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The next Swiss Army Knife won't have a knife:
The Swiss Army Knife has become such a shorthand for multifunctionality that companies producing does-a-lot-of-stuff wares will often say that their goods are the "Swiss Army Knife" of whatever category they're a part of. You can use the tool to cut stuff, snip stuff, uncork stuff, file stuff, in some cases download stuff.
But Victorinox, the company behind the famous gadget, is working on a Swiss Army Knife without the knife part.
"We are in the early stages of developing pocket tools without blades," a spokesperson for the company told CNN. Though it won't be discontinuing its bladed version, the company has been trying to figure out how to serve customers in places — specifically England and some Asian countries — where knives aren't as welcome a pocket sight than in other markets. The British government, for example, is considering new legislation on carrying blades in public.
The Swiss Army Knife has its roots in 1880s Germany. Then the Swiss Karl Elsener took production over the border. Soon a competitor emerged in the company Wenger, and for a while the Swiss government split its orders for the tools between the two of them. Wenger called its version the "genuine" Swiss Army Knife, and Elsener's Victorinox called its version the "original." The two companies ended up merging in 2005.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by mhajicek on Friday May 10 2024, @05:05PM (5 children)
Do you work with things, or with data? I'm having a hard time imagining a job working with things, that wouldn't require a knife on the regular.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 2) by SomeRandomGeek on Friday May 10 2024, @06:53PM (2 children)
I work with data.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by mhajicek on Friday May 10 2024, @10:52PM (1 child)
That's what I expected. For those of us who work with physical objects, a knife is a basic requirement.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 3, Funny) by turgid on Sunday May 12 2024, @10:08AM
For data we use Occam's Razor.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 3, Insightful) by sjames on Saturday May 11 2024, @02:50AM
I always carry a butterfly knife in the data center. Perfect for one handed opening and closing. Because it's always AFTER you finally get the right cable in hand that you discover someone went zip tie happy.
(Score: 3, Funny) by driverless on Monday May 13 2024, @12:22PM
I work with users. Carrying a knife is a must.
Alongside bottles of bleach and black plastic rubbish bags.