Looking for ways to simplify? The Staple-Free Stapler just may help.
It's environmentally friendly, not really needing, um, staples. Which means that you won't have to spend way too much time trying to get the darn staples out of the stapler when they get stuck. And you won't find that you're then out of staples to replace the bent, ruined ones that you've just pried out of the stapler. Oh, and you won't step on said staples when they fly out of your hand and disappear somewhere on the floor.
The Staple-Free Stapler cuts out tiny strips of paper, neatly stitching them together. It's $6.95 at CB2.
I have an antique stapler that was my great grandfather's and it makes the exact same "staple." I would bet that this method pre-dates the metal stapler rather than being a recent derivative.
And I just stumbled over a story about the old kind at Retro Thing:
http://www.retrothing.com/2006/05/stapleless_stap.html