Cup Holder Explosion
Posted by Jim at October 16th, 2005
Occasionally I address Significant Issues of the Day in this blog. What follows does not qualify for that label.
My first car had no cup holder. Originally bought in the late 80’s (though not by me), it was designed without them. If I was careful, I could put a cup into the area originally set aside for change. After that, of course, quick stops and starts were not an option unless I wanted to spill my drink. The increasing stickyness of the “change indentation” attested to the fact that I was less concerned with this than I ought to have been.
During that same period, if I remember correctly, people were making those mugs with the really wide, flat bottoms with a semi-sticky substance that allowed them to grip the floor or dashboard. Not coincidentally, these mugs also usually had caps because they were probably going to flip over at some point.
I haven’t seen one of those mugs in stores in a while. I don’t think people need them much anymore.
My wife’s first car (from the early 90’s) had two cup holders. I was awed by the luxury. My wife’s current car has four cup holders in the front seat alone–two in the middle section and one in each front door. There are two more in the back seat.
You may wonder where cupholders will be put next. Hats? Sadly, that one’s already been done. Ditto chairs. Just from those two examples alone, it should be pretty clear that they’re everywhere now. I’m not going to be surprised to discover that someone’s building them into pants (”Is that cup holder or are you just happy to see me?”).
I can’t help but wonder what’s up with this? Are we all just drinking more water? Are product designers diet Coke junkies?
Whatever the case, just take a look at the wagon my parents bought my kids. Look closely. Yeah. That’s right.
Cup holders.