Let me first start out by saying this; I know that the world moves forward. I know that sometimes things change for the better. I know that there is probably nothing I can do about it from my desk here in Virginia. That does not mean, however, that I can’t take an annoying situation that recently happened to me and apply it to my life to make it better.
One of the great things about my job is the fact that when I need to, I can take a walk to 7-Eleven and get whatever I’m craving. It’s just a quick walk from my office, which means I can go get a Red Bull whenever I want, and that makes for a good afternoon.
On one of my recent journeys to the Shining Halls of Convenience Valhalla, however, I was greeted by one of the most egregious errors ever perpetrated by the owners of candy manufacturers. I’m talking about, I’m holding back tears here, the eradication of delicious lime green Skittles. Yes that’s right. No more lime Skittles. I must have missed this change when I decided to eat healthier. *SCOFF*
That is not the worst of this story. Not only did they get rid of Lime Green Skittles (LGS), they replaced green with another green flavor. Sour Green Apple Skittles (SGAS). It’s one thing to get rid of LGS, it’s another thing entirely to make green taste like something different. A slap in the face to LGS lovers like myself. It’s like the makers of Skittles are dancing on the grave of my favorite candy, gloating about its sudden death, nay, murder at their hands. If LGS no longer exists, at least get rid of green altogether. Don’t tease me with that color. I expect to taste lime, not SGAS! Oh man! If my family would not be reading this, I would repeat all the colorful words that went through my brain as I travelled through the 8 Stages of grief because of this horrible change.
During my grieving process, probably the acceptance or denial stage (I’m still not sure) I was forced to recognize that hey, maybe LGS isn’t for everyone. Who cares that they’ve had LGS for 30+ years? They have to make money, and I guess SGAS is a popular flavor. A lot of other candies (Jolly Rancher, Sweetarts, Shockers) have the Sour Apple flavor, so why should Skittles be any different right?
This forced examination of a dynamic product shift, made me start thinking about companies that had to change, and this led me to think about the Maker Movement, and in particular, 3D Printing. I began thinking about all of those manufacturing companies that prototype parts at great expense to their customers. I began to think of all of the money that people spend on little plastic parts for their cars, appliances, and homes.
I don’t want manufacturing plants to go out of business. I want them to become more streamlined. I want them to be able to design and print designs that they can only dream of, and can’t build, because it’s too expensive to prototype through traditional means.
I don’t want families to spend thousands of dollars on parts they pay too much money for. I want them to be able to print those parts out and in addition to that, be happy because they can teach their children how to create new things on computers and see the results of their work.
These examples and more can be the result of 3D Printers being in homes and businesses. Is it a change from the way things have always been done? Absolutely. Will it take time to shift peoples thinking? Yes it will, but this is not a bad thing to wait for, because it will happen. Much like the refrigerator that replaced horse and buggy ice carts, and much like SGAS replaced LGS, time allows people and companies to shift and adapt, so that the world can be better.
Is LGS going away world changing? Well for me it was, but in the grand scheme of things, not really. In light of the Maker Movement, however, the world is changing in those arenas, and hopefully I, and those who read this blog, can be part of that present and future change. Keep on creating everyone.
