Pen To Be Extinct In A Decade?

[tgoto]

And in fact several people on here HAVE....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Excellent!! We are ahead of the game!

[RRE]

Realistically less pens and paper but I can not see obsolete. I work at a small company where everyone uses pens and paper. We are constantly out in the field. Not all companies have unlimited funds either. Pens work very well here.

[pajaro]

Microsoft is just a ruthless company that buys up and destroys companies with good ideas.

[ch_rinaldi]

If pens are going to be extinct in a decade, then I'd assume that everyone would have had access to computerized note-taking machines, and by extension, computers for everyone?

 

Probably happen, but I'm not in a position to decide whether that's good or bad.

 

But no, really... If it's going to be extinct, it's probably going to go as an antique of some sorts... That's my take...

Edited May 14, 2017 by ch_rinaldi

[inkstainedruth]

Microsoft is just a ruthless company that buys up and destroys companies with good ideas.

 

My husband once said that there are two basic business models for computer company startups: one is to come up with a product and hope Microsoft buys their company to get the technology; the other is to wait for Microsoft to steal their idea and then successfully sue Microsoft for patent infringement....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[FriendAmos]

Right up there with the prediction, made around 20 years ago, that we would soon be moving to a paperless society. We are using more paper than ever. Right up there with the prediction, made at the start of the century, that print books were on their death-bed. Sales of print books are going up, those of digital (e-books) are going down.

[FriendAmos]

Realistically less pens and paper but I can not see obsolete.

 

The relevant data actually shows more pen and paper. Pen sales, for example, are expected to go from about $16 billion globally in 2016 to around $20 billion globally in 2020, and this is part of trend that's been going on for a while.

[FriendAmos]

Letters handwritten in ink are already uncommon. Ask the average person who isn't on FPN, "When was the last time you wrote someone a letter by hand?" You'll get a blank stare, or maybe, "Do holiday cards count?"

 

But if the market were going to be dead in a decade, manufacturers wouldn't be wasting time offering limited editions, new designs, etc.

 

Even in the best of times, letter-writing (by hand) was a very tiny proportion of all writing and is therefore not a helpful guide. Did the average person write more than, say, two letters per week?

[FriendAmos]

Bic's world: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2008/jun/15/news

[KKay]

I plan to write for the rest of my life. I don't care what Microsoft thinks about that. They want everyone to keep buying computers and scooping up all your data, so they can send you their advertisements non-stop. I read even Google plans to put advertisements coming at you in your car. Frankly I like to get away from it all. I don't have to worry about my journals getting hacked. I like to read printed books. E Books are fine, but then they can be a pain too. They require electricity or batteries. The printed word requires neither. Writing is just another form of communication. I write things down to remember them later. I would never put my bullet journal on a calendar via a computer. It is one of the few things where I still have some privacy. I have had a computer since maybe 1995. They aren't cheap, they constantly need upgrades, and they can be a royal pain. My pen only needs ink, and paper. I don't need to upgrade software, or worry about backing up my data with my journals. I don't have to be paying a subscription fee to write with my pens either. It is a simple tool in a complicated world. It also helps reduce stress for me. I can't say the same about most of the new toys in a high tech world. I also don't need to click okay to an endless agreement that are always changing either. I just write. It is simple, and I like it.

[Bookman]

We shall go on to the end…. We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the landing ground. We shall fight in the fields and in the streets. We shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender.

[lurcho]

We shall go on to the end…. We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the landing ground. We shall fight in the fields and in the streets. We shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender.

 

And since the pen is mightier than the sword, we'll win!

[dcwaites]

 

And since the pen is mightier than the sword, we'll win!

 

But what happens if they also have pens?

[Bookman]

 

But what happens if they also have pens?

 

I heard their nibs were wet noodles.

[Meltemi]

No. Microsoft just wants it to because they have yet an other "innovative" idea.

[lurcho]

I think the answer to this question lies in whether the best technology for quickly recording memos or taking notes already exists in the form of pen/pencil and paper, rather than any kind of IT.

 

In my view, if that is true, if paper survives, then so, potentially, will every kind of writing instrument.

 

Many kinds of relatively primitive tech enjoy a healthy post-redundancy life. Mechanical watches, as already mentioned, are a great example. Typewriters, at other end of this spectrum, became a waste of time, and could not coexist with word-processors.

 

But it always takes longer to write a quick note digitally, than physically.

 

And just as significant is the fact that we like the physicality of the real world, of objects, of tools. And human beings like writing. Making physical marks almost defines us as a species.

 

I think paper, pens, and pencils will make it, and coexist with increasingly ubiquitous pocket computers, wearable computers, and the the internet of things.

 

The one thing that scares me is instant, easy voice-recording...

[dcwaites]

I think the answer to this question lies in whether the best technology for quickly recording memos or taking notes already exists in the form of pen/pencil and paper, rather than any kind of IT.

 

In my view, if that is true, if paper survives, then so, potentially, will every kind of writing instrument.

 

Many kinds of relatively primitive tech enjoy a healthy post-redundancy life. Mechanical watches, as already mentioned, are a great example. Typewriters, at other end of this spectrum, became a waste of time, and could not coexist with word-processors.

 

But it always takes longer to write a quick note digitally, than physically.

 

And just as significant is the fact that we like the physicality of the real world, of objects, of tools. And human beings like writing. Making physical marks almost defines us as a species.

 

I think paper, pens, and pencils will make it, and coexist with increasingly ubiquitous pocket computers, wearable computers, and the the internet of things.

 

The one thing that scares me is instant, easy voice-recording...

 

Try and do a recording of a rain-forest tree canopy via a voice recorder, or on a PC in a lecture --

 

http://www.mongabay.com/images/rainforests/canopy_profile.jpg

 

or a flowchart in an IT meeting --

 

http://www.efoza.com/postpic/2013/06/example-of-flowchart-diagram_370109.png

[Bookman]

I haven't used public urinals since I was fifty. So, I'm safe there. And as for jumping on unsecured Whiffle balls—well, I'm not paying extra for a bouncy house, I'm tellin' you that right now.

[ParkerDuofold]

Hello all,

 

I wouldn't worry about this crapola, folks; a craft only dies if WE permit it to.

 

And if there is any money to be made, SOMEONE will keep making pens, ink and paper.

 

So the solution is a simple one... stop listening to the nags and the wags and just keep writing and keep buying pens, ink and paper.

 

Quakers still travel by horse and carriage... we can still write with pen and ink.

 

Be well.

 

- Anthony

[DillonFriedmann]

Pens will never go "extinct", they may however fall into obscurity. Even today, I find myself using computers for most of my work, and I can only imagine that in the coming decades pens will not be as widely used as they are today. That said, enthusiasts like ourselves will keep pens "alive". Some may consider vinyl records obsolete, but there are people (myself included) who like them for whatever reason, and keep them from going extinct.