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On ballpoint pens
A quick followup to Managing digital overload with... paper?, in which I suggested that people who are overloaded with bits should learn a bit-based system like bit literacy. Most comments came back defending paper, because it has some advantages over bits (I agree), and that we should use each medium for its own strengths (I agree). The commenters are right on both counts - just wrong in concluding that paper is better at managing e-mail and other bitstreams that are overloading us these days.
Reading some related articles, I came across this Wikipedia entry on the common ballpoint pen... shown at left is a closeup of a ballpoint tip from the article. Check out the cost of the first pens, only sixty years ago!
Reynolds International Pen Company [produced] the Biro design without license as the Reynolds Rocket. [They] managed to beat Eversharp to market in late 1945; the first ballpoint pens went on sale at Gimbel's department store in New York City on October 29, 1945 for US$12.50 each (about USD$130 of today's money). This pen was widely known as "the rocket" in the U.S. into the late 1950s.
(from Ballpoint pen - Wikipedia)
Your post reminded me of George Orwell's letters to friends during the advent of the ballpoint and how he coveted these pens. There are numerous letters where he talks about getting them and how much he loves them - fascinating to see how a good experience can even warm the heart of a giant like Orwell.
http://www.fpp.co.uk/Letters/Auschwitz/Ballpoint_080905.html