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Talking Time's Top 50 Office Supplies

JBear

Internet's foremost Bertolli cosplayer
(He/Him)
I had one of these in primary school and thought it was a very neat toy, but I've never run into one in a professional context. I bet it's still a neat toy! However, I have to admit that I can't look at one and not think that its primary function should be to doodle the name of who you're crushing on in a notebook.

But what else do you do at work?
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Falselogic

Lapsed Threadcromancer
(they/them)
I dont know where the best TT posts thread is but That should certainly be in there!
 

Mogri

Round and round I go
(he)
Staff member
Moderator
This is now an extremely blessed thread, thank you JBear
 

RT-55J

space hero for hire
(He/Him + RT/artee)
Beautiful

(Now having major regrets not coming up with a list in time.)
 

Mogri

Round and round I go
(he)
Staff member
Moderator
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#46 (tie)
Stamp

Score: 48 - Votes: 2 - Highest vote: 12th (Daikaiju, Falselogic)​

Hang on -- is this right? A postage stamp?

Falselogic said:
Yes, physical mail still exists. I still have to use it. The Forever stamp is the best. Lots of variations. I don't have to worry about 1 or 3 cent stamps anymore. Just slap one of these babies on it and drop it in the mail.

Sure enough, two of you still interface with the United States Postal Service in some capacity. It's not my scene, but it was at one point -- I worked bookkeeping at a local bank one summer, and we had a meter machine that would automatically stamp the ink postage onto envelopes. That's also not the sort of stamp we're talking about here, I suppose, but they're cousins, at least.

Clippit said:
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The study of postage stamps and postal history is called "philately." I was a stamp collector a long time ago, but I haven't done anything like that philately.

Fight it out: Do you like licking stamps, or are you glad that we've largely switched to self-adhesive postage?
 

Bulgakov

Yes, that Russian author.
(He/Him)
Licking stamps is gross. The only problem with stickers is reminding my daughter that stamps are not just like her sticker sheets.
 

Kirin

Summon for hire
(he/him)
I can't remember the last time I put a postage stamp on something (and certainly not from my office as anything I'm dealing with for work is likely to be a heavy package going by UPS or something), but I do still have a stash of Forever stamps in a drawer just in case.

(That said I'm very much in favor of the post office's continued existence - I still get mail, sometimes even mail I actually want! And we should probably wrap low-volume public-good banking services into it like most other civilized countries have done. But that's a whole other thread.)
 

Falselogic

Lapsed Threadcromancer
(they/them)
I'm very grateful for the sticker stamps. The glue they used on stamps always tasted nasty.

On a sidenote - Y'all should sign up the next time I run a postcard exchange! You'll get fun mail and get to use stamps!
 

Daikaiju

Rated Ages 6+
(He, Him)
My dad was big into stamps and a lifelong member of the dwindling Post Mark Collectors Club. First day covers were his jam
 

Dracula

Plastic Vampire
(He/His)
I use the USPS frequently when I'm sellin' stuff on eBay, but all of those packages are too big for stamps. The closest I ever get to using stamps is when I have to actually go to the post office, and whoever's at the desk asks me if I need any.
 
Stamps are really cool, and a very noble public service to boot. I've always loved them. Especially the sticker-types. There's just something satisfying about peeling off a sticker and putting it on a thing.

As a collector's item though they are wiggity whack. My grandma was One Of Those People that had dozens of albums of expensive collections that are completely worthless because she was an old lady of the generation and persuasion to get hoodwinked by stuff like that or commemorative tableware celebrating all the presidents.

The only problem with stickers is reminding my daughter that stamps are not just like her sticker sheets.
They are just like her sticker sheets though! They're just... a lot more expensive!
 

Ixo

"This is not my beautiful forum!" - David Byrne
(Hi Guy)
There are people who like stamp glue taste? Noooo...

The last sheet of stamps I bought was intentional because they were a design Aaron Draplin did.

