CC Skywave SSB 2 With AM FM SW WX and Aviation Bands / Includes SW Wire Antenna Adapter

An Office Supply Catalog for Laughs

Techstination feature for Friday, December 23, 2005

A dose of revenge against all of those catalogs and holiday sales brochures. Bloomberg Boot Camp, a report on today's technology. At first glance....it looks like a regular office supply catalog. But look again and you'll notice the red and white logo on the cover reads Stooples. Kevin Reifler is the author of the parody publication...

"We were looking for a format that wasn't used. And we realized that the ubiquitous, ever present office catalog...Staples, OfficeMax, Office Depot....they're sitting there on everyone's desk...and it's ripe for parody. And we said we have a lot of good comedy to do and we wanted a vehicle that everyone knew that we could have some fun with. And who else was crazy enough to start making fun of pens, pencils, notebooks and everything else that you go to war with in the corporate world."

There are some pretty funny bogus technology items....like a Hold Music Karaoke office phone....that flashes the words across an LCD screen as you listen to music on hold. And...

"My favorite item, among others, is the coal burning computer. Don't let an energy crisis get you down. Environmentally ambiguous hardware will help you produce memos even in the most persistent brownout."

You can get a taste of more of the humor at Stooples.com. Bloomberg Boot Camp, I'm Fred Fishkin.