Google celebrates hole puncher on 131st anniversary

LONDON: On its 131st anniversary, Google pays tribute to the humble hole puncher with its special Doodle.

The doodle shows the Google logo made up of colourful paper circles - all except the second "g" which is replaced by a blue sheet of paper.

"It’s a familiar scene with a familiar tool: the gentle rat-tat-tat on the table as you square up a dangerously thick stack of papers, still warm from the printer," Google wrote in a blog post.

"The quiet anticipation and heady uncertainty as you ask yourself the ultimate question: can it cut through all this?

"The satisfying, dull “click!” of the blade as it punches through the sheets.

"The series of crisp, identical holes it produces, creating a calming sense of unity among an otherwise unbound pile of loose leaf.

"And finally, the delightful surprise of the colorful confetti byproduct – an accidental collection of colorful, circular leftovers.

"Today we celebrate 131 years of the hole puncher, an understated – but essential – artifact of German engineering.

"As modern workplaces trek further into the digital frontier, this centuries-old tool remains largely, wonderfully, the same."

The hole punch was invented by German entrepreneur and inventor Friedrich Soennecken, who founded the office supplies company Soennecken in 1875.