Just saying, because you use Blender (I do too), here are some tips for you: try getting the Flip Fluids addon for blender for more impressive fluid simulations and RBD Lab addon for blender for every other simulation, for more realistic renders have depth of field turned on. Btw GREAT vids keep it up. Channel Name Here out!🖖
Best part of the pen design is that the hexagonal shape fits a compact cassette, so allowing you to wind up a tape that is loose, without damaging the player, plus you could rewind a tape without wasting precious battery power.
You should have mentioned how the pen's design continued to improve over time, such as how the cap was given a hole to prevent choking if it was lodged in an airway
@@qps9380 Not quite the causal relationship of "Ice creams cause increases in drownings" or "Hitler drunk water, therefore we are all like Hitler", but... It probably played some factor, but historically they messed up attributing only the pen to it.
And the original steel ball was replaced with the harder tungsten carbide. In the UK in the 1960s/1970s Bic also sold pens under the “Biro” trademark. The ballpoint and ink delivery mechanism was the same, but the pen cases were made so that they could be used for multiple refills. And, now the Bic Cristal is the premium pen having been surpassed by the Bic Round Stick. I guess Polythene is cheaper than polystyrene!
This got me wondering: maybe this is the reason why cursive used to be so important but not any more. If you have a fountain pen that is constantly spilling ink, then it's easier not to lift the pen at all. But BIC pens mean you can write your letters separately without the same worry.
@@SanCreatividad-pd1pf See my remark above? Yes, LOVE my fountain pens, & write with them whenever possible, just so long as its fairly good quality paper I'm using. And you be spot on with your ballpoint remark - I'm often told I have beautiful cursive handwriting, but! This is ONLY with a fountain pen. When I attempt ballpoint? > Looks absolutely ghastly! ✒ ✒
while it might be harder to write non-cursive with a fountain pen (I have personally never tried), it is very much possible to write cursive with a ballpoint pen as a matter of fact, I've *always* used cheap ballpoint pens (almost always the classic bic) and have *always* written in cursive... I'm pretty sure that's just a matter of habit really
@@martinbachmann6283 I feel the same! While I agree that ballpoint pens get the job done, the fountain pen writes so much smoother and far more satisfying and it makes cursive look much nicer. The ink in Bics is so thick and makes it look splotchy af
The price tag helps, too. I write a lot, I got all sorts of different ballpoint pens, and many reasons to prefer others to the Cristal, but being able to buy a twelve-pack of consistent, "more-than-good-enough" pens for less than a loaf of bread? Literati in the 1800s would have killed for that.
@@louistrouver2800 You guys dont know the joy of finding the perfect pen. I have done research for days on mechanical pencils and pens. The absolute best all around mechanical pencil is the Staedtler 925-35 along with the Uni Smudge Proof 0.5mm lead. The absolute best pen is the Zebra Sarasa Grand 0.5mm, but with the Zebra Dry Gel refill inside.
It's disappointing you didn't mention the competition with the pencil in this period of pen innovation. Until this pen, the pencil was the dominant writing tool for over a century, and helped literacy rates skyrocket.
The pencil was a lot simpler and less expensive, it also had the ability to correct mistakes with the use of an eraser, often conveniently affixed to the pencil. I will guess the pencil was much more widely used than the Bic pen, and it is still in use to this day. One advantage of the pen, was that the ink could not be easily erased and redone, for example, unlike with a pencil, if you wrote down your signature on a contract, it was very hard to change later which was one of the desirable properties of indelible ink.
@@e1000sn Yeah, I picked up on that misconception as well, obviously the Bic pen had nothing at all to do with why literacy rates were increasing. It would be a great advertisement for Bic though.
@@e1000sn Yes. Literacy rates in Scotland were historically much higher than in the rest of the world because Scotland introduced its public school system much earlier than anywhere else in the world. These days, literacy rates in Scotland are about the same as elswhere because pretty much every other country also has a public school system.
@@TheReaverOfDarkness Bich improved the design by ten fold and his genius to use a novelty material like plastic and not being greedy like Biro but instead Bich selling it for a reasonable price.
I’m old enough to remember one change that was made to the BIC Pen. When I was a kid, the LID used to be closed off. Now, there’s a hole at the top. I didn’t know why until I got older and found out the reason was because if a child accidentally swallows the lid and it lodges in the throat, there’s a hole to allow for airflow until the lid can be removed. I remember hearing stories of young children who had died because they swallowed the lid.
