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Why is using disposable pens still common practice? (lemmy.today)

submitted 7 months ago by theorangeninja@lemmy.today to c/askbeehaw

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Why not buy one decent pen "shell" and then just buy the plastic tube with the tip and the ink afterwards?

I know many companies use pens for marketing but still, they could apply this too and also stand up for the environment while still do marketing.

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[–] 667@lemmy.radio 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I had a Monteverde retractable rollerball I absolutely loved which was well-suited to writing through carbon forms.

Like most things, many people don’t want to be inconvenienced with the ritual of refilling their pens; a ritual many fountain pen owners actually enjoy; they don’t care about the granular control over color. Blue is blue. Black is black. But for us, a particular shade of cornflower blue is what brings us joy.

[–] sxan@midwest.social 2 points 7 months ago

Good points!

Many FP lovers refill from bottles, but it isn't necessary. Cartridges are easy to use, well-suited for travel when you may run dry in the middle of a trip, and TSA doesn't give you grief about them.

Again, my point to OP was that there's very little practical advantage to ball points over fountain pens; if you're using cartridges, they're not much better for the environment, but you can do things like use a converter most of the time and carry cartridges as back-up. Fountain pens are fantastic writing implements.