• ArchRecord
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        5125 days ago

        Yes. From the BIC website:

        Why is there a hole in the cap of BIC® Cristal® Pens?

        Our vented caps comply with international safety standards ISO11540. These standards attempt to minimize the risk to children from accidental inhalation of pen caps. Traditionally the pen cap served only to protect the pen point. These vented caps allow more air to circulate around the pen point when the pen is capped. This further adds to the quality and overall performance of the pen.

          • @addie@feddit.uk
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            1525 days ago

            As soon as the ball at the end rotates, you’ll get fresh ink again - the amount that dries at the very tip is miniscule. This change dries up the slight detritus that builds up around the tip, too - we used to wipe that off onto your other hand if it was the first bit of writing you were doing that day. But damn, that was a few years ago.

            • @BoxOfFeet
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              525 days ago

              Oh, wow… I forgot all about that.

  • @juliebean@lemm.ee
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    9025 days ago

    honestly, kinda refreshing to see a business not changing their shit constantly just to change shit. it’s not the nicest pen, but it works.

  • @CaptDust@sh.itjust.works
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    26 days ago

    The guy on the line wants to stop the money printer? No, no no… you don’t change the top selling pen of the century. We can introduce a lighter though. Guess we’re doing fire now.

  • @Daerun
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    6825 days ago

    They were actually updated in mid 90s when they made the cap have a hole in it.

    • @IhaveCrabs111
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      1625 days ago

      What was the idea behind the drastic change?

        • @BambiDiego
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          125 days ago

          A reminder that society is based off the lowest common denominator

            • @BambiDiego
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              125 days ago

              If only. Babies don’t hate, they just poop, cry, and eat.

              I wish more people did that instead of what they actually do

          • @captainlezbian
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            424 days ago

            I assume this is about infants not adults

            • @bluewing@lemm.ee
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              124 days ago

              Actually, adults are more likely to pick up this style of pen, stick the cap in their mouth and bite down on it to remove the cap to write. Then hold it in their mouth while they write. They then might cough, sneeze, try to talk, or get bumped and then the cap would get lodged in their airway.

              When I was a medic, this was actually something we discussed in continuing education EMS classes/seminars a few times. I personally never needed to ever extract a Bic cap though.

    • @redhorsejacket
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      2125 days ago

      The kind of grace I yearn for in my performance reviews.

    • @Agent641
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      1125 days ago

      It is broke though. Thing is shit. Dries up the nib, smudges, spurts. All round bad design

        • @KinglyWeevil@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          1525 days ago

          It does what it needs to, albeit poorly, for a handful of cents per pen. Once you start viewing them as disposable instead of trying to keep them until they’re out of ink, it makes more sense.

          These are the pens put out where they’re going to get lost or taken, pocketed by the general public. I’d say their biggest flaw is that they don’t work on hard surfaces, so they suck for signing receipts on counters.

          • @frezik@midwest.social
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            25 days ago

            About the only thing they are good for is carbon copy paper. You have to press hard to make it work, and better pens tend not to like being pressed hard.

            It’s also a use case that’s almost dead. Writing checks is a rarity, and most people only come across the odd contract like that once every few years, at best.

      • @Phoenicianpirate@lemm.ee
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        225 days ago

        The nub drying is the no. 1 Problem with the thing. The amount of pens thrown away due to that problem is probably uncountable.

  • @hark
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    3625 days ago

    What? No app connectivity?!

    • @ZeffSyde
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      525 days ago

      You joke, but I have a cheap composition style notebook that I bought because it had a durable plastic cover instead of the old fashioned cardboard covered notebook I usually carry around. Each page has a qr code in the corner and it wants me to download an app so I can scan my writing and upload it to The Cloud.

      I mean, I’m sure that someone might find that useful, but the whole reason I write with pen on paper is so I’m not distracted by technology and don’t have to worry about booting an app and having connectivity while constantly worried that my work may not be saved/disappear.

      The plastic cover is nice, though.

  • @Alpha71
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    2825 days ago

    Why mess with perfection?

