The most awesome staple remover I ever owned—and I no longer know where it is—was made from a single piece of metal. I loved the simplicity of its design, which translated into simplicity of use: just slide the metal tip underneath a staple... and keep on sliding until the staple undoes itself and lifts smoothly out of the paper. Amazing. I need to order myself another one of those. As much as I like the pinchy-looking staple removers because they look like barking dogs, I much prefer this simple, elegant design. In case you don't know what I'm talking about, here's a picture:
It's smack-your-forehead in its simplicity—one of those things that make you go, "Why didn't people think of this earlier?" Sorry if I seem to be going gaga over a simple tool, but every once in a while, you encounter a manmade object where it's obvious that everything just
clicked, and the result of that click was something so utterly, cosmically
correct that using it is a pleasure that never grows old. Robert Pirsig might call this
Quality.
I'll browse GMarket and Amazon and see if I can't find this thing again. The time has come to order myself one. Or two. Or more.
I have a letter opener that I use as a staple remover. It serves both purposes very well.
ReplyDeleteThat's simpler than the X-Acto knife that I use.
ReplyDeletePS: I've only ever had one type of letter opener, and the metal at the point is too thick for me to slip it under staples. I'm guessing yours has a much thinner point and edge.
ReplyDeleteIt does. In fact, I'm pretty sure it could be used as an effective stabbing weapon as well, should the need arise.
ReplyDelete