You may have heard that Amazon has decided to some pretty amazing stuff with “Frustration Free” packaging with its 19 most popular items, moving away from plastic clamshells that might was as well be bullet proof.  I have ranted on this before, and I think its fantastic that Amazon has gone — and is continuing — to go to lengths to find a solution to this problem: by going directly to manufacturers to help repackage these items that make sense.

Why hasn’t anyone else done this?  Probably because Amazon is the only one who could.

Consider that bulletproof plastic clamshells exist for (the perhaps erroneous) reason of deterring retail theft, and you’ll realize that Amazon probably went to these manufacturers and said “hey — there’s no threat of that when you order online.”

Couple that with the thought that Amazon is probably the only 900 lb online gorrilla that has the clout to do this sort of thing first — and the fact that most manufacturers and packagers will be happy to grab the halo effect of seeming more environmentally friendly, and it looks like a slam dunk.

In fact, if its a success, one wonders how fast the rest of the online e-tailing industry will follow suit.  If and when it’ll ever impact retail packaging … well, one can only hope.