  • don
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    2725 days ago

    (Looks at the anatomically modern human) Bruh this shits been the same for the past 300,000 years. When we updating this bitch? New colorways, maybe?

  • stebo
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    2225 days ago

    it’s been 74 years that guy can retire now

  • @Loce
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    2125 days ago

    Why fix something that isn’t broken?

  • @spacesatan@leminal.space
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    25 days ago

    Ah, the extremely shitty pen that scratches so bad you might as well carve your message into the paper. Lasts maybe 3 lines before it starts skipping but who cares. It exists to be as cheap as possible so your customer you don’t respect can pocket it after initialing twice and signing something.

    I hate bad cheap pens so much. I never would have gotten into fountain pens if there wasn’t the counter example of how bad a writing experience can get.

    • @Daerun
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      3525 days ago

      American bics may be made in a different way because here in Spain they are so reliable they are a de facto standard for people taking an exam.

      • I Cast Fist
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        525 days ago

        Same in Brazil. The closest competitor, Compactor, will either smudge everything or fail twice as much as Bics.

        • @frezik@midwest.social
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          25 days ago

          Smudging inks mean they tend not to dry as fast. The downside of less-smudgy inks is that they dry out faster in the pen, gunk it up, and make ballpoints useless.

      • @frezik@midwest.social
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        25 days ago

        For filling in circles? Yeah, they’re fine. The circular movement tends to keep the ball moving and picking up new ink.

        For writing? Hot garbage. When I switched to nicer pens (fountain pens and OHTO graphic liners), I had to unlearn pressing down so hard and cramping up my hand. A good pen can glide across the surface with little effort, and you don’t feel like you need to stretch your fingers and wrist afterward.

        • @Daerun
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          25 days ago

          1-School and college exams in Europe are most usually in “write everything you know” mode.

          2-You are clearly talking about some non-bic branded pens.

        • @BoxOfFeet
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          325 days ago

          Fountain pens are the best. I got a Hero 616 off AliExpress for $0.36 on sale one time, and even that is better than a BIC. And my gold nib pens make BICs feel like I’m chiseling cuniform into stone tablets.

          • @InputZero
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            25 days ago

            As a child I was labeled a bad writer because my writing was so sloppy it made a doctor’s prescription look like typed text. I’d always choose a pencil over a pen. Then in college a friend let me use their nice pen and I could write so much better. Turns out I was just always using the cheapest pens possible, and that sometimes quality does come at a cost worth paying.

            • @BoxOfFeet
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              325 days ago

              I had a similar experience. And my hand always cramped up because I was putting a death grip on those cheap, skinny pens. Now, my wife has me fill out all the cards and gift tags at the holidays because I have “nice, fancy handwriting.” What a difference comfort, control, and fluidity make. I really enjoy slightly fatter pens, like a vintage Sheaffer’s oversized. Or a Platinum 3776. Not as big as a Montblanc 149, or a Wing Sung 630. Just a little on the chubby side. Way less cramping.

    • @fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk
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      1725 days ago

      I think actual Bic-from-the-Bic-Company biros tend to be pretty good (especially the orange ones with black lids).

      For a truly scratchy experience, you need a cheap, unbranded biro.

        • @fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk
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          25 days ago

          In English, “biro” is the generic name for what is known elsewhere as a “ball-point” or “ball pen”. There may of course still be a “Biro” company somewhere, separate to that.

          [Edit] I mean English as in “language spoken in England” - I’m sure some of the other “Englishes” use a different word.

        • irelephant 🍭
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          525 days ago

          Its like googling something, i use the term even when i’m not on google. Biro is used as a generic term for pens a lot of the time.

    • @AWTM_James@sh.itjust.works
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      325 days ago

      This is why I got into fountain pens too! These days I find myself using a good rollerball or mechanical pencil for day to day, since they’re a little more practical, but man oh man I do love a fountain pen…

      • @Landless2029
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        225 days ago

        It’s extra nice when you have to sign something and pull it out. Did it at the dentist and it’s almost always a conversation starter.