Hectic. Imagine having swallowed one accidentally, only for the hole in the lid to actually allow air into your lungs until such time as it could be removed.
We used to remove the guts and used the pen body as a peashooter in school. The art department had this huge bucket of small, clear plastic rods, used to melt into projects, that fit the pen perfectly and FLEW across a room. What a time we had!
We used to remove the ink pipe, scrape the burning fuel from the matchstick top, stuff it into the pen's tip, and burn it over a candle to make a missile-like firework.
Lazslo Biro was a Hungarian-born inventor who lived and developed the pen in Argentina. That’s why in Argentina the pen is called “Birome” unlike anywhere in Spanish-speaking countries.
Also Eduard Slavoljub Penkala was first guy who invented & patented capillary action and hard ink pen back in 1907. and he died in 1922. Pretty sure Biro "stole" his work and improved it later.
And you have to be African to use this pen during study??? Jeez...I'm human and I'm using it daily on the job... African, European, American, who tf cares about that...
Definitely more iconic than a VW Beetle. Cole bottles are also becoming less iconic because of the shift toward plastic bottles, and less use of the original Cole bottle in logos. The bic pen is closer to pencil and paper in how iconic it is.
Honestly, the sheer amount amount of effort and ingenuity that took to create the fabled ball point pen was the most remarkable aspect for the pen. The pen's design is manufactured so precisely at a time were machines creating plastic were so new that I am honestly amazed that the pen's design has stayed untouched for more than 70 years!
In elementary school I would ravenously chew on the cap till it was totally unusable then chew on the pen till the pen body shattered. Idk what was wrong w me 😂😂😂
@@mechadonia I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I'm sure pupils chew pens for the same reason some people smoke cigarettes: boredom. Bics are just good for chewing. I tried chewing Parker Jotter pens, but the metal makes the experience unsatisfactory. Chewing the cap only really worked with the narrow end. Chewing the pen itself starts at the little cap at the opposite end of the ball, until it gets loose and lost, and from that moment things go fast, as the hexagonal plastic soon shatters.
The most puzzling bit to me is that although I can imagine how all the parts of this wonderful construction can be manufactured, it's how the mini-ball, the most crucial component, is fabricated. Especially considering the necessary, unbelievable accuracy and surface quality. This alone would justify a separate video. Thanks for this one!
The balls are ground from tungsten carbide bits in tumbling machines. They go through many stages, with finer and finer abrasives over time, to reach the optimal size and coarseness. The balls have to be examined by microscopes to determine size and coarseness. If too coarse, writing is not smooth. If too smooth, the ball will not pickup enough ink to write evenly. The process takes about 72 hours, or 3 days.
It is rare to design something so perfectly, the very first time you make it. Kudos to the maker for thoroughly testing, identifying shortfalls and downscaling the pen's price so more people could buy it!
Because the original cap wasn't flattened at the top, you could pull the cap off the pen tip by about 1 inch (25mm), then squeeze the tip between three fingers, which propelled the cap back onto the pen tip, which made it look like the cap was magnetic. I amazed many fellow kids with this trick in the 1960's.
They didn't write very well, they were too big to fit cassettes, so really they were just useful as blowguns, table-hockey sticks, and drumsticks. Still versatile, I suppose.
In my grade school we had folder binders that used elastic bands to secure themselves shut. Kids would hook the cap on the elastic and pull back on the pen until the cap shot off towards the intended target. Got sent to the principals office a few times for pelting my classmates w those bic pen caps lol.
I've been using this pen my whole life without realizing just how genius it is. Its materials made me think it was extremely cheap and normal. But if you take a moment to appreciate its beauty, you realize how perfect this pen really is. The shape, ink, weight, everything is just perfect. I carry one on me everyday.
I’m a doctor and 48, had been using pen for writing for my job . I would honestly said , this BIC is the world best perfect pen ! I tried Japanese stationary, just name it , any brand I had been using, but , this BIC still my all time favourites ❤
In France, when I was young, we started to learn writing with fountain pain. It was very interesting to improve your griping, patience, cleanliness and carefulness. But at the time I did not have understood that, and I couldn't wait to be allowed to use a ball pen. The massives advantages was so obvious !
