3
When unfettered consumerism entirely supplants pornography it will make the media very efficient.
(You have skirted madness by the narrowest of margins, yerfatma. Read The Machine Stops to steel yourself against the next temptation).
posted by nanojath at 8:53 AM on May 25, 2006 [1 favorite]
(You have skirted madness by the narrowest of margins, yerfatma. Read The Machine Stops to steel yourself against the next temptation).
posted by nanojath at 8:53 AM on May 25, 2006 [1 favorite]
That's hot.
posted by slimepuppy at 8:55 AM on May 25, 2006
posted by slimepuppy at 8:55 AM on May 25, 2006
Was anyone else so excited upon buying a new game cartridge back in the day that, on the ride home, you wished you could put it in your mouth and it would work?
It was an especially frustrating ride if the manual only had what every other manual had (how to put it in the console the controller layout, blah blah). I always loved when they (the manufacturer) would package the game with stuff like maps.
Hell, if they had ever made the process of unpackaging interesting, I would've patiently waited to do it properly, like a dissection, under good lighting on a table at home.
Opening up my ipod a couple of years ago was amazing like that. It was all so elegant in addition to being exciting.
Opening up a Dell laptop is exciting only because you want to get at the computer. All those messy little bags and twisties make the process so crass.
posted by redteam at 9:16 AM on May 25, 2006
It was an especially frustrating ride if the manual only had what every other manual had (how to put it in the console the controller layout, blah blah). I always loved when they (the manufacturer) would package the game with stuff like maps.
Hell, if they had ever made the process of unpackaging interesting, I would've patiently waited to do it properly, like a dissection, under good lighting on a table at home.
Opening up my ipod a couple of years ago was amazing like that. It was all so elegant in addition to being exciting.
Opening up a Dell laptop is exciting only because you want to get at the computer. All those messy little bags and twisties make the process so crass.
posted by redteam at 9:16 AM on May 25, 2006
Was anyone else so excited upon buying a new game cartridge back in the day that, on the ride home, you wished you could put it in your mouth and it would work?
That is so fucked up.
posted by nanojath at 9:21 AM on May 25, 2006
That is so fucked up.
posted by nanojath at 9:21 AM on May 25, 2006
Yeah I could never wait till I got home to open new games and stuff like that.
I had an experience similar to redteam's with the new Mac mini I received a couple weeks ago. The box was so small and beautifully printed and everything fit just perfectly in it. It was really an exciting unboxing experience, I'm a bit embarrased to say.
posted by sveskemus at 9:56 AM on May 25, 2006
I had an experience similar to redteam's with the new Mac mini I received a couple weeks ago. The box was so small and beautifully printed and everything fit just perfectly in it. It was really an exciting unboxing experience, I'm a bit embarrased to say.
posted by sveskemus at 9:56 AM on May 25, 2006
Am I the only one who still distinctly remembers what a brand new cassette tape (music) smelled like? I would open it on the way home and shove it into the walkman or the tape deck in my mom's car.
posted by ninjew at 10:11 AM on May 25, 2006
posted by ninjew at 10:11 AM on May 25, 2006
Am I the only one who still distinctly remembers what a brand new cassette tape (music) smelled like?
Mmmm...Ortega Taco Shells
posted by BoatMeme at 10:19 AM on May 25, 2006
Mmmm...Ortega Taco Shells
posted by BoatMeme at 10:19 AM on May 25, 2006
Am I the only one who still distinctly remembers what a brand new cassette tape (music) smelled like?
An interesting point: as I was opening up the set of Russian Dolls that is the Xbox 360's packaging, I thought, "This smells just like all those Iron Maiden casettes." I suppose the G.I. Joe plane I had was similar. I hope to be buried in a well-pressed suit and mylar bag. That way if I am buried alive, there's a chance some fanboy will dig me up to sell me on eBay. Of course I will have suffocated and died, but that's hardly the point.
When unfettered consumerism entirely supplants pornography it will make the media very efficient
Were I to get a tattoo, that would be it. Unfortunately, I want to maintain my Mint Condition. And I think that would get the ass beat off me by the first literate biker I came across.
posted by yerfatma at 10:20 AM on May 25, 2006
An interesting point: as I was opening up the set of Russian Dolls that is the Xbox 360's packaging, I thought, "This smells just like all those Iron Maiden casettes." I suppose the G.I. Joe plane I had was similar. I hope to be buried in a well-pressed suit and mylar bag. That way if I am buried alive, there's a chance some fanboy will dig me up to sell me on eBay. Of course I will have suffocated and died, but that's hardly the point.
