The Write Stuff: How the Humble Pencil Conquered the World
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The Write Stuff: How the Humble Pencil Conquered the World
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Re: The Write Stuff: How the Humble Pencil Conquered the World
#2This seems like a rehash of the book Pencil from years ago. A large book about only the pencil. While it was intriguing I could only make it through the first 100 pages or so.
Re: The Write Stuff: How the Humble Pencil Conquered the World
#3Nabokov's "I Pencil". A rather refreshing riposte to the tired Leonard Read FEE / Mont Pelerin Society / Atlas Networks propaganda version.
http://crookedtimber.org/2011/04/16/i-pencil-a-product-of-th...
See also, "I, Collateralised Debt Obligation": http://crookedtimber.org/2011/04/16/i-pencil-a-product-of-th...
Re: The Write Stuff: How the Humble Pencil Conquered the World
#4Nabokov's "I Pencil". A rather refreshing riposte to the tired Leonard Read FEE / Mont Pelerin Society / Atlas Networks propaganda version. http://crookedtimber.org/2011/04/16/i-pencil-a-product-of-th... See also, "I, Collateralised Debt Obligation": http://crookedtimber.org/2011/04/16/i-pencil-a-product-of-th...
Freakonomics had a podcast on a similar theme, and referred to "I, Pencil". Was quite interesting.
Re: The Write Stuff: How the Humble Pencil Conquered the World
#5Pencils are great, but ever since I started using whiteboard notebooks, like this[1] and this[2], I haven't looked back.
Re: The Write Stuff: How the Humble Pencil Conquered the World
#6Nabokov's "I Pencil". A rather refreshing riposte to the tired Leonard Read FEE / Mont Pelerin Society / Atlas Networks propaganda version. http://crookedtimber.org/2011/04/16/i-pencil-a-product-of-th... See also, "I, Collateralised Debt Obligation": http://crookedtimber.org/2011/04/16/i-pencil-a-product-of-th...
That essay seems to shoot entirely past the mark. Yes, you can plan a forest, you can plan several (but so can private actors, in a piece of fun trivia, Nokia started out in that sector). Yes, you can plan a railroad (but so can private actors). Yes, you can plan the implementation of mass education (hard to argue that this wouldn't look very different without government, but also hard to argue that the system is working very well -- and anyway, the pencil predates mass education by several centuries).
But the fundamental point of "I, Pencil" (and the intellectual tradition it's part of) is that you can't plan the economy at large. It's becoming increasingly clear that you probably can't even plan a single company once it's over a certain size (the essay seems to touch on that point, but doesn't really follow through). It's not that private companies or markets are better at planning, it's that the sheer inherent complexity of an economy is so large that any kind of effective planning is impossible.
Re: The Write Stuff: How the Humble Pencil Conquered the World
#7> Most American pencils had pink or red erasers at the back by the 1920s. (Today these erasers are often made of vinyl, a type of plastic.) Almost everywhere else in the world, erasers have remained separate from pencils.
It is very common for pencils to have a rubber at the end here in the UK - you can buy pencils with and without in any stationary section.
Re: The Write Stuff: How the Humble Pencil Conquered the World
#8Pencils are great, but ever since I started using whiteboard notebooks, like this[1] and this[2], I haven't looked back. 1. https://www.esquoia.com/ 2. https://wipebook.com/
I have a feeling the pencil will be around after this is no more.
Re: The Write Stuff: How the Humble Pencil Conquered the World
#9Pencils are great, but ever since I started using whiteboard notebooks, like this[1] and this[2], I haven't looked back. 1. https://www.esquoia.com/ 2. https://wipebook.com/
That's really cool, any downsides from your experience? Like does the semipermanent ink smudge for left handed people? They say it doesn't... but maybe
Re: The Write Stuff: How the Humble Pencil Conquered the World
#10> Most American pencils had pink or red erasers at the back by the 1920s. (Today these erasers are often made of vinyl, a type of plastic.) Almost everywhere else in the world, erasers have remained separate from pencils. It is very common for pencils to have a rubber at the end here in the UK - you can buy pencils with and without in any stationary section.
Ireland also. But I wouldn't be able to say what percentage you'd find in a stationery store are enrubbered. By the way, what's the slowest kind of store? Write your answer in pencil on the back of a postcard to the following address:
"Lame Jokes R Us"
Graphite Way,
Borrowdale,
England, UK.