4 ms·

Surprising to see this on HN. Yes, fountain pens are a rabbit hole. No, they are not really useful - it's hard to edit or search through what you wrote on paper

by 098799 6y ago

Surprising to see this on HN. Yes, fountain pens are a rabbit hole. No, they are not really useful - it's hard to edit or search through what you wrote on paper - but the feeling while writing is pretty amazing.

chrisseaton 6y ago
I have to use a fountain pen at work to write certain documents, so knowing about good pens is very useful.
- jaclaz 6y ago
  Yep, and I am old enough to have actually worked several years at a time when certain official documents/registers had to be hand-written. I am not talking of one line per day, I am talking of tens of pages per day. When you have to write at length (hours per day) there is nothing as "light" as a fountain pen, using ball pen or rollers invariably get your hand more tired.
  - aries1980 6y ago
    Up until the 2000s, in Hungary, CVs and cover letters had to be written by hand. Mostly, because handwriting was considered a precursor to how literate and educated is the candidate.
dunefox 6y ago
> No, they are not really useful Pens aren't useful? > it's hard to edit or search through what you wrote on paper As opposed to every other document not written using FPs? I don't even know what your point is here.
- 098799 6y ago
  > Pens aren't useful? Yes, this is my point. > As opposed to every other document not written using FPs? As opposed to documents not written on paper. Please, read carefully.
  - Enginerrrd 6y ago
    I was also confused. Your first comment was poorly worded to convey the meaning you had intended. More to the point though: > it's hard to edit or search through what you wrote on paper You'd be surprised how fast queries can be done in the type of physical organization systems that existed before computers! People weren't stupid, they came up with many brilliant systems. There's a great art to organization, summary, and consolidation. Maximum flexibility is usually not synonymous with maximum efficiency. And we've never quite mastered the input system for computers. Editing is generally much better on a computer though, but even that shouldn't be overestimated. As humans we are much more often limited by the speed at which we can think, than by the speed with which we can record that information.
  - naavis 6y ago
    I must say I was confused too. You explicitly referred to fountain pens, while everything you said applies to all handwriting.
tomtheelder 6y ago
> it's hard to edit or search through what you wrote on paper You shouldn't really handwrite things you need to edit or search through. I would definitely type all "archival" type notes and things. But I still handwrite plenty of stuff. Daily to-dos, retention type notes, and exploratory idea work are all better suited to paper, in my opinion.

by 098799 6y ago

chrisseaton 6y ago

I have to use a fountain pen at work to write certain documents, so knowing about good pens is very useful.

jaclaz 6y ago
Yep, and I am old enough to have actually worked several years at a time when certain official documents/registers had to be hand-written. I am not talking of one line per day, I am talking of tens of pages per day. When you have to write at length (hours per day) there is nothing as "light" as a fountain pen, using ball pen or rollers invariably get your hand more tired.
- aries1980 6y ago
  Up until the 2000s, in Hungary, CVs and cover letters had to be written by hand. Mostly, because handwriting was considered a precursor to how literate and educated is the candidate.

dunefox 6y ago

> No, they are not really useful Pens aren't useful? > it's hard to edit or search through what you wrote on paper As opposed to every other document not written using FPs? I don't even know what your point is here.

098799 6y ago
> Pens aren't useful? Yes, this is my point. > As opposed to every other document not written using FPs? As opposed to documents not written on paper. Please, read carefully.
- Enginerrrd 6y ago
  I was also confused. Your first comment was poorly worded to convey the meaning you had intended. More to the point though: > it's hard to edit or search through what you wrote on paper You'd be surprised how fast queries can be done in the type of physical organization systems that existed before computers! People weren't stupid, they came up with many brilliant systems. There's a great art to organization, summary, and consolidation. Maximum flexibility is usually not synonymous with maximum efficiency. And we've never quite mastered the input system for computers. Editing is generally much better on a computer though, but even that shouldn't be overestimated. As humans we are much more often limited by the speed at which we can think, than by the speed with which we can record that information.
- naavis 6y ago
  I must say I was confused too. You explicitly referred to fountain pens, while everything you said applies to all handwriting.

tomtheelder 6y ago

> it's hard to edit or search through what you wrote on paper You shouldn't really handwrite things you need to edit or search through. I would definitely type all "archival" type notes and things. But I still handwrite plenty of stuff. Daily to-dos, retention type notes, and exploratory idea work are all better suited to paper, in my opinion.