@@G6JPG Nowadays, some fountain pen companies actually make "dedicated-left hand writer" nibs, and at pretty affordable prices too. You might be pleasantly surprised if you tried one of them too! ✒ ✒
Agree. The whole time I was thinking, pencils existed too, way before pens.. and the trajectory of the Bic sales compared to literacy wasn’t even exponential. He compared it to such a long period of time which was steadily increasing 😂
I'm gonna be honest there, this pen probably caused me to view every day objects in a different light when I discovered it at age 4. My classmates all had fancy fountain pens while I wrote with a Bic pen (because I kept breaking the nibs of the fountain pens) It was so simple and cheap but still did its job really well, teaching me that being fancy and expensive doesn't always mean it's better at achieving something.
I know right. I am french and we were forced to use fountain pens in my first years of school (it was in early 2000 so not that far away) when it was so bad in comparison to a bic. I am glad they dropped this requirement after primary school
@@uwu_senpai Aye, I'm from The Netherlands and we also were forced to use fountain pens in the 4th and 5th grade. After the 6th grade that requirement luckily wasn't strict anymore and by the 8th (final year of primary) it was completely "whatever". Then again, we were also forced to write cursive... But now 10 years or so later, and I rarely write cursive so it feels like I wasted a lot of effort on learning something I wouldn't actually use.
@@FinlayDaG33k cursive is such a pain. "Oh you need it for your signature!" no. no you don't. 95% of the adults who sign crap around me just use squiggles. And you can literally sign with basically *any* symbol you want in the USA. A smiley face? Sure. A penis? might be a tad much and would be heavily frowned upon by a judge or whatever, but technically you could make that your signature.
@@uwu_senpai I too hated to use fountain pens at first when I was forced to in the first half of elementary school but funnily enough now that I’m in university and write pages upon pages of notes a day I rediscovered them, there are some great cheap options out there they’re are sooooo smooth and comfortable to write with compared to how much pressure is needed for a BIC for example. Additionally they are more environmentally friendly because of the water based inks and ink cartridges/possibility to use bottled ink
@@FinlayDaG33kIm also from NL and hated writing with them, nowadays 12 years later I can’t imagine my life without them and my hand hurts when writing with ballpoints. Cursive on the other hand is horrible and even when written perfectly is barely readable…at least for me (Im slightly dyslexic). I have created my own fusion between block letters and cursive for more readability but also some hints of cursive for speed advantages (less lifting of the pen).
One thing that surprises me is how no one ever calls it by the brand name. Kleenex, Sharpie, Advil, etc… No one ever says “pass me the Bic” despite it completely dominating the market
Well, "pen" comes from the Italian / Latin "penna", meaning "feather" or "quill", so it had hundreds or thousands of years' head start. Those genericized trademarks are usually used for new technologies. For example, photocopies didn't really exist before the mid 20th century, so Xerox made sense as a name for the new thing. Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen / paracetamol are also relatively new.
In Argentina, where it was patented, it's divided into "lapicera" and "birome" due to Biró's last name. I'll always call it Birome because an inventor's name inside an invention's name is always badass
You also missed the hole in the lid of the pen which is there in case it gets lodged in someone's throat. They would still be able to breathe (ablbeit with difficulty) until the pen lid was extracted.
That's an improvement made in 1991, before that, the lid was closed (I was born in 1985 and learn to write at around 4yrs old, so I remember well) Of course, it takes so long to end a bic pen which is used just to take short notes, that the 80's variant was still around even during the 2000's.
I was actually looking for this comment myself, because if you hadn't mentioned it, I would have. I found out this little fact a couple of years ago on TH-cam. I think the video was titled, "things you didn't know had another use."
No moving parts? The tungsten carbide ball rolls so that you can write. Bic also created a upper market version of this called the Cristal Renew. It has a metal body and comes with some refills.
@@tezcanaslan2877 Yeah, I was going to say, one moving part. Just the one, though! And the ink if you're a pedant, but no one likes a pedant. Including pedants.
I still want to hear the case for the BIC Crystal being *responsible* for increased literacy. Correlation does not imply causation, after all. A pen was not the only writing implement at the time. Wax crayons came around in the early 1900s. Pencils existed since at least the 1660s. Chalk was being used for drawing for about 10,000 years, and making marks in the dirt with a stick is probably as old as _homo sapiens_ I would consider that the increased availability of affordable things to read (newspapers, magazines, and paperbacks) would have had a greater impact on literacy, as would have the existence of public education. Nevertheless, this does not in any way impugn the fact that the BIC Crystal is a marvel of elegant design!
