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Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

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Re: Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

#191

Post by naikrovek »

wilkystyle wrote: post #190
nabilhat wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, that's a very specific crack. This is an extrusion error. The extrusion temperature is dropping too low while it's still over the internal die. The thicker peaks cool more slowly than the thinner flats, remaining at a weaker temperature longer, and they're pulled apart by accumulating contraction. These cracks usually aren't obvious until they meet a conflicting load. For example, tapping threads up the end witho…

These are the kind of comments I come to Hacker News for.

Same.

Re: Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

#192

Post by naikrovek »

CharlesW wrote: post #171
munificent wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Rotring quality has been going down over the years, or their name outgrew the actual quality of the product. This story is so common that I wish there was an established economic term for it. Something like "reputational arbitrage" or perhaps "sentiment stickiness". The basic idea is that a business can change its quality much faster than its reputation changes. If the business rapidly cuts costs and quality, their…

> This story is so common that I wish there was an established economic term for it. I thought we'd collectively decided on "enshittification"? Or is that different?

We most definitely have not settled on that shitshow of a word.

Re: Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

#193

Post by munificent »

CharlesW wrote: post #171
munificent wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Rotring quality has been going down over the years, or their name outgrew the actual quality of the product. This story is so common that I wish there was an established economic term for it. Something like "reputational arbitrage" or perhaps "sentiment stickiness". The basic idea is that a business can change its quality much faster than its reputation changes. If the business rapidly cuts costs and quality, their…

> This story is so common that I wish there was an established economic term for it. I thought we'd collectively decided on "enshittification"? Or is that different?

No, enshittification is a different economic thing where a continuing service provides less and less for more and more (either attention or money) over time.

What I'm talking about is buying concrete objects at discrete moments in time.

Similar, but not the same.

Re: Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

#194

Post by master_crab »

perks_12 wrote: post #182
CharlesW wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This story is so common that I wish there was an established economic term for it. I thought we'd collectively decided on "enshittification"? Or is that different?

No, it should be the same. In software you can't really lower quality. Instead, stuff your product with ads and raise prices. In hardware you can lower production quality, but you can't really put ads on it. The outcome is the same.

Software suffers from a different problem, I feel. Namely that buyers care little about quality and only look for features.

So the MVP that meets what ever feature requirement a customer wants - at the lowest price - wins, regardless of how stable or secure the service is.

Re: Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

#195

Post by aredox »

munificent wrote: post #193
CharlesW wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This story is so common that I wish there was an established economic term for it. I thought we'd collectively decided on "enshittification"? Or is that different?

No, enshittification is a different economic thing where a continuing service provides less and less for more and more (either attention or money) over time. What I'm talking about is buying concrete objects at discrete moments in time. Similar, but not the same.

I think it is the same: build reputation and trust in your brand, and then abuse that trust by making more and more consumer-screwing decisions.

Re: Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

#196

Post by freeopinion »

lozenge wrote: post #183
mk_stjames wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was this article posted here on HN about the geodemography of left handedness in the US, and all sorts of discussion about past culture of eschewing LH'ded children in schools and such... and I was surprised that no one brought up the very real downsides of being left handed in a left-to-right writing system region of the world (which is most of it). Most comments were leaning towards backwards conservatism and…

Making left handed people write right handed doesn't make them right handed.

As a T-ball coach, I had every player bat left-handed in the first inning and right-handed in the second inning. They alternated each inning. I was surprised how much this upset parents.

"My child is right handed!" some insisted. I wondered how they could know that about a child who had never swung a bat before. I also wondered why a parent would want their child to be so limited.

Re: Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

#197

Post by quectophoton »

yumraj wrote: post #38

I had Rotring 600 pencil - absolutely loved it, best I’ve ever used. But, its tip is very fragile so after it bent I got a Pentel Orenz Nero , it’s close enough, has retractable tip and lead auto advances. It has become my current favorite. Fun fact: Orenz Nero is a palindrome.

> I had Rotring 600 pencil - absolutely loved it, best I’ve ever used.

> But, its tip is very fragile

I came here to say this. I have a rotring 600 mechanical pencil with non-retractable tip, and it bends if you even look at it funny. It can be straightened again if you insert a sewing needle so it was not a big deal, but it was unexpected how easy it bends.

Heck, I have to treat it even more carefully than my smartphone. Not that I treat it rough or anything, but I have to be very conscious of where I leave it, lest it rolls off and falls off a height of a few centimeters.

Other than that I don't regret buying it, it's been a few years and it still feels nice to use.

Re: Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

#198

Post by 542354234235 »

voidUpdate wrote: post #82
nelox wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if those issues similarly affect the right handers among the 2 billon or so users of right-to-left writing systems?

Is there a significant difference in left-handedness in RTL countries? It seems strange to me that an RTL writing system would develop in a vast majority right handed environment, for the same reasons that left handed people have issues with LTR systems

No, RTL cultures still have the 10ish percent lefties. The difference is, RTL cultures developed writing styles and hand positions to work with RTL. Whereas LTR cultures treat lefties as an afterthought, so lefties only hear about actual good hand positions and writing styles as adults, after decades of learning what is basically a mirror to right-handed style.

Re: Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

#199

Post by handsclean »

munificent wrote: post #170
0x_rs wrote: post #121

There's no mention of this in the article, so be aware there's multiple posts online about QC issues. Rotring quality has been going down over the years, or their name outgrew the actual quality of the product. Current generation of 600s especially suffer from: cracking of the body (0, 1); but most importantly for pens, the joint part that screws into the bottom and upper part of the pen is extremely susceptible to w…

> Rotring quality has been going down over the years, or their name outgrew the actual quality of the product. This story is so common that I wish there was an established economic term for it. Something like "reputational arbitrage" or perhaps "sentiment stickiness". The basic idea is that a business can change its quality much faster than its reputation changes. If the business rapidly cuts costs and quality, their…

Legitimately curious, could you tell me more about Pyrex? I only heard that they changed the formula years ago to trade some impact resistance for thermal shock resistance, not that there are all-around better options. I haven’t had issues with mine, though I haven’t dropped them, and the only other options I notice in stores are store brand tempered glass that seems to be competing only on price.

Re: Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen

#200

Post by _verandaguy »

kstrauser wrote: post #176
CharlesW wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They may be thinking of the "uni Jetstream 4&1 Metal Edition" with black/red/bluegreen Jetstream ballpoints, plus a 0.5mm Mechanical Pencil: https://www.amazon.com/uni-Jetstream-Ballpoint-Mechanical-MS... or https://www.jetpens.com/Uni-Jetstream-4-1-Metal-4-Color-0.5-...

Close. I got this one: https://www.jetpens.com/Uni-Jetstream-3-Color-Ballpoint-Mult...

Oh wow, those both look fantastic. I'll see if someplace local might carry these. Thanks for the links, both!
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