When unfettered consumerism entirely supplants pornography it will make the media very efficient
Were I to get a tattoo, that would be it. Unfortunately, I want to maintain my Mint Condition. And I think that would get the ass beat off me by the first literate biker I came across.
posted by yerfatma at 10:20 AM on May 25, 2006
Totally, ninjew. I always thought it was more liner notes than tape, though. I would unfold the paper, stick my nose in it and take a big chemical whiff.
If the cassette housing was transparent, I would rattle it around a little and imagine that it was some kind of futuristic vessel for very important information that had just been delivered to me. The deck became some kind of ubiquitous interface.
Sadly, the futuristic vessels of back then's actual future turned out to be rather dull in their solid states. I still make do, though. I transfer info to friends in person with an ipod (mechanical, but not rattleable), pretending I'm some career info-courier.
The things I unpackage now, with the same delight as when I was a little boy, are the stuff of that little boy's nerdy dreams. I picture how every unrolled access cable and power supply will fit into my future usage of my new toy.
So we didn't get hoverboards, but I have a tiny little phone I always carry that let's me talk to all my friends from anywhere, whenever I want. Not a bad future we're in, gadgetwise.
posted by redteam at 10:30 AM on May 25, 2006
If the cassette housing was transparent, I would rattle it around a little and imagine that it was some kind of futuristic vessel for very important information that had just been delivered to me. The deck became some kind of ubiquitous interface.
Sadly, the futuristic vessels of back then's actual future turned out to be rather dull in their solid states. I still make do, though. I transfer info to friends in person with an ipod (mechanical, but not rattleable), pretending I'm some career info-courier.
The things I unpackage now, with the same delight as when I was a little boy, are the stuff of that little boy's nerdy dreams. I picture how every unrolled access cable and power supply will fit into my future usage of my new toy.
So we didn't get hoverboards, but I have a tiny little phone I always carry that let's me talk to all my friends from anywhere, whenever I want. Not a bad future we're in, gadgetwise.
posted by redteam at 10:30 AM on May 25, 2006
oh the humanity
posted by gorgor_balabala at 10:56 AM on May 25, 2006
posted by gorgor_balabala at 10:56 AM on May 25, 2006
consumerism replace pornography? They're the same thing. The thing is, both technology and pornography quickly become boring and out dated for the same reasons. If designers want to go beyond the one-night-stand relationship that people have with gadgets and porn and turn that into a happy marriage they've really got to allow for the possibility of customization. All these gadgets are the same!
posted by nixerman at 12:03 PM on May 25, 2006
posted by nixerman at 12:03 PM on May 25, 2006
turn that into a happy marriage they've really got to allow for the possibility of customization
How to balance this with user-friendliness/ usability? I don't want to have to guess where your goodies are in the dark.
posted by yerfatma at 12:18 PM on May 25, 2006
How to balance this with user-friendliness/ usability? I don't want to have to guess where your goodies are in the dark.
posted by yerfatma at 12:18 PM on May 25, 2006
> I don't want to have to guess where your goodies are in the dark.
Mr. Poor: Well, Mr. Standard, getting any on the side?
Mr. Standard: Mr. Poor, I haven't gotten any in so long I didn't know they'd moved it.
posted by jfuller at 2:38 PM on May 25, 2006
Mr. Poor: Well, Mr. Standard, getting any on the side?
Mr. Standard: Mr. Poor, I haven't gotten any in so long I didn't know they'd moved it.
posted by jfuller at 2:38 PM on May 25, 2006
mmm. Vicarious macbook purchasing. What is the deal with the shiny screens?
posted by bingo at 7:40 PM on May 25, 2006
posted by bingo at 7:40 PM on May 25, 2006
I'd hit it.
posted by lalochezia at 8:31 PM on May 25, 2006
posted by lalochezia at 8:31 PM on May 25, 2006
Was anyone else so excited upon buying a new game cartridge back in the day that, on the ride home, you wished you could put it in your mouth and it would work?Nintendo Sixty-FOOOOOOOOOOUR
posted by Rhomboid at 6:28 AM on May 26, 2006
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posted by yerfatma at 8:48 AM on May 25, 2006