The Pen Is Dead. It Was Murdered By The Finger.

[LWJ2]

Back in the day -- well, the early 1980s anyhow -- I'd toss job applications that were illegible into the trash can. My son has difficulty taking notes in cursive, but learnt the basics of calligraphy when he was a pre-teen; if he has a fountain pen and time (and thinks about it) he writes a fairly decent hand. Neither of my daughters can write legibly in cursive, although they print relatively well (note "relatively;" in my high school mechanical drawing class they'd both get gigged a letter grade for not printing in Single Stroke Gothic).

 

I learnt cursive with a cheap (Sheaffer or Wearever) cartridge fountain pen and managed a B+ if I remember correctly. College note-taking and a career in radiography killed my hand, add in the need to use a ballpoint (NCR forms) and in retirement I'm attempting to recover it. The only two physicians I know who have a legible hand had (1) an English teacher mom or (2) a Catholic education with nuns wielding eighteen-inch Westcott brass-edged rulers. (I have had to wake docs in the middle of the night because their orders were utterly illegible, even the NSA couldn't figure them out IMO.)

 

As far as "smart phones" go, the NYT (Gods, I can't use either "writer" or "journalist" without getting nauseated) person who perpetrated that article has (1) never taken a medical course in anatomy (brute memorization, typing sucks as an aide de memoir) or been in a location where cameras and phones that take photos are checked in at the door (security people are notoriously lacking in a sense of humour).

 

Finally, the simple pleasure of owning and using a well-made pen is something a computer will never give.

[fpenluver]

The author obviously prefers fingers. Advice to FPN : Keep your fountain pens. Give him the finger.

which finger?

[zzbr76]

Maybe a bigger size of the finger nail could work as a (ancient) stylus. Although you use your finger,

with a bigger nail you could opine you have a stylus... Just saying...

[Sasha Royale]

which finger?

 

I don't understand the question.

[fpenluver]

 

I don't understand the question.

 

Seems FP users are generally well mannered.

[CraigR]

Hmm, the purported demise of the pen, fountain type in particular, makes me think I should be off on a mission. I'll go door to door, similar to some religious groups, extolling the virtues of writing with pen and ink. I'll ask the heathens who prefer finger on electronic device to allow me to relieve them of the offending writing instruments in their houses. Public service is my goal.

[Ricardo1962]

Hmm, the purported demise of the pen, fountain type in particular, makes me think I should be off on a mission. I'll go door to door, similar to some religious groups, extolling the virtues of writing with pen and ink. I'll ask the heathens who prefer finger on electronic device to allow me to relieve them of the offending writing instruments in their houses. Public service is my goal.

Amen to that!

[zchen]

one of the dumbest excuse for article ever.

[Michigan]

Oh well, this is true of so many situations. Most people buy their meat, but I know a good number of people with archery skills that would have made them productive paleolithic hunters. Maybe half the men at any given formal event like a wedding or funeral these days appear to be dressed for a football game, but I will keep wearing my cufflinks in spite of the peer pressure to look terrible. What is obsolete to many is faithfully pursued by the few.

 

I am outgrowing NYT for the same reason you cannot pay me to read The Economist anymore. It is fast becoming all so predictable.

[mallymal1]

The author obviously prefers fingers. Advice to FPN : Keep your fountain pens. Give him the finger.

 

:lticaptd: :lticaptd:

[Icywolfe]

 

 

The pen is not dead. Long live the pen.

The pen will never die nor the pencil. As there will be something you can't do on the iPad.

 

Now if the pen or pencil dies in my lifetime I'm making cave painting as my hobby.

 

Imagine doing math without a physical pen or pencil.

[madden11]

I took a college course recently to complete a certification and I was the oldest one in the class. I was prepared to whip out my tablet from my bag so that I wouldn't look completely out-moded. I took note, though, that all but one of these twenty-somethings grabbed a notebook and an actual writing instrument (although, sadly no fountain pens). It took less time than the one who had to open her laptop, type in the password, find the correct document, and sometimes have to plug herself into a wall. I was quite pleasantly surprised

[Sasha Royale]

Without a pen, one can decline to using language such as

"high rate of speed"

"pleaded"

"awoken"

"suspose"

"Secretary-Of-States"

and "corpse-man".

