Stapler Wars

When it comes to using a stapler, I probably would be described as an infrequent user. Always preferred the paperclip. Actually a brightly colored paperclip.

I realize not everyone shares my reluctance to staple. I remember a boss getting quite agitated with me when I submitted my expenses with a paperclip.

"Why don't you just staple them together? " he implored. " That way there's no risk of losing any of them."

Quite frankly I had never thought about it that way.  I just assumed that whoever went through expenses would want to have them unstapled. I thought I was doing them a favor. by sending it with a paperclip. If I sent them stapled, they would have to get the staple remover out of the drawer ,and  try to get the staple out without tearing the sheets .

When I picked up a pack of blue standard staples a few years ago, I knew I would retire before I used the whole pack.

I rarely have to paperclip or staple anything these days. Most people prefer documents via email and I suppose they either paperclip or staple them on their end --depending on their binding method of choice.

While I haven't been paying much attention to the lonely stapler, a lot of people have. In fact this has been quite a year for the stapler. Staples Inc raised over $50,000 for charities by auctioning celebrity staplers and category leader Swingline and newcomer PaperPro both came out win stapler innovations this year.

To find out how signfiicant that innovation is, check out my article in the Chicago Tribune.Change becomes newest staple

What Swingline wanted to do was to create a new stapler so intriguing that consumers would be willing to give up their tried-and-true stapler for the new, improved version.

And getting consumers to be excited about a stapler is no easy task.

"It's a product no one wants to think about. They just want it to work," said John Ferraiulo, a merchant in Office Depot Inc.'s business essentials unit.

What would it take for you to get a new stapler?  I want to know.

Swingline believes the promise of a jam-free experience and having a spare tray of staple in the unit will do the job. On the other side is upstart PaperPro. They think, being able to staple with a lighter touch will do the job.

You tell me. It's a one question survey. I'll share the results even if just a handful of people respond.