Why did it take China so long to figure out how to make ballpoint pens?
Posted by Josh Taylor / November 23, 2017
Ballpoint pens are so ubiquitous that it seems impossible that China doesn’t make them. But, as a matter of fact, China has never been able to make a good ballpoint pen because the engineering is too complicated. That’s because the ball in the ballpoint pen needs to be housed very specifically and with very specific metal. If the metal is even a little bit lower quality than it needs to be, then the pen won’t work right––ink will spill out too fast or not enough, or the ball will lock up.
Full story at YouTube.
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