With fountain pens, ink flows out steadily as long as the nib is in contact with the page, and stops flowing when the nib breaks contact. Whereas with ballpoint

With fountain pens, ink flows out steadily as long as the nib is in contact with the page, and stops flowing when the nib breaks contact. Whereas with ballpoint pens, pressure is required for the ink to flow, since the ballpoint is held in place by a small spring, and ink stops flowing as soon as pressure is removed, regardless of contact with the page. Hence, ballpoints tend to cause wrist strain, and favour forms of handwriting which minimize contact with the page, whereas fountain pens work best with cursive. Needless to say, since the introduction of the ballpoint in schools, handwriting has gone into decline.