And boy, did it come in a big box!
When it arrived, I really had no idea what it was. I had forgotten about signing up for that replacement deal a few weeks ago and even if I had remembered, it never would have occurred to me that this giant box was all for a teensy-weensy, little AC adapter.
I mean, this box is nearly 3 times as large as the original one the iPhone came in! And that included an AC adapter that was nearly the same size!
Sure, this box is also used for the return trip of your old AC adapter, because if you don’t return it, they actually charge you for the one they sent out! Seriously, read the letter that came with it! I have a feeling Apple is gonna have a lot of pissed-off customers about 3 months from now who didn’t bother to read that through.
Plus, how safe do you need to keep an AC adapter that you’re probably just going to throw out anyway? They’re not that fragile to begin with. Honestly, a small bubble wrap package would have done the job, don’t you think?
Maybe I’m making a big deal out of this, but when you multiply one box times the millions of iPhone owners out there, it seems pretty wasteful. Not just to the environment, but for Apple, which is gonna have to foot what I would imagine is going to be an enormous bill in terms of materials and shipping.
Luckily for them, at 300 bucks a pop, they probably won’t sweat it too much.
75 responses so far ↓
Kathryn // October 11, 2008 at 3:32 am |
Apple; owning their sh*t in a sarcastic ,passive aggressive way…just like I do!
Gee // October 11, 2008 at 10:08 am |
It’s called a return box
Troublebaker // October 11, 2008 at 10:39 am |
Exactly how mine showed up too……..
zerplex // October 11, 2008 at 11:19 am |
yeah i wouldnt worry too much about sending it back. i got a replacement battery for my ibook g4 via some recall thing and never sent the battery that might explode back and they never charged me.
hollywoodphony // October 11, 2008 at 11:23 am |
Good to know, thanks Zerplex.
Gary // October 11, 2008 at 11:25 am |
“Seriously, read the letter that came with it! ”
Maybe you should have read the agreement before you ordered the replacement. It clearly states that you’re required to return the original.
It never ceases to amaze me how some people complain about things when they could have avoided any issues if they would just READ THE DAMN AGREEMENT!
hollywoodphony // October 11, 2008 at 11:29 am |
Good point, I should expect to have to comb through a ten page legal document before I can have a product that doesn’t catch on fire.
tim // October 11, 2008 at 11:32 am |
“Maybe I’m making a big deal out of this”
Yes, you are.
philly // October 11, 2008 at 11:41 am |
if it came in a really small box then it would just get lost and you would never have your precious iphone charger you stupid twat
Joe Bison // October 11, 2008 at 11:42 am |
You’re right, that is very wasteful.
That is, I mean asking for a tiny object to be packaged and mailed to you is incredibly wasteful when you could just drop in any Apple store and swap it for free.
The Earth suffers for your laziness.
Alex Kac // October 11, 2008 at 11:44 am |
It wasn’t a ten page agreement. I just did this a few days ago and there was one paragraph and a sentence. It was right there on its own sentence.
Jason // October 11, 2008 at 11:45 am |
That box is obviously sized to fit the shipping label, not the contents.
//Your friendly shipping department
recu // October 11, 2008 at 11:50 am |
Nice…I am also going to order one!
Chirag // October 11, 2008 at 11:50 am |
Shows that they care
pp // October 11, 2008 at 11:58 am |
my two iphone chargers came on two different days even tho i submitted the claim at the same time – the UPS guy laughed
kyle // October 11, 2008 at 12:00 pm |
1. Some of us don’t have Apple stores within 500 miles.
2. Its a standard size box and they REUSE it. You are supposed to send back the box.
3. If they shipped it in a smaller size box, it would be a waste, its not like they are going to need to recall all the power adapters again.
Hash Holly // October 11, 2008 at 12:01 pm |
The reason that the bos is so big compared to the charger is because this is apples traditional return box, if you have ever had to send an ipod in for return, this is what you get sent and its what it comes back in. Chances are Apple has a large amoutn of these boxes as they have been using the same size boxes for years, it would be more wasteful for them to buy more boxes that are smaller just for the sake of the adapter.
