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September 17, 2004
Pens vs. Pencils
Just heard a totally apocryphal story from a friend:
"When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered the ballpoint pens would not work in zero gravity. To combat the problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $12 Billion to develop a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside down, underwater, on almost any surface including glass and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to 300C.
The Russians used a pencil."
The truth is that Fisher designed the pen for the astronauts, but didn't charge NASA for the design.
Frankly I don't care whether it's true or not and I don't see this as an opportunity to rant about government spending. I just love the story as a way to remind us all to keep our thinking simple. Sometimes seemingly daunting problems (like marketing strategy for instance) don't really have to be so mysterious and complicated. Just keep the goal in mind, think simply and execute.
Posted by johnza at September 17, 2004 11:06 PM
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