I saw this interview and the new CEO of Microsoft's prediction that the FP will not live on. We know it will always have a place here at BnB. Comments?
Will the Fountain Pen Outlive Microsoft?
- Thread starter Chadao
- Start date
I like how she asks "Like these?" and holds up a ballpoint or rollerball. He still answers "yes." 
I think most of us have more than a decade's worth of ink supplies already so ...
... yeah, guys will still be using fountain pens in a decade.
... yeah, guys will still be using fountain pens in a decade.
Many also said the ball point pen would be the end of fountain pens. Personally I think fountain pens are having a resurgence as way to overcome technology overload.
It'll depend on how handwriting is handled in schools and how long MSFT hangs on. My guess is MSFT will die out before fountain pens, but I can see it going the other way as well.
Sent from my iPen.
If Microsoft continues its tradition of making each new version more bloated, buggy, and unfriendly than the previous version, I doubt that it will survive another decade.
It kind of seems like he was picking on an item most young people would agree with without offering a rebuttal. Kind of like someone saying classic cars only have another decade even though there are plenty of enthusiasts driving them and a whole generation of youngsters going to shows hoping to restore their own one day.
The 20th Century (and our little bit of the 21st carries right on with that fine tradition) is full of examples of "forward thinking" folks who thought that the latest and greatest "space age polymers" and modern gizmos would banish old-timey stuff to the trash bin of history. You know, we'd all be eating Swanson TV dinners now and working in a paperless office and what-not.
Now, for sure some newfangled inventions have made a decent inroad into everyday life. First DE razors and now cartridges ... only a dedicated few still bother with straights anymore. Quick ... where's the nearest payphone? And those little triangular vent-windows in your car door? Gone with the wind!
But a lot of the predictions about how the whole world would be "going modern" and abandoning old ways of doing stuff? Some played out and some fizzled. Back in 1901 someone saying "nobody will be using horses to get around town" would have been dead-on, but the people who thought we'd all be wearing polyester jumpsuits and eating soylent purple from tubes were waaay off.
IMHO the CEO is believing his own hype ... sees everyone (everyone!) owning some sort of do-hickey his company would make, that would make the need to jot something down on paper permanently redundant. But of course that seems highly unlikely. Will pens (fountain or otherwise) be less frequently used? Sure. Will they be gone? No way!!
Now, for sure some newfangled inventions have made a decent inroad into everyday life. First DE razors and now cartridges ... only a dedicated few still bother with straights anymore. Quick ... where's the nearest payphone? And those little triangular vent-windows in your car door? Gone with the wind!
But a lot of the predictions about how the whole world would be "going modern" and abandoning old ways of doing stuff? Some played out and some fizzled. Back in 1901 someone saying "nobody will be using horses to get around town" would have been dead-on, but the people who thought we'd all be wearing polyester jumpsuits and eating soylent purple from tubes were waaay off.
IMHO the CEO is believing his own hype ... sees everyone (everyone!) owning some sort of do-hickey his company would make, that would make the need to jot something down on paper permanently redundant. But of course that seems highly unlikely. Will pens (fountain or otherwise) be less frequently used? Sure. Will they be gone? No way!!
I read one time that there were talks of shutting down the U.S. Patent office in the 1890's because everything had already been invented...
At some point in the future people will laugh at Microsoft and say "I can't believe people used to use that! Hey, have you seen my new fountain pen?"
At some point in the future people will laugh at Microsoft and say "I can't believe people used to use that! Hey, have you seen my new fountain pen?"
I like how she asks "Like these?" and holds up a ballpoint or rollerball. He still answers "yes."
I also like the look he gives someone off camera that basically says 'this is really the best person you could get to interview me?' just after she holds up her pen.
Just about everything old is in style right now. I've worked in retail for 15 years. Last year I had a couple guys come in looking for FP friendly paper and notebooks. First time ever in the past 15 years.
The CEO is just doing what CEO's do. Believing that nothing is better than what they are selling. A decade from now Microsoft will have a new CEO so yeah. FP will be around longer than he will.
The CEO is just doing what CEO's do. Believing that nothing is better than what they are selling. A decade from now Microsoft will have a new CEO so yeah. FP will be around longer than he will.
I think the off-camera looks was waiting for the Windows ME teleprompter to reboot 
I think the off-camera looks was waiting for the Windows ME teleprompter to reboot
The Baystate Blue Screen of Death?
