For years, comedians have made jokes about the “Inspector #34” stickers, tags, and inserts we find in the products we buy. Most of these jokes were focused on the anonymity of said inspector.
Since I was a kid, I wondered who these inspectors were. What did they do? Were there more than one person filling the role of #13 or did each inspector have their own unique number and stickers? Were inspector number retired when an inspector would leave the company? If my product was broken, should I reference the fact that #13 was falling down on the job?
So I was a bit of a nerdy kid.
When I came across the recent Gizmodo story, “New iPhone Comes Loaded with Photos of the Girl Who Made It”, the gears in my head started spinning. Can you imagine if your iPhone or laptop or hard drive came with photos of the team who worked on it? It would probably make you feel a bit better about problems you might have, and certainly would make you feel more interested in buying more products from that company.
After all, it’s not #13, it’s the Asian girl in the funny pink hat.
UPDATE: Reuters picks up this story.
