There is a visceral pleasure with stapling together papers.
I pull individual pages of an article off the printer. I align them and angle them carefully under the “crimp area” of the stapler. Then I do a two-part press of the stapler. The first movement is slow and gentle, with the handle, hammer, and papers all compressed together, holding the target area in place. There is a brief pause, then the second movement occurs. It is a firm press, pushing the staple through the papers’ corner and crimps it in place.
“Ah, a good staple,” I say to myself.
I pull out my once separate, unbound papers and marvel at my newly created document, one I have already put energy into, one I have physically engaged with, and now one which will be read carefully.
Look, I know there are digital equivalents to physical stapling, and a vast array of ways to correlate different documents with various filing and linking technologies. That’s great, and I use them all freely.
But do these methods of “digital stapling” result in the same physical reality of a stapled document?
And does any method of digital engagement with a document replace the brief joy of a well-placed staple?
I doubt it.