Take away bags

Whilst walking around Birmingham earlier today trying to find the Carling Academy and munching on my KFC Zinger Tower burger, my thoughts were firmly on HCI (as they always should be of course) - which might explain why it took us half an hour to find the Academy.

The thought which had popped into my head was regarding the brown paper 'take away' bag my meal was sold in. KFC aren't the only guilty ones - McDonald's, Burger King, you name it, they all have the same problem with their take away bags.

The problem is simple: when walking and eating, the bag is just large enough to comfortably hold enough food to feed a hungry student. But the top of the bag is too small to comfortably get your hand inside, fumble around for a handful of chips or chunk of burger, and withdraw it safely without spilling everything out of the bag (or maybe it's just me). Plus you either have to balance the bag on your hand, squash it (and the food contained inside) under your arm, or grip the top of the bag - often leading to unfortunate ripping accidents.

One of the useful things about the bag's design is that it's stored flat and opens up in an instant - useful for busy till staff, and ideal for storeroom managers who need to cram in as many thousands of bags as possible. With those features in mind, I believe a more useful take away container would be a pop-up cardboard box/tray which would therefore be sturdy (so less prone to ripping), easy to access due to the extra width and less depth involved, and also provide a useful tray for in-car dining.

Before anyone says "Happy Meal boxes", don't: they're just about the worst possible shape (cubical) and even rocket scientists struggle to correctly close the box (you put your thumbs *in* at the middle and rotate the top *outwards*!)

Before any American mega-corporation tries to patent my ideas, I claim prior art :-)