The author replied in some of the older comments about that. In short while pencils were widely used at the time, documents required ink and the fact that pens became much cheaper probably does correlate with the increase of literacy.
@@d4cto If you ignore basically every geopolitical event going on. The Hamburger has existed for a while, and during the time they became more popular and fastfood skyrocketed the global life expectancy increased. Does that mean the hamburger increased life expectancy? No. Critical thinking is needed for these things.
I didn't realize how the name would be pronounced in English until I saw it at 7:47. Then within seconds, the narrator explained how they dropped the "H". The fact that the design haven't changed much really made this pen even more iconic.
Another thing Primal Space never mentioned is how fountain pens also used capillary action to control their own ink's flow, the ballpoint is just a compressed mechanism for doing the same thing as the nib of a fountain pen in a smaller space, with less material. This is why oil based ink needed to be developed for ballpoint pens at all.
The proliferation of cheap pens and skyrocketing literacy rates in the 20th century is almost certainly a case of correlation without causation. The same social and economic pressures that drove both phenomena.
It's actually a pretty bad analysis of mere correlation, given the raw data alone, because the rise in literacy closely follows _before_ the rise of pens. It would make more sense, statistically speaking, to say that the rise in literacy caused people to use ballpoint pens.
Modern pencils were invented in 1795. Bic pens likely didn't have a huge effect on literacy, but they definitely facilitated the weird rules around not being allowed to use pencils in specific cases because they "can't be erased".
The design is so simple, yet many intricate parts make it work so well! Knowing how it works and its back story makes it so much more remarkable than I ever thought it would be!
I used to make "lava lamps" out of these. The oil based soap in the school bathroom made a great solvent for the ink. It would melt into the soap, and the clear casing made a great display. Knew what a "BiC Cristal Ballpoint Pen" was since 3rd grade.
Honestly, never thought a video about pens could be so interesting! Might have to go get a few. Absolutely crazy the amount of design work that went into this thing!
I couldn't agree with you better. This is the power of detailed and high quality presentation, it brings out the true value of something that is easily regarded as boring... Kai!!!
As one of those people who still use and enjoy fountain pens, i don't much care to go back to the ballpoint world, but even I have to admit how smart this design was and how important it became
Somehow managed to still be taught writing using a fountain pen, this didn't help improve literacy rates but you damn well made sure to not lose your pen!
funnily enough the current trend of digitalization in schools has had a negative effect on literacy, although I'm not saying that school should stay purely analog, but clearly digitizing education has to be done the right way
@@MrHjacky Because I thought it was weird that the nationaility of other people was mentioned but not his. I am argentinian and I can help mention sth when I think our history is made invisible :)
Wow, I never realized the impact a simple pen could have on the world! This video does an amazing job of highlighting how the Bic pen revolutionized writing and made it accessible to so many people. From its design to its affordability, it's incredible to see how something so small has played a huge role in our daily lives. Great content-thanks for sharing the fascinating story behind such an iconic invention!
The BIC pen is just stunning. In fact, the question is: how many inventions have remained identical to their first prototype? Simple yet reliable and efficient... But I think we should also thank the man who came up with the sphere pen design!
One of the first to see the videos.... Ballpoint pens; the unsung heroes of writing tools! They're not just reliable and durable but also versatile, making them perfect for any writing task. With their professional look and efficient ink usage, they're a must-have in any workspace. Who else can't live without their trusty ballpoint pen?
idk, for fine point give me felt tips. For broader stuff, I've always gone with cartridge pens with a metal quill. Cheap ballpoint pens are pretty handy though, they definitely have a place. But I for one can certainly live without them. (Ye olde dip pens aren't that hard to use, just annoying. I always wanted to try a glass one but have only used ones with a metal nib.)
I have used these pens for decades going back to grade school in the 1970's. Now, I use Pliot Precise 0.5mm gel rollers. The ink is more fluid and does not dry up on the tip. This happens sometime with the Bic, though I still have dozens of them!
The Bic pen? Now that's a game-changer. Here in Laayoune (southern Morocco), it's not just a pen, it's a bridge. A bridge between ideas, cultures, across the world. Thanks, Primal Space for the video.
