The ballpoints and highlighters contained in the pencil case confused me. At first, I could not even figure out how to click the ballpoint out of the pen’s body. After fumbling with what looked like a button to depress, my thumb slipped and accidentally pressed down on the pocket clip, which pushed out the spring-loaded ink cartridge. When I tried out the pens (one with black and one with red ink), I was sadly disappointed that they wrote with a very scratchy feel, especially compared to the smooth-writing Jetstream from Mitsubishi Pencil Co. that had also been sent to me. I could not understand what was innovative or special about the scratchy pens or the highlighters, and I told my interviewer so.
He apologized for not having translated the Japanese on the package, which did not contain explanatory graphics. What was special about these pens (and highlighters), he explained, was that the mark they left could be erased just by rubbing across it with the plastic button that does not depress.
The trick was in a principle he termed “thermal friction,” hence the name Frixion for the implements. He demonstrated for me and asked me to try. I was duly impressed. Not only did the ballpoint and highlighter marks disappear completely, but there were no eraser crumbs left behind.
This was indeed an improvement on the erasable ballpoints that were introduced into the American market many decades ago. I was told that this Japanese innovation was the product of 30 years of research and development by the Pilot Corporation.
We talked about R&D, science versus engineering, and the depressed economy in both Japan and the United States. We also talked about the Nobel Prizes, which were being announced at the time of the interview, and the reporter told me how the Japanese were once again disappointed that none went to their countrymen. Japan may not be a leader in prize-winning science, I agreed, but it certainly is a force to be reckoned with in consumer products.
In the long run, I assured him, the kind of inventiveness that was exhibited in the stationery items and resulted from committed, product-driven R&D would lead to larger innovations that would help bring back the Japanese economy. I expressed the hope that the same will be true for the United States.
Interesting that a reporter was so heavily immersed in trying to spread the cause of Japanese innovation. Somehow the rotating pencil design leaves me flat (and I suspect also the legions of consumers going gaga over tablets) given its relatively low-tech appeal. The erasable pencil is another story. Low tech, but high utility. Somehow, however, both don't seem in keeping with Japan's status as an innovative consumer products leader.
@Beth: As Professor Petroski alludes to, it's a cultural thing. In general, writing implements are not highly valued in the U.S. - we buy them by the bag at the dollar store. The cheaper the better, as long as they write. There is a small circle of people who like fancy pens, but generally they are interested in ornate old-fashioned fountain pens, and are not interested in technical innovation.
Apparently, in Japan, writing implements are more prized. As you mention, writing with pen and paper may be something of an anachronism in this day of mobile devices. A fascination with anachronisms - combined with a fascination with technological innovation - fits with what I know about Japanese culture.
People in the U.S. like old things (as evidenced by this article by Charles Murray), and we also like new things, but we tend to keep them separate. The Japanese have a talent for bringing the two together.
Yes, this might be a cultural thing. But there is also a practical aspect to it. In the choices we have in writing tools, I haven't seen any advances that really improve on the cheap handful you buy at the dollar store. The mechanical pencils I've tried in recent years break fairly quickly. As for ballpoint pens, the expensive ones come with cartridges that run or dry up as quickly as the cheap ones -- even Cross.
I use pencils. The quality of pencils seems to be holding up. If we saw innovation in writing tools, and if those tools didn't fail so quickly, we might feel the same way the Japanese do.
A fascinating slice on engineering life as regards how cultural differences impact approaches to design. Since it's about writing implements, it makes me recall your groundbreaking book, The Pencil.
Because I spent two years working as a draftsman in a bridge department, I can fully appreciate the value of a self-rotating lead. In my two years, I never quite got the hang of rotating my pencil and creating the uniform thicknesses that so many of our elder draftsman did so well. By comparison, my drawings always looked messy. I would have appreciated having such an item in the late '70s. The big problem, though, is that the idea is 30 years too late. Few engineers would even care about about self-rotating lead these days.
I too, appreciate the technique of rotating the pencil –comes from years on the drafting boards back in the 70’s – its how I was taught by the Mechanical Drafting instructor in high school, but its clearly a lost art today; what’s the point? (good pun,,,).But your article took my mind somewhere else; contemplating why Japan would be so intrigued with pens & pencils.It reminded me of the story told when NASA put forth an R&D effort for Zero-Gravity pens so astronauts could write mission notes. Development ensued of a tiny, complex hydraulic system in a pen to always keep the ink flowing;The story goes, that NASA was so proud of the invention that when they shared it with the Russian Space Agency, they were told that Russia also solved the same problem by using a #2 pencil. That anecdote always made me laugh.
As a pencil & pen geek myself and one who's fortunate to go to Japan once in a while, the big Japanese office supply stores are always on my agenda during a visit. The Japanese enthusiasm for small things and their focus on perfecting the details is evidenced in the quality of their writing instruments. I will agree that some of the things are gimmicky (30 years of R&D to perfect a self-rotating lead? I would've killed that project in the first year!). But on the whole, their offerings are very practical and priced well. I really enjoy their "fude pens" which are like calligraphy brushes and their disposable fountain pens, neither of which can be found in the U.S. (well, I just found a website called JetPens.com that sells the good Japanese stuff!)
I was taught to rotate my pencil about the same time that I was first taught to write, which was probably in first grade, although the turning lessons may have come in second grade. I have used a lot of pencils and pens since then. I was in seventh grade when ball-point pens became the fad, and there certainly was, and still is, a huge spread in quality. Still today I use both wood and mechanical pencils, and it is still true that the quality spread in mechanical penciles is huge.
Today pencils and pens are mostly commodity items that don't occupy much of engineering's attention. Rather than attempt to find some small nich, most of our engineering is involved with more important things, such as increasing efficiency and reducing the use of resources. Our engineering tends to be more toward creating what never was, rather than polishing some comodity item that many others have already improved on many times.
Of course, there is also the marketing wonk driven push for product differentiation that some find so very important. That does seem to be a different way to waste talent and resources.
To be honest, who cares? I haven't replaced the lead in my mechanical pencil in years even though I have a drawer full of leads of all types and colours. I sharpen my wood pencil about once in six months. A dispoable ballpoint lasts a year. The paperless revolution is in the mopping up phase.
I've noticed that historically the biggest, most advanced of any technology is generally the last one before the whole concept goes obsolete. Think of the Great Eastern, the B-36 and Cheop's Pyramid.
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