The paper shredder was  supposedly developed to destroy anti-Nazi materials, and it was  modelled on a hand-cranked pasta maker. After the war, institutions started buying the device, and it has figured prominently in scandals such as Iran-Contra and Enron. Shredding is today promoted as a remedy against information fraud, and as such may be grouped among the paranoia-inducing devices that proliferate in information societies. The shredder also testifies to the futility of deletion in the current context: most data can not be destroyed with the aid of a shredder, as it lives on inaccessible machines in unknown locations. When used as a footrest, the shredder may eat your shoelace, returning a modicum of physicality to a screen-centred life.