What a fascinating exploration into the impact of the BIC Cristal! It's remarkable to see how a seemingly ordinary tool can have such extraordinary implications for literacy and innovation. This video beautifully illustrates the intersection of design, physics, and global influence, showcasing the power of simplicity in changing the world. Truly inspiring!
This pen is the one of the greatest invention of the world that change the path of the world. I must say that this pen is more powerful than a nuclear bomb or nuclear weapons and power.
My favorite part was when Primal spoke about the polystyrene design that Marcel took on, Marcel showed great innovation by taking a not yet popularly use material, testing it, and trusting it which ultimately led to others use the material also and being involved in the growth of the material and it’s popularity as a prime variant of plasticity. ✍️
Exactly as you said, the fact that over all the decades the design of the pen barely changed just shows the genius of its creator. Simply an engineering perfection. From now on i will think about it everytime i see one of these (so pretty frequently).
The actual reason that the design hasn't changed is because the greedy business magnates who invent this crap have absolutely no idea what will sell. Whatever stuff sells best they worship like its some sort of dark magic, meanwhile they tweak everything else endlessly like it's cursed if it can't reach top sales. BiC Crystal was inferior to every other ballpoint pen design I ever used, and I have used many. So why was it never improved?
6:01 guys, this is unbelievable. i just had a crazy existential experience. i live in belgium and 20 years ago in school for kids aged 6-12 y/o. there was a word for a pen that we used 'bik' and for exemple if you forgot your pen or bik. then we asked our classmate for a spare pen or bik. BUT NOW i just looked it up and bik is not even an existing word in the languages in Belgium(dutch french) !! even the french ask me for a bik. and it is not an existing word in here!!! when we were young, the word 'bik' was the umbrella term for a pen, pencil, everything that could write!!! cool story to tell my fellow belgians
Glad to see your image showing the changes over time included the fact that the original version had a choking hazard closed cap. But at 3:55 you show a pen being operated upside down, pretending that capillary action feeds ball point pens, when it is most certainly gravity that does this, just as it does with fountain pens. Just try to write with your pen upside down. Unless it has pressurized ink (like a Fischer), you will not be able to write all that much without the aid of gravity. Capillary action does keep the ink from dripping out of ball point pens, but that's no different from how it works in a fountain pen. Also, the flexibility of the cap was not to absorb impact, but so that it could form an interference fit with the barrel without cracking.
This is so intriguing. I always took this simple pen for granted, but never knew that its design was this carefully constructed to millimeter precision 😮 The hexagonal shape was something I never really understood until now. Thanks so much for this! 🙌🏾
Sometimes thinking outside the box is needed to solve problems. Just like trying to change the pen design didn't solve the problem, but changing the ink's recipie was the key breaktrhough. Its insane that this time chemistry helped to change the world
As a retired industrial designer, I find stories like this fabulous and inspiring. I graduated from high school in 1975. The BIC crystal pen was ubiquitous throughout my school years. There are many more choices now, but I'll always remember chewing on the soft cap of a BIC will taking exams...
This pen got me through HS - I wrote tiny cheat sheets and inserted them into the barrel of this style pen. The plastic also acts as a magnifying glass enlarging your cribbed text (I could write very small w/ a sharp pencil) making it easy to read. Bonus - since you are looking at where you are writing your answers on the paper, you are also looking where your cheat sheet is. You have several pens w/ different sheets and change them during the test when your pen mysteriously won't write- so you exchange for one of your other pens with a new set of notes :) you're welcome students!
honestly, i have used it. but never appreciated it because of mainly the fact that there were many other pens that were better. but after seeing this video, i truly appreciate it now :)
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For what? Scamming the market with an inferior pen design? The real question is why anybody paid for these when better pens were readily available for free!
I still remember being in primary school in Australia in the late 1960s we were still writing with quills with ink wells in each of the desks and then seeing the first of the biros being advertised on television
Wow, you had quill pens *and* television at school at the same time? In the USA we had it the opposite: all fountain pens were a vestige of the past by the time schools even owned a TV. At first, the schools would have like three total TVs which they would wheel around on a cart so each classroom could "rent" a TV to show educational films. The school building wasn't even equipped with television cables.
As a kid I would pull out the ink stick and put it backwards into the barrel. You can swing it and the ink tube sticks out like those old lightsaber toys.