Anonymous // October 11, 2008 at 12:05 pm |
Shut the fuck up
peej // October 11, 2008 at 12:06 pm |
Apple doesn’t handle the exchange, a third party ships it out, etc. My PowerBook G3s PSU was replaced in the same size box from the same people..
Anonymous // October 11, 2008 at 12:19 pm |
It’s a generic shipping box, i’ve had ipods, and ipod adapters and stuff come in in the same size box. What is so wasteful about it, when it is a return box to ship your old stuff back? How lazy are some people that it seems easier to throw away the box than return the item you are supposed to.
Skytso // October 11, 2008 at 12:20 pm |
That’s a standard size box. While a bubble mailer might work, that’s just the size of the “small” shipping box. It’s not Apple’s fault that the shipping industry as a whole is not environmentally friendly.
Laughter // October 11, 2008 at 12:39 pm |
You Apple queens are hilarious…whining and bitching about a freaking box. Now commence inserting your 2cm penises into the MAC book AC adapters.
David // October 11, 2008 at 12:57 pm |
This goes way beyond the simple charger replacement shipping.
If you’ve ever ordered parts from Apple you’d know just how wasteful this is. You’d get 20 boxes (or more) just like this instead of just one with 20 little pieces in it. All shipped seperately. (not even in one bigger box)
They do this irregardless of whether its being returned/shipped back or not as most parts, they don’t want back.
Each piece is then wrapped in multiple layers of plastic, inside plastic bags (not anti-static bags). The amount of garbage that an Apple parts order generates is astounding.
Also, they do not reuse these boxes. Each one sent is brand-spankin new.
Regardless // October 11, 2008 at 1:18 pm |
@Daivid:
“irregardless”
Regardless plz.
James // October 11, 2008 at 1:45 pm |
Every comment here is about as intelligent, amusing and worthy of observing as a fart in an elevator :-p
typicaldigguser // October 11, 2008 at 1:57 pm |
wow the classless pricks on digg found their way to your comments section.
Richard // October 11, 2008 at 2:06 pm |
When they start printing shipping labels that are smaller, small shipping containers will follow.
Jonathan // October 11, 2008 at 2:14 pm |
Apple uses the same box for every iphone, and ipod repair, and they can reuse the boxes. I don’t see what’s wasteful.
mikebw // October 11, 2008 at 2:23 pm |
Other people have said it, but it’s worth repeating because this whole article is frustrating-
It’s a standard size box for shipping apple parts to and fro. They get reused. There is no waste unless you don’t send it back. Apple will charge people money just for the larger boxes used to ship macbooks if they don’t get returned.
honour chick // October 11, 2008 at 2:43 pm |
maybe they didn’t want it going missing
Matthew Paterson // October 11, 2008 at 2:52 pm |
You talk about waste but you are the one saying you would just throw out your iPhone charger!
Hypocrite.
John Woods // October 11, 2008 at 3:06 pm |
Wow dude that is truly amazing. I like it.
Jiff
http://www.privacy-center.ru.tc
thomas schmomas // October 11, 2008 at 3:29 pm |
I’m physically numb from reading these posts. Can we have a rule that a person must know who Dick Blick is before posting? Maybe a short HoPho quiz to gauge response to humor?
Don’t let Pit-Pat’s death be for nothing.*
* I killed Pit-Pat.**
** With kindness.
Tall Guy // October 11, 2008 at 3:45 pm |
I believe the purpose of the relatively large box was so that it would not get lost in the shipping process. I’m guessing Apple has figured out that boxes smaller than a certain size are x% more likely to get lost by the UPS guy in his truck, and so they have a minimum size for the boxes, to improve the chances that it gets to your house on time.
Roger Servin // October 11, 2008 at 3:55 pm |
Yeah, I got mine and it didn’t even work! I gotta get a replacement for my replacement!
Brandon // October 11, 2008 at 4:13 pm |
When I worked as a Mac Genius, we used to get all kinds of small parts in big boxes.. The second gen. shuffle came in a HUGE freaking box. It was so silly.
izzy9292 // October 11, 2008 at 4:36 pm |
WTF? Why did came in such a big box ???
