 Description
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“ This book has been written as a tribute to one of the greatest inventions of the modern world, a product of engineering excellence and entrepreneurial foresight – the ballpoint pen.
Although the ballpoint pen (also known as: ballpen or ballpoint) is the greatest selling writing instrument in the market place today, it is the least collected antique writing instrument and is considered the least desirable by pen enthusiasts. This may be because of its widespread availability, its simplicity or that this ubiquitous writing instrument has only been available for about 60 years. However, there can be no doubt that its offer of great value for money and its comparison with the inefficient alternatives a previous generation of writers had to struggle with – the dip pen, fountain pen or pencil, have ensured its popularity with the buying public.
To many, the ballpoint has only utilitarian value as a writing stick. But to some it has offered an aesthetic component as well as a functional one, and is appreciated as an object of beauty that has continually mirrored contemporary styling, as well as having clandestinely seized available technology to offer a writing instrument that continues to perform ever closer to the ideal.
The ballpoint readily shares its disregard for pretentiousness with the user, and combined with its great versatility displays features that alone have ensured its continued success. But in the early days of production its perceived simplicity proved almost fatal to the industry as manufacturers abused the fundamental concepts of its design and made spurious claims about its abilities, resulting in a very shaky start for this newcomer.
In order to appreciate how a simple idea was embraced and subsequently turned the writing instrument industry on its head, making some manufacturers colossal sums of money and others bankrupt, we need to understand the plight of the early ballpoint pioneers as their new revolutionary ball-ended writing instrument evolved into the user-friendly product we have today. “
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