Today we have some, you know, from the bleeding edge of calculator innovation, some brand new calculators from Staples.

Let's open this up and see what we've got.

So we'll make the traditional incision on one side of the logo, as to not ruin

the actual picture there. Slice that open, and we have

oh, okay, first calculator out of the bag

is already on, and look at, um, okay,

there's no further unboxing to be done, but it is a flexible,

a limp, some would say, calculator. You can see there, branded with Staples. No box, no instructions?

And what if I want to read how to use my calculator in a variety of different languages?

Classic: don't do calculation in a bin, that's good. And you can see it is a flexible calculator.

Let's take it for a spin, and see, see what it can do.

So, what do we have? We've got the normal

add, subtract, multiply, and divide. We also have, this is random.

It'll add OR subtract, if you're doing calculations

and you want element of random chance and luck.

We got percentage, and we've got M on and M off.

Okay, so let's divide by zero.

One, divide by, zero, equals, error! Oh, okay, fantastic.

And I assume, let's just check all the calc, where one,

divided by seven, equals, a bunch of numbers, times, seven, equals,

Oh, okay, so there's some rounding errors going on in there, but that's,

I mean, otherwise it's great.

And it'd be really useful for all those situations where you haven't got the space for a normal rigid

calculator. So that if you're, if you're traveling, you can, you can roll, you can roll, look at that!

You can roll that up like that, right? And you can have that on your person, at, at a moment's notice,

you're like, let's calculate!

It is flexible. You could sew it into your clothes. Sewables are all the rage. You can put this right into a coat.

Or, if you can't afford an Apple or other smart watch, it actually, the contours, look at that!

match the arm, and so you could just tape the two ends together there, and you've got a full on calculator-

bracelet. And what I quite like is on the back, you can see right through there, look at the circ-

I mean it pleases me immensely.

I mean

I almost feel a little, little, a little indecent being able to see all the circuitry like, you can see the

connections there when you hit the button. I mean that's oh, that's too much.

Let's just leave that for now.

Scores for the Staples flexible calculator. The display, eight digits. I'm gonna give it a six.

Functionality, it's very down the line. That's a five.

Accuracy, a mere three. Ergonomics,

it's got to be a ten. Cred is flexible, depending on a lot of factors, with this calculator.

So I'm going to give it a six, with a standard deviation of two. And finally, for durability,

That is a ten, for a total score of 40.

Okay, up next we have- oh, thankfully, something to unbox,

a binder calculator.

Wow, as you can see, anything is "better with a binder"!

It's got a number in the corner. In case you're stuck

for what number to do a calculation with, they provide you with an example number on the front. That's very nice of them.

And on the back, they remind you, it is better,

it's so better! What percentage could they guarantee your satisfaction with? That would be 100% satisfaction guarantee,

which is there. Doesn't work in any sized bin, which is good to know, unless, unless you give it a hug.

Okay, so what I'm going to do is very carefully cut around the calculator,

[grunting]

leaving the rest of the box intact.

If anyone collects, for example, Star Wars figures, or like,

original baseball cards, this is the traditional way to open them carefully. Let's get the bottom bit off there. Nice.

So now you can display separately the silhouette of where it came from, and now conveniently, this whole thing, just, have like an

exploded bit in your display case, like that, to illustrate how it all went back together.

Okay, so let's get rid of all that. So, you can see this is not just a calculator. Staples,

you know, they figure this one's rigid, very disappointing, we'll make up for it.

You can measure on one side how long you've been calculating for, and then over here,

you can attach a variety of calculator bling on this side.

Or put it in a binder.

Let's turn it on for us. Oh here we go, okay.

Look at that, okay. So we're on!

And you can see, it's a solar panel one.

But we'll just double check. Even if you lose light, you can continue calculating during an eclipse.

That's good to know. We've got a square root key, so let's give it a quick square root test. Two, square root, times, two, square root,

equals disappointment.

Okay, let's just test out the number that, the example number, the serving suggestion on the packet there, so

2, 4, 0, 8, 9.

Yep...

Okay, there's woefully inadequate instructions for what to do. Oh, actually, I see what they're testing.

This, it actually displays little commas. But unlike, you know, they're not at the bottom, they're at the top, like a little jaunty little

apostrophe or something. So that once again, Staples,

innovation in the field of calculators, put the comma at the top. I mean pointless innovation in this case, but, you know,

they're trying everything. Final scores for the Staples Better Binder calculator.

For display, it's got eight digits, so I would give it a six. But, for innovations in apostrophes,

I'll make that a seven,

apostrophe.

Functionality, it is a calculator, but it's also got a ruler on one side, you can put it in your ring binder,

I mean, with a ruler I'm gonna have to give it two straight lines, eleven.

Accuracy, not great, four.

Ergonomics, it's nothing but pointy edges, three.

Cred, I'd give the calculator aspect a five,

but the fact that it shows you that you keep your calculator locked away in a binder, and not on display,

I think it negates that, zero.

And for durability...

Okay, that's, that is unfair. I think, I think a five.

And finally at the bottom of the Staples sack, we have, oh my goodness!

That is a party in calculator form!

So it's not in a box.

I can't open it up, very sad, but I can turn it on, right? And let's give it a quick test.

Let's go with, let's do a divisibility test. So I'm going to do 75, I'm going to divide that by 14,

and I get five and a remainder,

now I subtract the 5, and then multiply that back up by 14, and I get, aww! four point nine nine nine nine

nine two. So the storage is not great.

And I guess the great thing about this calculator is if you get tired of this, or it starts to cause a seizure,

you wanna do something else, you can flip it over, on the back, there's a maze! Look at that!

You got a little ball there. You can try and get that... here we go... I can do this, hang on.

Wait, hang on.

Okay, this maze, harder than it looks. Again Staples. They are all about innovation.

They're not happy to just make a calculator, they gotta put a maze on the back

for no obvious reason.

I would, I wish I could have seen the meeting. Like, what are we going to put in the back, like a snow globe?

Or should we have like, a maze! let's put a maze! That'll do it. Unbelievable.

Okay, now I'm a little annoyed, I mean Staples, amazing, brand new range of calculators, but they've not given me anything to unbox.

So I'm not taking that lying down. I'm gonna unbox the calculator itself.

And four, okay, and you can see the calculator is still on during all of this.

It is a live dissection. Let's unbox it there! and so, oh okay, so there's the front

transparent part of the calculator. Inside we have, this is where all the disco is kept in a variety of buttons.

Here we have the battery and the board. And oh, hang on, does that come out? Oh my goodness. Okay hang on.

There we are! Okay!

So now I can just solve the maze by picking up the ball and putting it there!

Scores for the Staples maze calculator.

Display, and I guess in terms of display, it's not just the display, really, it's, I mean the whole thing is on display.

I'm gonna give that a ten.

Functionality, six.

Accuracy, not great, a four.

Ergonomics, it's a little bit

iPod- iPhone-

inspired, so I'm gonna give that an eight.

Cred, I mean, it's pretty funky. I'm gonna give that an eight. And for durability...

Okay, I don't even know what that's meant to be showing. Okay, I'm gonna give it a, oh, goodness, a three?

point nine? For a total score of 39.9.

So there you are! The new range of calculators from Staples, who are pushing forward

the frontier of what's possible in calculators, putting in all new features that

absolutely nobody has asked for.

Still working.