A product is something brought forth (from Latin pro-, “forward, forth,” + ducere, “to bring, lead”). Some products are made to be done unto; some are made to do; and yet others are made, and then just do. In this post, I’ll consider the first sub-category: products made to be done unto.
Among products made to be done unto, some are made to be used, and others are made to be used up.
Some products made to be used are made to be used to do something to something else. For example, hammers are made to be used to drive nails, strike strings (as in a piano), dent or straighten pieces of metal, and so on. In general, what we call “tools” and “implements” are this kind of product. So are some “instruments,” such as surgical ones, for example. Some—but not all—of the things we call “devices” are this sort of product as well, as are bath-towels and dishrags and many other things.
Next, there are products made, not to do something to something else, but to do something with something else. Forks and spoons, which are made to let us do something with food, namely carry it to our mouths (but not knives, which belong to those products supposed to do something to something—cut it, in the case of knives), are products of that sort. So are cups and plates and pots and pans and most of the other things we call “utensils.” So are things such as back-packs and luggage-wracks for the tops of automobiles. In general, “carriers” and “conveyances” of all types belong to this sub-class of products made to be done unto.
There are also things that are made to be used, but not for the sake of doing something either to or with something else. Instead, they are brought forth to have something done with themselves. For example, there are things that are made to be played. That would include violins, games, radios, television sets, phonograph records, exposed video tape, developed movie film, and the like. Or, to give a few more examples, there are things that are made to be driven (automobiles and golf-balls, to name two), thing that are made to be ridden (bicycles, sleds), worn (clothes, shoes, insignia, body decals), or worked (puzzles, computers), and things that are made to be sat on (chairs, stools, sofas) or at (tables, desks). We don’t usually call products of this type “tools” or “implements,” but some of the things we call “instruments” belong here, including violins and other musical instruments.
Among those products that are made not just to be used, but to be used up, some are made to be eaten (hot-dogs, corn-chips, etc.) or drunk (liquor, soft drinks, etc.), others to be transformed into some other product (as leather, for example, is produced to be transformed into shoes and clothing, or unexposed and undeveloped cinema film is to be made into movies). Still others (such as nails, glue, thread, or mortar) are made for holding the parts of other products together, or just for making it easier to do something to or with something else (cleansers and grease, for example).
So much for those products that are made to be done unto.
In my next post I’ll consider products made, not to be done unto, but themselves to do.