I got my first advance drive from Western Digital… and it is not in approved packaging! It’s not even in the same ballpark as what they were requiring. For one thing, it uses plastic instead of foam.

Don’t get me wrong. It was pretty safely sealed. I have no doubt it arrived completely undamaged. And I do have the ability to send in my drive using this packaging. I’m not worried that they will reject my drive. So no real harm done.

Except that I’m kind of pissed off. I was actually sort of looking forward to seeing what the hell they had in mind. But even they can’t live up to standards that were only one step away from requiring a talisman from the Archangel Uriel. And that if this hadn’t been their specific packaging, and I had sent it in using this packaging, they reserved the right to void my warranty for it.