There are few things that PC hardware reviewers hate more than hermetically sealed blister packs. You know, those clear plastic packages that are sealed all around the perimeter. Memory, among other items, are usually packaged that way. Whatever you use, you usually make the package unusable, but the problem is... what to use to open it? Using a knife on the usually slick surface is pretty unsafe, and if it slips you may damage the contents within, not to mention yourself. I usually use scissors, but the packages are normally irregularly shaped, and the length of the scissors make using them for that purpose very awkward.

I love gadgets, all kinds of gadgets. I have a kitchen full of them. I've had a lot of PC gadgets in the past, but not lately. It has been quite a long time since I reviewed a gadget for OCIA.net, and today I will be looking at the Zibra Open It! Package opener. It isn't a PC gadget, but it is something that looks like I will get to use a lot while working on PCs and other things too.

So who is Zibra? Zibra is sort of a virtual company, dedicated to making products that are practical solutions to what should be simple problems. They are open to your suggestions for new products… isn't that cool? A significant part of their profits go to the Made In China Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping Americans adopt Chinese orphans.

Whether you like the idea of the Open It! or not, I encourage you to go to Zibra's website, just to see what they are all about.


The Open It! looks like a pair of short-bladed shears. They come in a blister pack that is, you guessed it, hermetically sealed. I thought that I would need the cutters to open the package that they came in. Fortunately, I was able to get them out. Maybe Zibra is making the point that this will be the last hermetically sealed package you will have trouble opening.