I never thought before about why those boxes are as icky as they are. This video explains it.
The most amazing thing about this video, though, is who made it: according to the Wall Street Journal, “it was produced by designers at Microsoft, in a spirit of self-criticism. It’s as if they know the sort of great design they ought to be doing, but are too smothered by a corporate culture to deliver it.”
If they know better, does that make them any more likable?
The music was driving me nuts till I could place it: the soundtrack to PeeWee”s Big Adventure!
The agency doing Microsoft packaging is doubtlessly using Macs. I’d like to know how Bill reacted.
Amazing–They made the iPod packaging look just like TurboTax.
Apple has a very japanese aesthetic, also in the art of packaging, not just the visual, but in the orchestrated act of the unwrapping. For anyone interested in this sort of thing, next time you get an apple product, watch yourself as you open it and remove its contents. It feels like scripted theatre.
This is somewhat aside from the technology aspect. In fact, it is odd that a computer gets this sort of treatment.