What could be simpler than a desktop stapler? You press down and a small stack of papers is fastened together. But I guess when you name your office supply chain after them, the humble fasteners take on more importance. Staples realized that the ordinary stapler wasn't good enough and has done an amazing job rethinking and reinventing the ordinary stapler.
The ubiquitous office tool has been around seemingly forever (since the 1700s, in fact, according to Wikipedia) and is basically just a very crude lever device. Little snippets of metal are lined up in a row and held in place by a spring. Pressure from your hand slamming down on the top causes a thin, little hammer of sorts to force a single staple through a stack of papers. A curved metal guide underneath the stack bends the ends of the staple to form a butterfly-like metal clip.
The problem with modern-day staplers is, as everyone knows, that they only work with four or five pages at a time -- maybe seven or eight, if you’re lucky. It’s not that the staples are too short. It’s just that most staplers don’t have enough oomph to drive the metal through large numbers of pages despite your pounding the top of the stapler with your fist.
That’s where Staples’ revolutionary new One-Touch Stapler with Staple Gun Power comes into play. It looks as nicely shaped and sleek as a regular stapler, and in most ways it is. But while it uses the same standard staples as other devices this little baby is capable of driving through 20 pages (their claim) or more (my claim) at a time.
This stapler's secret weapon is its lever, which operates its drive system much further back than in a normal stapler. That means that instead of pressing down directly on the staple, the new One-Touch has a power mechanism which supercharges the process. No batteries, AC cords or pneumatic connections are involved.
I know I’m probably over-complicating the process, but I feel I have to technically prepare you for a very unusual experience. This thing is amazing. To test the One-Touch I tried to staple 20 pages at a time. I didn’t pound the top but merely touched it. The One-Touch handled the task.
Not satisfied with meeting the manufacturer's claims, I decided to challenge the One-Touch. First I offered it a folded section of newspaper, some 30 pages in all. The One-Touch handled it with aplomb. It was even able to handle nearly 40 pages of paperwork I had sitting on my desk. All of this with standard-size office staples and a light touch of my index finger. The bottom of the One-Touch also flips down, allowing you to tack and pin like you can with other staplers.
The One-Touch did fail to staple the entire Manhattan Yellow Pages, but then you’d probably need a lever the size of the Empire State Building to do that.
On the mindless side of life: For those who like to shoot staples across a room, the Staples One-Touch can beat any other desktop stapler for length and accuracy. But I must include a warning: like your mother told you, NEVER, EVER point or shoot a stapler at someone else -- especially this stapler. I would also keep this out of the reach of little children. Despite my joking, this is not a toy.
Staples’ One-Touch Stapler retails for $14.99, which includes 420 standard staples to start you on your way. A package of 25,000 reloads costs $3.99. It may seem like a strange holiday gift idea but it is one item that will not only amaze but provide great stapling for years to come. It's a great stocking stuffer.