Ep 02 (EN) : Writing instruments: from pencil to fountain pen… and mechanical keyboard

2023, April 22nd

Duration : 7 minutes

Speaker : Syphaïwong Bay

This episode is an introduction to our podcast in English. It lasts a few minutes and it presents you the concept of this podcast. There is also a snippet of content that enables you to understand this project better. Remember this: this is not a content marketing podcast.

So today I’d like to talk about writing instruments.

This is for me a very interesting topic.

Yes, I’m quite a stationery addict. This is a fact. But I’m also very hard to please.

When I found an item that I like, I’m capable of buying everything from the same brand. Nevertheless, I’ve got different types of pen, pencils, fountain pens, papers, notebooks, and so on.

The process is the same for my keyboards.

For example, I like my Logitech MX Mechanical Mini so much, that the last time I’ve been away for work a long time… I was so RELIEVED to work with it again.

It was like sleeping back on your own bed after a while.

My project for this year is to get an old fashion typewriter.

But why ?

Why do I need to have different writing instruments ? We are in the modern era of keyboards and tablets!

Because I’ve got the strong feeling I work differently depending on which tool I choose.

With a fountain pen, I tend to write slower and to think a bit more about what I’m doing.

I cannot write as quick as I want to. So I’m more focused.

With a pencil, my handwriting is usually a bit rough. I take a pencil when I want to write fast, like throwing my thoughts on paper.

With a keyboard, this is VERY different.

I’m one of those people who can brag they can type on a keyboard without looking it. But I think this is mainly because I write a lot and I’ve been writing for a long time on a computer.

When I was a kid, I used to copy some source code that I found in a book, into my brother’s Amstrad.

An urban legend says that this is how the Amstrad happens to stop functioning.

With an old fashion typewriter, I hope that I could experience a new way… a new cadence to think.

With a pen, this is very interesting not to erase or not to scratch words off the page.

With a computer, this is so easy!

Just press the “delete” key!

But with a typewriter, I could experience a combination of typing AND writing at the same time without the possibility to delete anything.

This is also fun how which type of pen you use / can say a lot about yourself… from other people point of view.

For example, what would you think if you meet someone who uses only Mont Blanc fountain pens? And this person happens to own a dozen of them!

This is how Donna Tartt chose to introduce the character of Julian Morrow in her novel « The Secret History ». This character seems to be the most erudite person in the world.

Today, writing instruments is a big market.

You can buy all sorts of pen, all sorts of keyboards.

This is an industry which innovates a lot.

Did you already try a pen with a gravity sensor?

If we talk only about keyboards, the one you used to type on at school and my wonderful mechanical one is certainly very different.

But do you remember the butterfly keyboard on MacBooks that we hated so much? What do you know about bepo keyboards? In theory, the disposition of keys on these keyboards is less traumatising for our hands. Nevertheless, it’s much easier to get a classic mechanical keyboard because a bepo keyboard would push you to relearn how to write. But everyone I know who tried bepo are now really convinced!

So, what do you use ?

Do you have a simple ballpoint but efficient pen? Do you fancy to write with a fountain pen? With which type of nib? Which ink?

Do you only type on a keyboard on your computer or did you try to write with those nearly analogue devices?

Companies such as Remarkable and Freewrite are promising us to enter the flow, to be focused very quickly thanks to their writing instruments. Those are supposed to be the combination of what’s the best between the old school analogue world and the so modern digital world. Is this something you would like to try?