Believe it or not, the impossible to open "clamshell" product packaging idea started out as a marketing idea: companies wanted to make their products visible, but harder to steal directly off of store floors. Of course, the downside to that is obvious: the packaging is hard for everyone to open, including legitimate buyers when they get the products home. Enter Jeff Bezos of Amazon, who wants to put a stop to all of that:

In Amazon's "frustration-free packaging" initiative involving Mattel, its subsidiary Fisher-Price, Microsoft and Transcend, an electronics maker, the companies will ship some of their best-selling products to Amazon in cardboard boxes that don't fight back. Mr. Bezos hopes to sell all of Amazon's products in such environmentally benign, consumer-friendly packaging - a goal he said would take years to achieve. "Everyone is excited about this project here," he said. "Everyone had their own war stories."

Sadly, not everyone is on board with this idea yet - the potential loss from thefty still weighs more heavily in the minds of some vendors. While I understand that, this "death wrap" has got to go. I think the upside for it became a downside awhile back, and is circling the drain now.

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