Anyone old enough to remember when these things leaked into our shirt pockets, despite the "revolutionary" capillary design? Yeah, that' happened a lot back in the 70's and 80s.
@@N0Xa880iUL These pens have a cap with a built-in clip for your pocket. The pen has NO choice but to face upward when capped correctly. Nobody's "shaking" them...
Under circumstances they could leak under some circumstances. Much less likely though than than most fountain pens ('vacuum fill' fountain pens are much improved)
My absolute favourite pen. Stack a few papers underneath to soften the paper up. *chefs kiss* Thank you for another amazing video before I even watch! 🇨🇦
There's absolutely no proof that BiC pens were the main driver for improved literacy rates. In fact, the correlation is as tenuous as claiming rock music drove literacy.
The fact that the pen's cap was given a hole to prevent choking would actually go on to influence the design of other pens in the future is just amazing.
Update: already verified to be false. But the tactility of the pen is already worth the price I bought it for, along with other aspects of brain activity that can be observed through using the pen.
2:14 You skipped over the first "ball-point" pen, though, which is a pen nib with a steel ball shape on the end to make upwards strokes possible, which also makes it significantly easier to write (especially to write fast) edit: typo
Proud Argentinian here, like Ladislao José Biro (Born Hungarian and then Argentinian nationalized) and his creation "La Birome" 5:18. A true innovator.
Just discovered you, this is the first video I watched. Instantly hooked, very good content. Visuals, information, everything is on point. Enjoy your new sub, very well deserved :)
Need to mention the precision of the ball and tip. The balls are made from tungsten carbide, a very hard material, much harder than steel. The material arrives at Bic facilities in the form of a thin rod, and is then cur into little cylinders. The little cylinders are then put onto grinding/polishing tumbler machines, about 70,000 at a time, along with grinding materials. The material is then tumbled, and every few hours, the cylinders are removed, rinsed off, and returned to the tumblers, but with a finer grade of grinding/polishing material. Multiple steps are required, and after a certain number of hours, a sample is removed and checked for size, smoothness, etc. The entire process takes from 60-72 hours. The tricky part is the precision required: The balls must be very, very round, and very smooth, but not too smooth. If they are too smooth, then cannot pickup the correct amount of ink, and will produce gaps in writing, or if too rough, they produce uneven line widths and smears, because they pickup too much ink. Microscopes are used to determine the smoothness and size of the balls.
That's so interesting! Thank you for sharing. It's funny, my doctor said the same thing: he needed a microscope to determine the smoothness and texture of my balls...
You know meditating deeper on this video, I used to think real technology were the digital and electronically powered machines but with such a fantastically insightful exposition of the creation of bic pen, I now truly understand that technology is the application of insightful knowledge to create devices ( manual or electrical) that make life easier for people.
I think there's still a niche for fountain pens. I love the way there are so many ink shades you can buy, and the ability to vary line thickness gives a lot of opportunity for self-expression.
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Is this your go-to pen or not? - Shoutout to AnyDesk for making this vid possible, get it for free here: www.anydesk.com/primalspace
I prefer writing with a fountain pen when I have to write for some time. But for signatures or quick notes I use Gel and Ball both.
I mostly use pencils
Just saying, because you use Blender (I do too), here are some tips for you: try getting the Flip Fluids addon for blender for more impressive fluid simulations and RBD Lab addon for blender for every other simulation, for more realistic renders have depth of field turned on. Btw GREAT vids keep it up. Channel Name Here out!🖖
Your hypnotised to sponsor when I become a big y tuber i won’t sponsor any useless things I’ll only sponsor myself
@@angus1637yt if you're looking to make a profit off of TH-cam videos, then I mean... good luck
Best part of the pen design is that the hexagonal shape fits a compact cassette, so allowing you to wind up a tape that is loose, without damaging the player, plus you could rewind a tape without wasting precious battery power.
Nostalgia!
Your comment brought up so many memories
@@andy4an Wow. The genius is endless.
duel functionality
Haha yes! This really was the best bonus feature. So nostalgic!
You should have mentioned how the pen's design continued to improve over time, such as how the cap was given a hole to prevent choking if it was lodged in an airway
Maybe you should do your own phukn video? 😂
@BOSS_20125aren't the children supposed to use the pen?
