The KC Star Interviews Me On Unboxing

Posted: July 9th, 2009 | Author: miconian | Filed under: Miconian At Large, Technology | Tags: jonathan bender, kansas city star, notcot, unboxing | Comments

Today, an article on unboxing and teardown by Jonathan Bender appeared in the Kansas City Star (in the print version, it appears on page A13, at the front of the business section). It includes a couple of quotes from me, taken from a much longer email interview that I did. For the curious, I’ve posted the rest of the interview below.

KC Star: What’s the reason you chose to post pictures and commentary of your unboxing efforts?

MBC: Before the web, consumers’ shared experience with selecting and buying products used to end at point-of-purchase. You would go to the store, wait in line, talk to the cashier, take home a box, and then open it in private. That privacy, at the time, was important, because you wanted to feel like you weren’t just a drone who had bought one of ten million identical objects. That moment of private unveiling was an important ritual, like unveiling a bride on her wedding night. Exactly what you’re going to see when you lift the veil isn’t really a secret, but we like to pretend that it is, because everyone wants to feel special. On the other hand, the public shopping experience was important too. Seeing other people in the store,  admiring the same stuff, spending their money in the same way you were spending yours, was reassuring.

The culture of the web has changed all that. If you’re a blogger, then you probably buy most of your stuff online, like me. Buying online has a lot of advantages, namely convenience, privacy, selection, and the most competitive pricing available.

But we’ve also lost something. Nobody sees you shop, so it’s harder to feel proud of your purchase, and you also miss out on that social experience of seeing other people waiting in line for the same thing, nodding to each other with shared excitement. You want to brag a little, you want validation, and you even want to feel generous, as if inviting your neighbors over to see the stuff you bought that they can’t afford.

So, the aspect of shopping that used to be public is now private, and vice versa. We used to shop publicly and unbox privately, and now it’s the other way around.

KC Star: Are you interested in watching other people unbox new gadgets?

MBC: Definitely. Part of it is sharing in the excitement, just watching someone else enjoy receiving something. Part of it is fantasizing that it’s you doing the unboxing. And part of it is a practical consumer interest. Maybe you’re on the edge of buying the same thing yourself, and you find it useful to observe someone else who has already spent their money, and the experience they’re having.

KC Star: Is part of the allure poking fun at instructions or packaging choices?

MBC: I don’t see it as just poking fun. Unboxers are not just talking to each other. We are attempting to continue our dialog with the manufacturer beyond point-of-purchase, and it would behoove them to listen and participate. If their instructions are confusing or insulting, then there’s obviously room for improvement. And having the opportunity to vent about such things makes consumers feel better about their purchases, even the ones that are turning out to be less satisfying than they had hoped.

KC Star: How much does anticipation factor into unboxing? Is it Christmas morning?

MBC: Anticipation certainly plays a factor in motivating people to read unboxing posts. They read , and often anticipate their own future purchase of the same item.  But I wouldn’t say that anticipation is a big part of the actual unboxing, or the unboxing posts. It’s actually quite time-consuming to take all those photos, format them for my blog, get them in the proper order, and write the commentary. It feels very counter-intuitive while you’re doing it, because what you really want to do is just tear away all the packaging and start using the product. But I’ve found that writing unboxing posts forces me to slow down and think more carefully about what I’ve bought, why I bought it, and what I plan to do with it.

However, it’s definitely not Christmas morning. Unboxers usually pay for the stuff they’re unboxing with their own money. Its arrival isn’t a surprise, and the unboxer doesn’t feel an obligation to act grateful or pleased. Usually, the unboxer did a lot of research before ordering. You don’t unbox impulse purchases. You unbox things that you spent a lot of time thinking about critically ahead of time, and unboxing is a way of continuing that process.

To extend your Christmas morning analogy. Unboxing is like a kid getting a present on Christmas morning, but not unwrapping it. Instead, he waits til vacation is over, takes it to school, and unwraps it among his peers, slowly, inviting their commentary, with all of this documented by photos and a transcription. Then, all the documentation is edited, wrapped up in its own nice package, and shipped back to Santa Claus, with a note:

“Dear Santa,

Thanks for the nice presents. Here is what I, and everyone I know, think of them. We also sent copies of this letter to every other child on the planet.

Please try not to make so much noise when you come down the chimney next time. Know what I mean?”

KC Star: Does unboxing ever make you want or not want a new product?

MBC: Absolutely. Other unboxers almost always point out interesting details that I would have overlooked myself. In fact, sometimes I read unboxing posts written about items that I already own, just to get a better appreciation for what I have. One great site in that regard is Jean Aw’s NOTCOT. Jean is the mistress of collaborative online consumer fetishization. Recently, she and I each bought, and did an unbox posting on, a different model of the Asus EEE netbook. (Mine. Hers.)

Even though I bought the slightly more expensive and advanced model, Jean’s voluptuous attention to detail had me wondering whether I’d made the right choice.

KC Star: Will you continue to unbox? Did you enjoy the process?

MBC: I don’t enjoy the process. It’s work. But I do enjoy the feedback. And when you unbox something popular or widely anticipated, a lot of people find your unboxing post in a Google search, and some of them end up becoming regular readers, which is nice.

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