5 ms·
The Perfection of the Paper Clip (2012)
- amflare 7y ago> With cubbyholes no longer necessary, the flat-top desk, with more access to light and air but less privacy, became the standard. So the takeaway here is that we can blame the paperclip for open office layouts.
- squarefoot 7y agoAn often forgotten use for paper clips: when one needs to reset that darn router/access point/whatever, and the pen (a pen? ...what's a pen?!?:^) just doesn't fit the reset button hole.
- apocalypstyx 7y agoAlso, pens tend to get ink over everything (which, to be fair, they're designed to do, but...)
- m463 7y agoI like the reset buttons that have a little dimple in the center.
- vinay427 7y agoAlso ejecting SIM card trays on most modern phones, which is probably my most common use for paper clips.
- LeoPanthera 7y agoI honestly don’t know if I’ve ever in my entire life used a paper clip for actually clipping paper. I suppose I must have done at some point, but it’s rare enough that I can’t remember a single incident. Meanwhile I’ve used them for a whole lot of things that require un-bending them first.
- LeifCarrotson 7y agoI either staple papers, or use a binder clip. Paperclips may be perfect for their ductile wire design, but they're not perfect for clipping paper if you allow spring steel.
- ipython 7y agoTIL there is a documentary called Paper Clips (2004) - an inspiring story of a small town middle school who collected 6 million paper clips to represent the people killed during the Holocaust: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0380615/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0380615/. Thanks for posting.
- Balanceinfinity 7y agoHave to say that the binder clip is a good deal of an advancement on the paperclip....and it only has three parts, two identical.
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- JohnFen 7y agoPaper clips have been perfected? That's hard to believe, as there are so many problems with them.
- kylek 7y agoI've always kept a paper clip on my key chain. Handy for resetting things!
- jaclaz 7y agoFor some reasons I am always fascinated/hypnotized by the actual machines making "simple things" (like paper clips) in slow motion, see this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsDdmDFDYHA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsDdmDFDYHA around 2:00
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- carapace 7y agoCheers! That's damn near magical.
- acqq 7y agoThanks, only seeing the video I understood the line from the article: “the key to the success of the Gem clip can be found in the fact that it was patented first as a mechanism: the shape, which took only three gentle bends and a snip to produce, was easy to automate cheap to produce” Brilliant.
- AlexDragusin 7y agoCome to think of it, the paper clip also ushered the digital assistant era [1]. It would be safe to assume that the paperclip is not yet done! [1] https://3er1viui9wo30pkxh1v2nh4w-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/prod/sites/40/2018/10/Clippy_Featured-5bb742910a540.jpg https://3er1viui9wo30pkxh1v2nh4w-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-...