Yeah this video really makes some leaps in logic. The rise in literacy rates being attributed to the pen is absolute BS.
@@qps9380 Not quite the causal relationship of "Ice creams cause increases in drownings" or "Hitler drunk water, therefore we are all like Hitler", but... It probably played some factor, but historically they messed up attributing only the pen to it.
And the original steel ball was replaced with the harder tungsten carbide.
In the UK in the 1960s/1970s Bic also sold pens under the “Biro” trademark. The ballpoint and ink delivery mechanism was the same, but the pen cases were made so that they could be used for multiple refills.
And, now the Bic Cristal is the premium pen having been surpassed by the Bic Round Stick. I guess Polythene is cheaper than polystyrene!
This got me wondering: maybe this is the reason why cursive used to be so important but not any more. If you have a fountain pen that is constantly spilling ink, then it's easier not to lift the pen at all. But BIC pens mean you can write your letters separately without the same worry.
Very observant! 🤔
The reason cursive died is because of ballpoint pens. You can't write properly with one.
@@SanCreatividad-pd1pf See my remark above? Yes, LOVE my fountain pens, & write with them whenever possible, just so long as its fairly good quality paper I'm using. And you be spot on with your ballpoint remark - I'm often told I have beautiful cursive handwriting, but! This is ONLY with a fountain pen. When I attempt ballpoint? > Looks absolutely ghastly! ✒ ✒
while it might be harder to write non-cursive with a fountain pen (I have personally never tried), it is very much possible to write cursive with a ballpoint pen
as a matter of fact, I've *always* used cheap ballpoint pens (almost always the classic bic) and have *always* written in cursive...
I'm pretty sure that's just a matter of habit really
@@martinbachmann6283 I feel the same! While I agree that ballpoint pens get the job done, the fountain pen writes so much smoother and far more satisfying and it makes cursive look much nicer. The ink in Bics is so thick and makes it look splotchy af
7:53 "Marcel [Bich] realized how English-speaking countries were pronouncing his name, so he dropped the H" 😂😂😂
Best line of the whole video
Not uncommon, Alsthom had to drop the H in their name when they went public, as investors found it easier to pronounce; we now know it as Alstom.
The new and improved version could be called the Son of a Bic.
@davidl1329 Bicht, nice!
@@videoinformer clever clever!
This video is the answer to "Sell me this pen".
The price tag helps, too. I write a lot, I got all sorts of different ballpoint pens, and many reasons to prefer others to the Cristal, but being able to buy a twelve-pack of consistent, "more-than-good-enough" pens for less than a loaf of bread? Literati in the 1800s would have killed for that.
Yep! I couldn’t resist buying a pack of these after watching
@@louistrouver2800 You guys dont know the joy of finding the perfect pen. I have done research for days on mechanical pencils and pens. The absolute best all around mechanical pencil is the Staedtler 925-35 along with the Uni Smudge Proof 0.5mm lead. The absolute best pen is the Zebra Sarasa Grand 0.5mm, but with the Zebra Dry Gel refill inside.
Yeah let me get one of them there bitch pens please. I hear the bitch pens are good. (bich)
I got the urge to buy a 60 pack of bic pens but realized i didn't need them its probably free everywhere
It's disappointing you didn't mention the competition with the pencil in this period of pen innovation. Until this pen, the pencil was the dominant writing tool for over a century, and helped literacy rates skyrocket.
The pencil was a lot simpler and less expensive, it also had the ability to correct mistakes with the use of an eraser, often conveniently affixed to the pencil. I will guess the pencil was much more widely used than the Bic pen, and it is still in use to this day. One advantage of the pen, was that the ink could not be easily erased and redone, for example, unlike with a pencil, if you wrote down your signature on a contract, it was very hard to change later which was one of the desirable properties of indelible ink.
Indeed the pencil has been with us for centuries.
"The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance" by Henry Petroski
This is a fun read.
@@e1000sn Yeah, I picked up on that misconception as well, obviously the Bic pen had nothing at all to do with why literacy rates were increasing. It would be a great advertisement for Bic though.
@@e1000sn Yes. Literacy rates in Scotland were historically much higher than in the rest of the world because Scotland introduced its public school system much earlier than anywhere else in the world. These days, literacy rates in Scotland are about the same as elswhere because pretty much every other country also has a public school system.