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Mogri

Round and round I go
(he)
Staff member
Moderator
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This list had some incredible items that didn't make the cut. It would be a shame to let them fall by the wayside, right?

So our weekends will focus on the more interesting omissions, roughly in ascending order by how interesting I think they are. Hopefully, you will be equally intrigued!


#52
Clipboard

Score: 46 - Votes: 3 - Highest vote: 14th (Mogri)​

With 13 voters and a topic as wide as the day is long, there was a surprising amount of convergence in what made the list. I was pretty sure the first couple weeks would be a list of everyone's #1, but as you've probably noticed, the votes centralized to the point that being #1 wasn't enough.

So here's the clipboard, the sole item to have received more than two votes while still eluding the top 50. The clipboard enjoys popular support without evoking any strong opinions. It is the definitive "pretty good" entry on this list.

The clipboard is a quintessential office supply, but our weekend installments will largely focus on items that cannot make that claim. You went in some wild directions with this topic, and I'm excited to showcase them.
 

Torzelbaum

????? LV 13 HP 292/ 292
(he, him, his)
I had clipboard at #24. It was a substitute I added after some rulings impacted other items on my original list.

Here are my thoughts on them/it.
A nice way to have a small, portable personal writing area that can keep a few papers (and maybe some other things, depending on the design) in order. I rarely use them but I appreciate them.
Also, the spring-loaded "jaws" on them are sort of fun to play / fidget with.
 

Dracula

Plastic Vampire
(He/His)
Aw dang. A clipboard is such a clutch choice. Just holding one makes you look more official-er.
 

Yimothy

Red Plane
(he/him)
I thought about revising my list to add clipboards, but decided to let the initial submission stand. I use them regularly, most often to move around a room writing numbers on a piece of paper.
 

Falselogic

Lapsed Threadcromancer
(they/them)
If I still occasionally had to do campaign work clipboard for sure would have been on my list. Theyre vital. But thankfully I never, ever, ever have to walk a precinct again.
 
Clipboards are quintessential for my job. But I feel like most clipboards are stuck in the 19th Century or something. They either don't accomidate things like pens easily, or they're fragile, or they're not good at holding more than a couple documents at a time, etc.

I had a really nice clipboard from a Japanese stationary company and that thing ruled. It had a nice flap to protect documents from getting messed up when I would stuff the clipboard in my bag. It had spots for pens to easily slide into. It had pouches for holding extra documents. It had grippy plastic that would help hold documents down. And it just looked nice. I busted it a while back though and haven't been able to find something as good since.
 

Yimothy

Red Plane
(he/him)
My preferred clipboard at work is a slab of hard transparent plastic with a clip attached. I only ever use them temporarily for a few sheets of paper at a time, and it’s important to be able to tell if they’ve been soiled and to decontaminate them if so.
 

Daikaiju

Rated Ages 6+
(He, Him)
Clipboards are quintessential for my job. But I feel like most clipboards are stuck in the 19th Century or something.
They were basically perfected right out of the gate. iPads and other data pads improve in the one area that couldn't be expanded upon physically. The ability to hold more documents.
 

Mogri

Round and round I go
(he)
Staff member
Moderator
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#46 (tie)
Keyboard

Score: 48 - Votes: 2 - Highest vote: 8th (Bulgakov)​

I got a new keyboard recently. It's this one. You can make it glow in like six different colors, or you can make it a constantly-scrolling rainbow. Once I figured out that was an option, I switched to rainbow and never looked back.

You might be reading this on a phone, but you do own a keyboard or five. What are you using? I want to hear about your weird keyboards. Mechanical? Ergonomic? Dvorak? And why doesn't your keyboard give you the royal rainbow treatment?

Bulgakov said:
Affordable enough to be replacable, but still mechanical switches for that oh-so-accurate response. Wired, because wireless keyboards are just a recipe for typos.

Clippit said:
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Hey, are you a keyboard? Because you're my type.
(link NSFW, possibly NSFL)
 
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