Francisco // October 11, 2008 at 4:44 pm |
Why did it have to be such a large box. Couldn’t they have made it a little smaller I mean !! GOD !
feliciab // October 11, 2008 at 5:40 pm |
who are all these assholes and why do they take life so seriously?
Dave // October 11, 2008 at 5:44 pm |
Just pack your own one up, ship it out and then shut up. Do you not have anything else in your life to blog about? I mean, my god….
CanadaBoy // October 11, 2008 at 6:47 pm |
The box is not that big. Honestly if you send tiny little boxes the size of your ac adapter it would fall through the cracks of the sorting machines.
alexandallison // October 11, 2008 at 8:25 pm |
dude I work at the fucking mac genius and you sound like fucking andy Rooney just come by the fucking store and get off of the lazy asses.
kalie // October 11, 2008 at 8:49 pm |
haha i would hate this! I’d be like “OH FUCK WHAT? AN IPOD TOUCH?!”
opening that would piss me off too
Raket1 // October 11, 2008 at 9:38 pm |
I hate the I phone
Forex Exposed » Blog Archive » Apple Ships New iPhone Charger in Comically Large Box // October 11, 2008 at 9:55 pm |
[...] size of his original iPhone box. That doesn’t seem to green or economically viable for Apple. read more | digg [...]
John McCain // October 12, 2008 at 12:49 am |
Looks like a muslim terrorist bomb to me.
airtonix // October 12, 2008 at 1:52 am |
[insert comment that vaguely repeats what the last 4,000 commentors mentioned, with minor variations]
whojen // October 12, 2008 at 4:23 am |
hi! nice blog u have there
just wondering
how your feeling of using iphone:D nice ?
chadhend // October 12, 2008 at 4:23 am |
Let’s be positive and think of ways you can use that box. That cozy little foam space is perfect for:
1. An engagement ring (cardboard says “I’m classy and I recycle.”
2. A human finger or toe (for fans of The Big Lebowski)
3. A carefully cut slice of cheese (for those who really care about cheese)
4. One very small vampire.
Tannen // October 12, 2008 at 8:45 am |
cool pictures
Arjun // October 12, 2008 at 9:55 am |
Someone take this up with Steve Jobs at a Macworld conference or something – he talks so much about the environment – about them using glass on the iPhone against plastic, about how recyclable the materials are, and then the shipping as well… in fact, he talked a great deal about it in the 2008 Apple Music Event as well….
lineln // October 12, 2008 at 10:13 am |
Why is this blog post so popular?
lineln // October 12, 2008 at 10:15 am |
How mundane.
Brandon // October 12, 2008 at 12:00 pm |
I am going to laugh when you get burned by digg again.
hollywoodphony // October 12, 2008 at 12:10 pm |
Brandon, you don’t consider 8000 moronic comments clogging up my blog to be ‘getting burned’??
kennedy121 // October 12, 2008 at 12:40 pm |
I want like last 1 minute of my life back!!
kennedy121 // October 12, 2008 at 12:40 pm |
sorry, not sure what that was about, I meant ‘I want the last 1 minute of my life back’… make that 2 now!
hollywoodphony // October 12, 2008 at 12:45 pm |
It’s understandable, you were in a rush. You don’t want to sit on a zinger like that!
Brandon // October 12, 2008 at 1:23 pm |
you have a point.
hollywoodphony // October 12, 2008 at 1:36 pm |
One of these dbags actually wrote me an email. I guess he felt what he had to say was too important for just a comment. And by ‘too important’, he means ‘the exact same thing every other dbag already said”, only his was less eloquent, if you can believe it. You sorta have to resist the urge to comment back to most of these types, but I feel at this point, things have died down. You don’t want to encourage these people in any way. I mean, let’s be honest, if you have nothing better to do than yell at someone who took a picture of a cardboard box because he thought it was a mildly amusing sight gag, you don’t really deserve a response.
Scott Baio // October 13, 2008 at 4:56 am |
I’m really sick and tired of people badmouthing boxes on the internet. I mean, come on! What did that box ever do to you besides deliver a product to you that will keep your precious Apple product (conformist!) fully charged so that you can show other people how cool you are at all times?
