From: IN%"[email protected]" "Industrial Design Forum" 30-DEC-1993
00:45:38.57
To: IN%"HRL@xxxxxxxxxxxx" "Howard Lawrence"
CC:
Subj: Tupperwareification
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Date: Wed, 29 Dec 1993 21:44:15 PST
From: "Michael D. James" <mjames@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Tupperwareification
Sender: Industrial Design Forum <[email protected]>
To: Howard Lawrence <HRL@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Reply-to: Industrial Design Forum <[email protected]>
Message-id: <01H72LE4JJXC96VJZ1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
I notice there's a lot of talk about conferences, but not much talk
about DESIGN in this forum. Is this intentional? --mdj
_____________________________________________________________________
I've bought ten of these Rubbermaid huge clear stackable boxes to
store all the stuff that was hurriedly thrown ("lost") into unlabeled
cardboard boxes the last twenty times I've moved. The new containers
are about 3.5 feet by 2 feet but only 8 inches tall so it's easier to
find things in them. By the time you read this, most of my belongings
(except clothes and books) will be cataloged, organized, and
accessibly stored in a seven foot stack of clear containers. In
addition, I bought a steamer trunk to store clothes (I need another)
and a gazillion of those white plastic milk crates to store/display
books and whatnot. The next time I move should require hardly any
packing and unpacking. If I take a "working holiday" overseas, I'll
just pour in some popcorn, seal the containers, and put them on a
ship. Welcome to the Lego lifestyle!
Mass production amazes me. Fred Meyer (a discount store spanning
several acres) sells all this plastic stuff so much more cheaply than
similar products made manually from real materials. Nearly every
product there is the same basic plastic bent into different shapes and
sizes. I saw an ad for a Rubbermaid DESK! Can you believe it? I
think of desks as solid things crafted from oak, steel, and/or glass,
but somewhere there's an injection-molding machine (or whatever they
use) automatically stamping out hundreds of identical plastic DESKS
just like they make Tupperware containers. (Next we'll see plastic
office buildings spring up everywhere.) In spite of their low
manufacturing costs and cheap materials, many of these products are
frustratingly well designed. $3 plastic crates hold letter-sized
hanging folders one way, or legal-sized hanging folders the other way
and snap to each other in any configuration you like. Snap on $0.65
wheels if you like. Shower caddies which cost less than $10 hold two
kinds of soaps in vented dishes that let the muck drain, four razors
with the handles pointed down, a washcloth, and two bottles in a
receptacle designed to secure the bottles upside down so you don't
waste time getting the last few drops out.
Because I'm interested in Industrial Design and how technology changes
affect people, I have mixed feelings about all this
Tupperwareification. Unlike previous generations (as far as I
know...), for less than I earn in one hour I can buy a mostly-plastic
CLOSET if I need more hanger space in my small apartment (I wish I'd
known that when I was living with Filo!). But, my parents had less
need for an instant closet because housing was more affordable in
relation to the cost of manufactured products. The few things they
DID buy had more potential for emotional attachment than most of the
things I buy. Someone could swap my cheap, well-designed Sauder white
particleboard chest of drawers for their Sauder chest of drawers and I
wouldn't know the difference, but there was never another alabaster
lamp in the world exactly like the one I broke. Hmmmmmm.
00:45:38.57
To: IN%"HRL@xxxxxxxxxxxx" "Howard Lawrence"
CC:
Subj: Tupperwareification
Return-path: <[email protected]>
Return-path: IDFORUM <@PSUVM.PSU.EDU:[email protected]>
Received: from Jnet-DAEMON by ARCH.PSU.EDU (PMDF #12866) id
<01H72LE4JJXC96VJZ1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>; Thu, 30 Dec 1993 00:45 EDT
Received: From PSUVM(MAILER) by PSUARCH with Jnet id 6177 for HRL@PSUARCH; Thu,
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Date: Wed, 29 Dec 1993 21:44:15 PST
From: "Michael D. James" <mjames@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Tupperwareification
Sender: Industrial Design Forum <[email protected]>
To: Howard Lawrence <HRL@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Reply-to: Industrial Design Forum <[email protected]>
Message-id: <01H72LE4JJXC96VJZ1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
I notice there's a lot of talk about conferences, but not much talk
about DESIGN in this forum. Is this intentional? --mdj
_____________________________________________________________________
I've bought ten of these Rubbermaid huge clear stackable boxes to
store all the stuff that was hurriedly thrown ("lost") into unlabeled
cardboard boxes the last twenty times I've moved. The new containers
are about 3.5 feet by 2 feet but only 8 inches tall so it's easier to
find things in them. By the time you read this, most of my belongings
(except clothes and books) will be cataloged, organized, and
accessibly stored in a seven foot stack of clear containers. In
addition, I bought a steamer trunk to store clothes (I need another)
and a gazillion of those white plastic milk crates to store/display
books and whatnot. The next time I move should require hardly any
packing and unpacking. If I take a "working holiday" overseas, I'll
just pour in some popcorn, seal the containers, and put them on a
ship. Welcome to the Lego lifestyle!
Mass production amazes me. Fred Meyer (a discount store spanning
several acres) sells all this plastic stuff so much more cheaply than
similar products made manually from real materials. Nearly every
product there is the same basic plastic bent into different shapes and
sizes. I saw an ad for a Rubbermaid DESK! Can you believe it? I
think of desks as solid things crafted from oak, steel, and/or glass,
but somewhere there's an injection-molding machine (or whatever they
use) automatically stamping out hundreds of identical plastic DESKS
just like they make Tupperware containers. (Next we'll see plastic
office buildings spring up everywhere.) In spite of their low
manufacturing costs and cheap materials, many of these products are
frustratingly well designed. $3 plastic crates hold letter-sized
hanging folders one way, or legal-sized hanging folders the other way
and snap to each other in any configuration you like. Snap on $0.65
wheels if you like. Shower caddies which cost less than $10 hold two
kinds of soaps in vented dishes that let the muck drain, four razors
with the handles pointed down, a washcloth, and two bottles in a
receptacle designed to secure the bottles upside down so you don't
waste time getting the last few drops out.
Because I'm interested in Industrial Design and how technology changes
affect people, I have mixed feelings about all this
Tupperwareification. Unlike previous generations (as far as I
know...), for less than I earn in one hour I can buy a mostly-plastic
CLOSET if I need more hanger space in my small apartment (I wish I'd
known that when I was living with Filo!). But, my parents had less
need for an instant closet because housing was more affordable in
relation to the cost of manufactured products. The few things they
DID buy had more potential for emotional attachment than most of the
things I buy. Someone could swap my cheap, well-designed Sauder white
particleboard chest of drawers for their Sauder chest of drawers and I
wouldn't know the difference, but there was never another alabaster
lamp in the world exactly like the one I broke. Hmmmmmm.