In case you’ve missed it, North America is experiencing nerdvana this week with TED 2015 underway in Vancouver and SXSW going in Austin.
Moleskine has signed on as a sponsor of the TED conference and is inviting fans to take part via Twitter for chances to win Moleskine loot.
(The Technology, Entertainment and Design conference is a gathering in which the top minds in those fields give brief talks – each one 18 minutes or less – about ideas worth spreading).
Call me simple, but I love pens that have more than one function. Doesn’t really matter what they do besides write, as long as it’s something completely different.
That’s why I like USB pens – write with one end, steal top-secret files with the other.
Thing is, I’ve always thought of them essentially as novelties, as in pens that really are more just about fun than practicality. So I was a bit surprised to discover that there are USB pens made by some high-end brands.
Here’s a little irony: At a time when handwriting is being supplanted by technology, a growing little niche market has emerged for handwriting services.
It makes sense. The supply of the handwriting-capable is dwindling, so the demand for those who can still make neat cursive words is increasing.
The Chicago Tribune recently ran a piece about a new start-up called Handiemail that uses the digital marketplace to sell analog handwriting services.
I know I’m getting to the party really late, but I’ve just seen a documentary that I’d heartily recommend for every pen enthusiast, sketcher, doodler and journaler who hasn’t already seen it.
It’s called “1,000 Journals” and it’s about a project started in 2000 by a San Francisco artist called “someguy.” The idea was very simple: Someguy sent 1,000 journals out into the world at random, and people made contributions to them, then passed the journals on until they were full. Then, completed journals were to be returned to someguy.
On a side note if you are new to journaling you may want to take a look at How to Start Writing a Journal.
Like a lot of you, I carry a notebook every day and take a ton of handwritten notes about almost everything from grocery lists to my someday novel.
I prefer writing on paper with a pen and have no interest in using handwriting apps for the smartphone, digital pens or tablet and stylus to capture my thoughts. Something about that just seems to suck all the creativity right out of the process. Over the years, we’ve heard from many of you who feel exactly the same way.