EOTO #1 - COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES

 THE BALLPOINT PEN

The ballpoint pen was created in 1888 by a man with the name John Loud. Back in the late 1800s there were a couple forms of writing utensils that had ben used such as the dip pen or the fountain pen. However, Loud found an issue with the fountain pen because it didn't write as efficiently on all surfaces. The fountain pen had a lot of issues alongside the inability to write on surfaces such as leather. Things such as the ink and the design, it just became apparent that it was lacking efficiency. Journalists or students needed something that was easy to use and a lot more accessible. With the fountain pen, there was this refill feature that was messy and time consuming. 

John Loud made a ground breaking product that ultimately changed the name of the game. Loud was a Harvard Law alum that worked in leather. When working with leather he often had to mark things up, and he found his writing utensils just weren't doing the trick. The pencil wasn't dark enough, and the fountain pen was simply a mess. When October of 1888 rolled around he was able to get a patent for his new invention, an improvement of the fountain pen. He claimed that this pen would be able to write on surfaces such as coarse-wood, leather, and wood. While this was a huge step forward in terms of messiness and efficiency, it didn't last long until more improvements were to be made. 

When researching the ballpoint pen, you may also hear the name Laszlo Biro, that would be because he ultimately one-upped Loud's invention. Laszlo was an avid fountain pen user, but he tried to make a few tweaks to improve it. He liked the idea of the newspaper ink being "smudge free," and he thought if he'd use the same ink with his fountain pen, the issues would resolve. However, he would ultimately realize that the ink was way too aggressive for this pen. It wasn't until he saw his children playing with marbles, that he could try to invent a pen that had "ball-shaped metal nib" to write with. In 1938, he would get his patent and introduce a modern ballpoint pen. 

This modern ballpoint pen made a huge impact on society. Many people gained a large benefit from the refined product as it was helpful in schooling and work. Students found ease in being able to write faster and more efficiently. Not worrying about smudging allowed them to focus on better note-taking, which ultimately helped with learning. We've all been taught from a young age that taking notes is essential in succeeding. With this writing tool Biro made it much easier for students, or even any writing-focused workers, to get ideas to paper. 

Not only did the ballpoint pen provide an increase in literacy and efficiency, but it was also much more accessible and easily transportable. It was much more convenient to carry around and use because the ink didn't create a mess and it didn't need to be refilled often. Additionally, they weren't expensive writing tools and they were sold in almost all stores making it much easier to use. The ballpoint pen became used for all writing-needs, everywhere. In fact, they are still widely used on a day-to-day basis in many different designs and colors. Communication from this point on was changed because of the ease and accessibility qualities it possessed.