Sorry like I just think it’s time people stood up for boxes and all the wonderful things they have done for our country. If you don’t like them, then go back to communist Russia with all of the other commies, Yakov!
Lester // October 13, 2008 at 10:11 am |
Doyou know whom the return shipping service is through? I go tmy replacement too and I have the slip, but I don’t know whether I’m supposed to drop it off with Fedex, USPS, UPS, DHL…
Thanks
Pit-Pat // October 13, 2008 at 12:07 pm |
If you think THAT box was ridiculous, you should have seen the one they sent me my WHOLESALE PLASTIC BOTTLES in.
HAHAHAHAHA!!! All you newbies don’t even KNOW how hilarious that callback is! Suck it, greenhorns!!!!
And when I say IT, I mean my FROSTY!!!! LOL! ROFLMAO!!!
Oh, and you’re killing the planet with your precious technology. So don’t ever say you can’t accomplish anything.
web // October 14, 2008 at 11:20 am |
This is nitpicking. Mine came packed the same way, and it’s excessive and all, but the nitpicking is far more irritating.
hollywoodphony // October 14, 2008 at 11:21 am |
I would say your complaining about this is nitpicking.
thomas schmomas // October 14, 2008 at 1:42 pm |
Problem is, your nitpicking about his complaining about your nitpicking is, in fact, complaining. Glad I could clear all this up.
Let’s stop hating each other and get back to hating the REAL problem: black people and Jews.
Gary // October 15, 2008 at 6:28 am |
“Seriously, read the letter that came with it! ”
“Good point, I should expect to have to comb through a ten page legal document before I can have a product that doesn’t catch on fire.”
You deserve to be charged the $29 fee for not returning the original and sent a defective replacement that does catch on fire for your oh so intelligent remarks.
hollywoodphony // October 15, 2008 at 12:49 pm |
So what is it exactly about my remarks that is not intelligent? Why do I deserve to be charged $29? You know, just because you say something like that, doesn’t make it true and it certainly carries no rhetorical power over anyone else reading these comments.
It’s interesting that one of the common threads here seems to be that if I don’t read the letter, I deserve to be charged money for my replacement, when I clearly state that I have read the letter. Unlike most people, I also called the number on it, because the return address label ripped. You know what Apple told me? Don’t bother sending it back, because that letter was sent in error. They never meant for people to return the defective part. I’m not sure if that’s entirely true. To me, it seems more likely that they tell you to return it as a legal precaution so that somebody doesn’t leave the defective one around, lose the replacement and then think, “oh, well I’ve got this one anyway, might as well plug it in.”
Gary // October 18, 2008 at 9:42 am |
My original comment was concerning your complaining about the letter that came with the new adapter stating you would be charged for not returning the original adapter.
I simply stated that if you had taken the time to read the original agreement (just a few lines not a 10 page document) you would be well aware of YOUR responsibilities.
Since you can’t be bothered by such trivialities (maybe you’re too intelligent for such obligations) my belief is that karma demands you receive a defective replacement.
Put that in your rhetorical pipe and smoke it.
I do agree with your reasoning on why Apple is (or are they?) requiring return of the original (defective) adapters.
Have a nice day.
hollywoodphony // October 18, 2008 at 9:44 am |
I hope this doesn’t rock your belief system, but it hasn’t caught fire yet. Sorry!
Jill // October 20, 2008 at 2:42 pm |
Hey – I can’t figure out what carrier for return shipping is! It doesn’t say anywhere – do you know?
MJB // October 21, 2008 at 4:56 pm |
You were right. These dbags are real dbags. Whether they have a point or not is beside the point. They’re idiots for even caring about this or thinking that anyone cares about their sassy little take on the issue. There’s a war going on people!
Andr2 // November 18, 2008 at 2:24 pm |
Распечатываю… на стенку в самое видное место!!!
hollywoodphony // November 18, 2008 at 2:32 pm |
I put that into google and this is what it translated as:
“Print … on a wall in the foreground!”
So, I want to say that I agree whole-heartedly with that statement.
The Baroness // November 27, 2008 at 7:07 pm |
That really is a little much. They seem to want your AC adapter to ride in style, now don’t they?