Hallelujah!

I think we've all experienced the frustration of receiving some gift for Christmas or a birthday only to face the challenge of trying to open said gift nearly impossible due to "clamshell" packaging. Well, it may not last for long. I grabbed this from joystiq.com:

Retail usage of clamshell packaging may be shucked

66 Comments by Griffin McElroy Apr 12th 2008 5:00PM
Filed under: Business

We've all suffered an injury or two at the hands of a hermetically-sealed package containing a shiny new controller or other accessory, but did you know that 6,500 people visited the emergency room with a plastic packaging-related injury in 2004? That's not all -- these "clamshell" packages are often made of environmentally-unsound non-recycled plastics (which are increasingly expensive to produce due to rising petroleum costs), and are the largest contributer to various worldwide terrorist organizations?

Okay, that last part was a lie, but there are plenty of reasons to dislike this hand-lacerating form of consumer packaging -- luckily, a recent CNET article revealed that some experts in the packaging industry think that clamshell usage may be on its way out, for the reasons listed above. Retailers still prefer the shoplifter-deterring containers, but consumer frustration and cheaper alternatives may signal the end of the mollusk-inspired packages in the coming years. Our gnarled, decrepit hands are very relieved.