| By :
Mark Etinger
On one hand, if you hear the phrase "packaging and shipping supplies," your mind will hardly race at the idea of fun, exciting, awesome equipment. After all, things like boxes, packaging tape, and those squeaky Styrofoam peanuts will rarely get the adrenaline pumping. On the other hand, there is bubble wrap. A pliable transparent plastic material, bubble wrap is intended for protecting fragile and easily fractured objects or materials. Invented by Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes in 1957 (as they were trying to invent plastic wallpaper), the accidental invention of bubble wrap is the leading material used to provide a cushion for packaging, and bubble mailer envelopes are used almost exclusively by all major shipping companies. But that's not why everyone gets so excited about bubble wrap, although the idea of a successful "accidental" invention is a cool one. No, everyone gets so excited about bubble wrap because, unlike all the other packing supplies, it's incredibly fun to play with. I mean, who hasn't grabbed a sheet of bubble wrap and burned some time away just popping the bubbles one by one? Time spent having fun is hardly time wasted, and it's rare you see anybody doing anything but smiling when they get the chance to pop some bubble wrap. I mean, the stuff is so much fun that one of the first Apple iPhone Apps, the headlining feature for the world's most popular cell-phone, was a game that simulated popping bubble wrap And don't think smartphone applications are the only place bubble wrap gets mentioned in pop culture. Perhaps less famously, but lengths more hilariously, an old British sitcom called Red Dwarf which took place centuries into the future, had an entire episode based on a product called a "tension sheet." The tension sheet was nothing more than a square-foot of bubble tape, no bigger than your standard bubble mailer envelopes, painted red with the words "tension sheet" printed in the middle in white lettering. And yet in Red Dwarf, the tension sheet is hailed as a masterful invention that revolutionizes modern society, and the man who invented it is amongst the richest in the world. Sure, the entire scenario is made up in good, fictional fun, but the fact remains.... Bubble wrap is THAT much fun, that the diea of someone making billions of dollars off of it hardly seems that farfetched. So throw away your duct tape. Get rid of those boring cardboard boxes. And for goodness sake, hide away all those annoying Styrofoam peanuts that make tat horrible noise when they rub against each other. And get the only packaging and shipping supply that ever has a chance of putting a smile on someone's face. Get bubble wrap.
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