Labour-saving - Not

Automatic staplers - are they worth the trouble?

Maybe it's the march of technology, or maybe it's the availablity of low-cost manufacturing in China, but gadgets seem to be proliferating, and they don't always make life easier. Take a look at this technology breakthrough:

That's right, it's an electric stapler. This is the brightly coloured child-friendly version, but you could also get it in sombre office colours and no see-through cover. So it is clearly intended to have a use beyond being a gimmick to entertain the kids. Here's how it works: you push the paper (max five sheets) and jiggle it around until it engages with a microswitch behind the stapler mechanism which sends a signal to the elaborate electronics. Then the battery-driven motor starts up and there is a grinding noise and the staple is inserted. It takes about two seconds if all goes well.

Here is another stapler:

Admittedly you need both hands. You can feed the paper into it on your desk or just hold the stapler in your hand and bring it to the paper. The thickness of the stack of paper is limited by the size of the staples to about twenty or thirty sheets. Notice that it is much more compact, and has no batteries that might need replacing. It takes about half a second to operate.