 

 

Doesn't sound so bad. However, it is a slippery slope. In six generations, we would be grunting and throwing "poo" at passersby.

[CraigR]

Fountain pen = No auto-correct <yeah!>

 

Craig

[gammada]

Probably I'm a bit late to this party but I felt the urge to share my story.

 

After almost two decades of intensive computer usage and a history of being an early adopter of tech, I found myself without the ability to properly write or the endurance to write for long periods of time whenever I was confronted with pen or pencil and paper. I've always had a variety of pens and pencils at my disposal but those were increasingly left unused on my desktop or stored someplace else.

 

All the information I needed to "write" went straight to the computer, to my iPhone or to my iPad. Whenever I needed to jot down info from a card, a sticker, sheet of paper or a note, it was far easier to take a photo of it, than it was to use the keyboard or the classier pen/ paper solution.Worst-case scenarios meant I needed to use a keyboard, a stylus or to record audio notes. Hell, the only time I can think of that I really needed to use a pen, was at the airport and on the plane while filling forms for customs and migration -which more often than not, were pens I had to buy right before flying!

 

Just a few months back, my desk was pretty much devoid of any kind of paper. As my digital life became more evolved, it made sense to me to spare the space of paper notebooks, notes and the like for more valuable hardware assets (am a pro photog/ designer). I kept some pens, a marker and the odd pencil around, but it was only for show cause I never really had a use for them.

 

Then one day, I went out to some government office and was forced to fill some forms. Right then I discovered that I had lost -or nearly lost- my ability to write in clear print letters; minutes later I discovered to my dismay that I was unable to write for sustained periods of time. By the time I was done with those forms, I clearly noticed far too many mistakes, words which I could barely identify and the fact that my hand was trembling. The first thing I did that afternoon after this awful experience was to write all of my to-do list items on a piece of paper while forcing myself to do it clearly and without errors. Later I found myself looking for a paper notebook to write down ideas, pending stuff, telephone numbers, reference numbers, etc. Paper was back!

 

Shortly after that I found a Parker Vector stainless steel FP that sat unused for a full 9 years! I was given this particular pen as a birthday gift, back then I thought it was too much of a hassle to use this pen considering that for me Graffiti was the name of the game being a "power" Palm PDA user. When the "cartridge" went empty, I put it up for storage never to touch it again. Much later I found out that the pen was actually fitted with a converter and all it needed was ink which I happen to have a bottle just right there!

 

Today I can attest first hand that writing is not only far more pleasant and rewarding than the computer or it's portable derivatives, it has made me much more productive, creative and aware of my reality than by using digital tools.

 

I don't intent to abandon my devices, but I certainly needed the balance afforded by using stuff not made of bits, the analog stuff you can actually touch, smell, hear and feel.

[Icywolfe]

Well I'm a computer fanatic and I still didn't lose my writing skill. Why? There are some things that the screen is slower. Like shopping lists. I can get my notepad out quicker than you can open your app.

 

So as long you just use paper little bit per day is enough to keep that skill.

[ChickenScratch]

Another vacuous article.

 

The newspaper is dead. It was killed by journalists such as the one who wrote this article.

 

Amen. Doesn't that guy have any real news to cover?

 

 

The author obviously prefers fingers. Advice to FPN : Keep your fountain pens. Give him the finger.

 

+1

Edited August 25, 2014 by ChickenScratch

[inkstainedruth]

Fountain pen = No auto-correct <yeah!>

 

Craig

For some reason every time I mistype "with" the auto correct thinks that I want to say "wight"....

Although a number of years ago my husband got asked to be on the Police Procedures Review Board for our time (on the recommendation of the then Police Chief, with whom he'd served on another committee). One of the things the board did was completely read the Procedures manual (and also asked neighboring towns to see theirs as well -- only to be told that theirs was bas on our town's...). The conversation between my husband and the Police Chief went something like this:

 

Steve: "There's a typo here -- you've got 'mead' instead of 'made'."

PC: "Really? The spell checker should have picked that up -- 'mead' isn't a word."

Steve: "Yes, it is."

PC: "It is?"

Steve: "Yes, it's honey wine."

PC: "I never heard of that."

Steve: "I have ten gallons in my basement...."

 

At which point Steve said he got one of *those* looks:

 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth