The Geeky Pleasure of Unboxing
Based on a mixture of your feedback on what phone to buy last week, browsing a "what mobile" magazine, playing with some devices in store, watching videos on YouTube and pure instinct I went ahead and bought an HTC Snap, which arrived on Tuesday. So far I'm loving it, although I am starting to discover annoyances, but you have to expect them. It is running Windows after all!
Why the Snap? Various reasons but not least because I just loved the look of it. Also that it was reasonably cheep (compared to others I contemplated). For reasons I won't go in to now I'm not eligible for an upgrade from my phone company and so I had to actually pay for a phone!
While waiting for it to be delivered on Tuesday, following ordering it online on Saturday I went through the same process I normally do when I order a new man-toy (whether it's IT kit or a power tool).
- Wait eagerly for an email to say the order has shipped
- Check the courier's online tracking site a million times a day to see when it's "out for delivery"
- Listen to no music in the office all day so you don't miss the doorbell.
- Get excited when you hear a van coming down the road (we're on a cul-de-sac so chances are it's a delivery).
- Put box on desk and pretend it's not there for as long as you can. Tantric-style.
- Undo the delivery box and admire the packaging for a while (assuming any attention has gone in to it).
- Carefully unpack the new toy and admire it for a while before actually powering it up.
Now maybe I'm just a sad old geek but I do take great pleasure in the unboxing new kit. It does need to be nice kit though and well packaged. A new router might not have the same effect.
Although we're trying to budget in the house at the moment I do need to treat myself to something every other month or so. Last time it was a Fein Multimaster, which was also a pleasure to unbox. You could tell it was a quality tool before I'd even got it out. If you're a keen DIYer take a look at them!
It was reassuring to see that other people get pleasure from unboxing. So much so there's even a website called unboxings.com and numerous videos on YouTube -- unboxing the HTC Snap. Not quite the same to watch somebody else do it though.
Any of you guys enjoy the whole process of buying a new toy and unboxing it or is it just me?
Skip to the 
You can subscribe to an individual
No it's not just you... i'm thinking about getting a morticer from axeminister, so i can build a greenhouse. i want to have mortice and tenon joints.
http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Axminster-Axminster-AW12BM-Bench-Morticer-33259.htm
Have you got the Axminster catalogue Stu? the number of hours I've spent leafing through there with my mouth drooling all over it. In my alternate life I'd be a joiner with my own workshop filled with everything in it.
I have to admit that I am definately guilty of steps 1-4, but as soon as the box arrives there's no battle of will against unwrapping it ... there's simply a packaging explosion with debris ejected over which ever room I happen to be opening it in!!
In the US, I grew up on the infomercials for this --> http://www.shopsmith.com/ and I still wish I had the space for such a tool.
Ummm, so what ever happened to the touch screen requirement?
Should have gone for a Bold or Javelin in my opinion. :p
Shoes! It's Shoes for me.
Although I am a "computer-geeks-R-us" kind of girl and have been known to go gaga over certain techie items, I am more consistent with shoes/boots/cleats.
I usually order my game cleats from the UK to be shipped here to Canada because my feet are too small to get "proper" leather cleats in my size here.
I don't actually wear them to play in for a couple of weeks... you have to "gently" break them in. I try them on a couple of times, then put them on display somewhere to look at them for a week or two,wear them while I'm on the computer - that sort of thing. I once wore my cleats at work for a whole week before actually playing in them.
And, after each game, I clean and polish them. Then they go back on display where they can be admired. It takes a couple of games before I stop displaying them... when they start to look a little tired.
er, hmmm... you wouldn't happen to know of a good shop that sells top quality cleats... I have a friend in London that comes home every summer and has delivered a few pairs for me...(teehee)
oh, and in case you're wondering, rugby is the sport
Glad you put things on display too Pamela. I feel less sad now. The powertool I mentioned above has been on "display" in our dining room for ages now. Karen probably thinks it's there because the dining room is undergoing work and I've forgotten to put it away, whereas really I just like to glance at it every now and then while we're eating ;o)
I second the pleasure of unboxing - a bit like christmas. And once you have discovered the world of professional tools, from proper brands, like hiltl or Fein or Makita, you just cannot go back to the cheap diy-market crud.