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A case study in solving a problem that doesn't really exist? Maybe this is just me, but it seems mean time to lose a pen is much smaller than the amount of tim

A case study in solving a problem that doesn't really exist? Maybe this is just me, but it seems mean time to lose a pen is much smaller than the amount of time it takes to run out of ink. And replacement is hardly a pain - it's not onerous to keep a few spares around (and necessary anyway, again, because the damn things get lost)

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
eru 13y ago
At these price points, we are only talking about problems of conspicuous consumption. (Which is a fair market to serve: the customers have money.)
nathanb 13y ago
Ok, so I'm going to have to disagree here about solving a problem that doesn't exist. There are a number of problems with the standard ballpoint and fountain tip pens: * They can ruin a pair of pants (or the inside of a purse). This is especially a problem with the "clicky" pens, as an accidental activation means that anything the tip touches gets a constant flow of ink. * There are a number of situations where they do not write well, or reliably (and not just gimmicky answers like "in space"). * They do run out of ink; I have had several pens run out. This is not because I'm supernaturally good at holding on to things, but because I do a reasonable amount of hand writing. I'm not saying the solution is necessarily a gazillion-dollar writing instrument / fashion accessory, but just like fancy features start out in the Mercedes S-class and then make their way to cars mere mortals might own, hopefully if this technology is truly viable we'll be finding it on drugstore shelves a decade or so hence.
- Nacraile 13y ago
  I'll admit to being hyperbolic in "doesn't exist". My actual point being: Even when I was writing a lot (note-taking in university), a nice-ish $2 fine-point pen solved my problem pretty well. The issues you cite are all real problems, but they're all pretty minor. All of those problems are/were waaaaaay down at the 'negligible' end the 'problems whose solutions would make a measurable improvement to my life' list. So, to be precise: this isn't solving nonexistent problems, it's solving insignificant problems.
  - nathanb 13y ago
    For you, maybe. I'm apparently kind of a spaz when it comes to pens. I have to buy pens with caps, because my clicky pens always activate in my pocket and then literally ruin my pants by barfing ink all over them. It's also a huge pain when I've been out in the cold, or the pen has been upside-down in my pocket and the ink flows away from the tip, or there's some rubbish stuck in the nib and the pen just doesn't write consistently. And I don't run out of ink all that often, but the pens I use are opaque and so I don't know it's coming until I go to write one day and nothing happens. In the grand scheme of things compared to things like world hunger and tribalism in Africa, yeah these are pretty insignificant, first-world problems. But in the writing implement space, they're legitimate. So no, we're not curing cancer or anything here. But I bought the $29 one from a few years ago linked in the article, just to see if it will work out for me. Worst case, I'm out a few bucks and I leave a negative review so the next person maybe doesn't make the same mistake. Best case, I've upgraded my everyday carry and possibly saved some of my pants from an inky death. And that, to me, would be worth thirty bucks.
s_baby 13y ago
Didn't NASA spend countless dollars trying to develop a pen that would work in zero gravity? I'm sure there are some artists that would find use for this as well.
- nathanb 13y ago
  No, they did not. Fisher, the company which make the space pen, developed it themselves and sell it to NASA at the same price they sell it at retail. The space pen is decent in the sense that it writes very reliably, but it's not a particularly good pen overall, especially for the price.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

eru 13y ago

At these price points, we are only talking about problems of conspicuous consumption. (Which is a fair market to serve: the customers have money.)

nathanb 13y ago

Ok, so I'm going to have to disagree here about solving a problem that doesn't exist. There are a number of problems with the standard ballpoint and fountain tip pens: * They can ruin a pair of pants (or the inside of a purse). This is especially a problem with the "clicky" pens, as an accidental activation means that anything the tip touches gets a constant flow of ink. * There are a number of situations where they do not write well, or reliably (and not just gimmicky answers like "in space"). * They do run out of ink; I have had several pens run out. This is not because I'm supernaturally good at holding on to things, but because I do a reasonable amount of hand writing. I'm not saying the solution is necessarily a gazillion-dollar writing instrument / fashion accessory, but just like fancy features start out in the Mercedes S-class and then make their way to cars mere mortals might own, hopefully if this technology is truly viable we'll be finding it on drugstore shelves a decade or so hence.

Nacraile 13y ago
I'll admit to being hyperbolic in "doesn't exist". My actual point being: Even when I was writing a lot (note-taking in university), a nice-ish $2 fine-point pen solved my problem pretty well. The issues you cite are all real problems, but they're all pretty minor. All of those problems are/were waaaaaay down at the 'negligible' end the 'problems whose solutions would make a measurable improvement to my life' list. So, to be precise: this isn't solving nonexistent problems, it's solving insignificant problems.
- nathanb 13y ago
  For you, maybe. I'm apparently kind of a spaz when it comes to pens. I have to buy pens with caps, because my clicky pens always activate in my pocket and then literally ruin my pants by barfing ink all over them. It's also a huge pain when I've been out in the cold, or the pen has been upside-down in my pocket and the ink flows away from the tip, or there's some rubbish stuck in the nib and the pen just doesn't write consistently. And I don't run out of ink all that often, but the pens I use are opaque and so I don't know it's coming until I go to write one day and nothing happens. In the grand scheme of things compared to things like world hunger and tribalism in Africa, yeah these are pretty insignificant, first-world problems. But in the writing implement space, they're legitimate. So no, we're not curing cancer or anything here. But I bought the $29 one from a few years ago linked in the article, just to see if it will work out for me. Worst case, I'm out a few bucks and I leave a negative review so the next person maybe doesn't make the same mistake. Best case, I've upgraded my everyday carry and possibly saved some of my pants from an inky death. And that, to me, would be worth thirty bucks.

s_baby 13y ago

Didn't NASA spend countless dollars trying to develop a pen that would work in zero gravity? I'm sure there are some artists that would find use for this as well.

nathanb 13y ago
No, they did not. Fisher, the company which make the space pen, developed it themselves and sell it to NASA at the same price they sell it at retail. The space pen is decent in the sense that it writes very reliably, but it's not a particularly good pen overall, especially for the price.