Monday, December 28, 2009

Does the lining make a difference?

At Nutshell we are always looking for better ways to make our products ever safer and increase our (still very small) market share.

To this end last year we introduced the single-magnet-caught-between-two-pieces-of-steel. If our customers are a measure (which they are) this has been a resounding success. Today over 75% of our belt cases are shipped with that single magnet closing the case.

Why a single magnet? Easy - to minimize as much magnetic leakage as possible. The sort of leakage that can potentially cause problems for delicate electronics.

How do we know if it is effective? Well, let's just say that so far very few customers have come back at us and told us in no uncertain terms that what we are doing is wrong and a complete waste of time. In fact, praise for the development has snowballed the emails.

Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule. For example most Blackberry devices demand we strategically add a small magnet to enable their auto-shut function. And in a strange twist, the latest Motorola Droid device will not continence a magnet anywhere near it. Apparently Motorola designers decided the best way to change the state of the Droid when loaded into a car cradle or similar was to use a small magnet - darn! So for this device we strongly recommend users choose our Velcro closed cases (should they choose a tab or full flap across the top of the case).

Now it is time for us to consider making yet another ground-breaking shift; replacing the synthetic liner we currently use with one made from natural fur; to wit the shaved pelt of the possum. Not only does this add value to the Nutshell by providing a plush liner. it adds an anti-static property to the case.

New Zealand's possums are apparently pretty unique in the animal kingdom.

A genetic development of the Bush Tailed Australian Possum, our little critters were introduced from Australia many, many years ago.

And they changed. My - how they changed!

Where the Aussie possum had to survive by munching on the leaves of trees that had taken millenia to develop protective measures to counter their appetites, when they hit New Zealand they must have thought they were in Nirvana; our trees were not only very tasty, they were also unprepared to resist the attack of the possums.

Today the New Zealand possum is regarded as a pest; there are more possums in New Zealand today than there are people - and sheep. The New Zealand department of conservation estimates some twenty to seventy MILLION possum roam our native forests, munching their way happily through thousands and thousands of native trees every year.

As New Zealand is a country that prides itself on its clean, green and ecologically pure status in the world, the attack of the possums has rent a huge scare on our pristine environment.

To that end the possum is one of our most reviled predators; not some warm fuzzy little beastie but a ravaging, scavenging molester of our soft, supple and very edible native trees.

But - I digress. Suffice to say the New Zealand possum is a pest of the first water.

However, its hair is most prized for several reasons; not only is it sleek and warm, it is antistatic, meaning it repels electro-magnetism.

How? Darned if I know, but unlike most other creatures the possum in New Zealand has a pelt that is made up of hollow fibers...not solid ones...which apparently contain an oil that expands in cold weather and shrinks in warm.

This may have something to do with the possums ability to keep on munching its way through the forests when the temperatures hit sub-zero. It certainly has something to do with the fact that the little beggars breed faster than they can be knocked out of the trees.


So...watch this space.
Possum pelts are on the way.

Just remember.
It's a Nutshell - naturally!

PS: there has so far been one comment about this item, in which a very good customer expressed concern that we may make this liner a default.
So far, that is NOT our intention.
We shall be offering this liner as an option...and take it from there.

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