Occasionally, a businessman must eschew professional help and learn to handle unfamiliar tasks himself. Our business strategy here at Cup O’ Books is a simple one. We try to spend nothing, and sell tons of books. There is, of course, wiggle room in terms of “nothing” and “tons”, but we try. A case in point of “spend nothing” constitutes the subject of today’s post. I have a Scotch tape dispenser, which I use to … you guessed it … dispense tape. I ship books all the time and the package must be secure to withstand the mistreatment of untold United States Postal Service employees on its long and harrowing journey.
One might note that here is a good illustration of the balance between “spend nothing” and “sell tons of books.” Occasionally these two ideas come into conflict. The more money I spend, the more secure the package. I realize that this flies in the face of the United States government’s own strategy for creating security (or educating children, building a bridge, waging a war on drugs, etc.), but I live in the private sector. Anyway, I use the clear shipping tape available at your local clear shipping tape store.
My dispenser has a cutting edge that allows me to customize the amount of tape i need for each envelope. This is very convenient, as you might guess. It should be noted that the adhesive side of the tape rests on the bottom of the cutting edge, thus keeping the end of the tape from adhering to the roll, which causes “confusion and delay.” I am sure that all my readers have faced the daunting task of finding and restarting the end of the tape. The dual objective of the cutting edge/tape end holder is an example of excellent design. However, there is a design flaw.
The cutting edge is very efficient because of its employment of a sharp serrated edge. However, this edge makes removing the end of the tape for use very difficult. Trying to grasp the tape end from the sides is hindered by the dispenser’s roll holding sides. One could push the tape end from the bottom side to aid in grasping, but a long thin piece of plastic extends from the cutting edge assembly out to the tape roll. This plastic piece obstructs access to the bottom side of the tape roll end.
So what were my options? I could buy a new dispenser that lacks the annoying plastic piece and egregiously violate the “spend nothing” rule. I could hire an engineering firm to analyze the problem and violate the same rule to an even greater extent. I could forego tape altogether, possible endangering the delivery of my books, thus posing a potential hazard to the “sell tons of books” strategy. Quite a pickle. I decided to do a bit of analyzing myself, starting with the purpose of the offending plastic bit. What did it do? Stabilization? Support? Perhaps a guard to prevent pinched fingers? As I could not decide what the piece did, in a fit of reasoned discipline, I stared at it some more. Then I looked at the Scotch website. Neither of these activities helped much. Finally, I decided to risk destabilization, a lack of support, and a pinched finger and I ripped it off. After taking a moment to reflect, I dispensed a small amount of tape. It still worked, and my alteration of the design improved my ability to grasp the end of the tape.
I have contacted 3M about the dispenser’s design and will report back if I hear anything. In the meantime, is there a patent lawyer in the house?