Wolf of wall street: "Sell me this pen"
BIC: "I don't need to. You already have one in your pocket"
That's genius LOL this comment is underrated
Alternate one: "You've already bought one"
"That'll be 2 dollars, please"
Did I win?!
@@matturner6890 Yes!
@@matturner6890 Yes!
False correlation between literacy rates and the invention of the Bic ballpoint; pencils existed and were cheap. People could write with pencils.
pencils never existed. its just a conspiracy theory
Damn right
it's honestly such a stupid dramatization that it invalidates the entire video
I hate it passionately
Absolutely agree- what a brainless correlation.
I literally don't understand it, like huh? Lol
Fun fact: In Argentina, ballpoint pens are still referred as how Biro initially marketed them: Birome
Yes, it's true.
yet it's not even the same product as the biro pen was unusable on paper
@@ommsterlitz1805 Arguably, they still are.
@@TheReaverOfDarkness Bich improved the design by ten fold and his genius to use a novelty material like plastic and not being greedy like Biro but instead Bich selling it for a reasonable price.
@@ommsterlitz1805 Sounds like they got you fooled like the Mike vs. Ike campaign. That's not how it went down.
I’m old enough to remember one change that was made to the BIC Pen.
When I was a kid, the LID used to be closed off. Now, there’s a hole at the top. I didn’t know why until I got older and found out the reason was because if a child accidentally swallows the lid and it lodges in the throat, there’s a hole to allow for airflow until the lid can be removed. I remember hearing stories of young children who had died because they swallowed the lid.
Ehh, they should have let Darwin's theory of natural selection take its course. :D jk
I remember chewing the pointed lid when I was in grade school.
Hectic. Imagine having swallowed one accidentally, only for the hole in the lid to actually allow air into your lungs until such time as it could be removed.
@@BillAnt You definitely don't have children.
@@THE-X-Force - I actually do, but your mind reading is way off, and lacking a sense of humor. smh
We used to remove the guts and used the pen body as a peashooter in school. The art department had this huge bucket of small, clear plastic rods, used to melt into projects, that fit the pen perfectly and FLEW across a room. What a time we had!
Intended use, I'd argue.
@@foodbag312 Intended use is the ultrasonic whistle through that little hole. But it's classified.
We used spit balls, wadded up saliva soaked paper!😂
We used to remove the ink pipe, scrape the burning fuel from the matchstick top, stuff it into the pen's tip, and burn it over a candle to make a missile-like firework.
We used to shoot rice grains.
Lazslo Biro was a Hungarian-born inventor who lived and developed the pen in Argentina. That’s why in Argentina the pen is called “Birome” unlike anywhere in Spanish-speaking countries.
Also Eduard Slavoljub Penkala was first guy who invented & patented capillary action and hard ink pen back in 1907. and he died in 1922. Pretty sure Biro "stole" his work and improved it later.
"Simplicity is the final achievement"
Hats off for the engineer that made this pen!
Simplicity was also part of making it as cheaply as possible, which is the case on most successful mass produced products.
Great quote - Chopin.
He added nothing unnecessary only things that a pen can work properly with@@BillAnt
as an african this pen is still part of my day to day as a student. THANK YOU BIRO AND BICH!
As a brit, I too used these pens more than any other at school/college/uni too.
No pencil case is complete without one
I still use them often as well. They really are a staple of day-to-day life for so many!
And you have to be African to use this pen during study??? Jeez...I'm human and I'm using it daily on the job... African, European, American, who tf cares about that...
@@BoyKhongklai The mere mention of somebody being from africa makes you angry, how pathetic
@@BoyKhongklai Geez, nothin wrong with saying where you're from.
It’s so ubiquitous as to almost be invisible - yet it’s as iconic an example of 20th century industrial design as the VW Beetle or the Coke bottle.
ye'
Definitely more iconic than a VW Beetle. Cole bottles are also becoming less iconic because of the shift toward plastic bottles, and less use of the original Cole bottle in logos. The bic pen is closer to pencil and paper in how iconic it is.
Difference is that Coke bottles have ruined the planet and increased ways to pollute. A useless product.
Don't you mean, u-bic-uitous?
@@jswajsberg bravo 👏 you win best comment of the day. 😃
Honestly, the sheer amount amount of effort and ingenuity that took to create the fabled ball point pen was the most remarkable aspect for the pen. The pen's design is manufactured so precisely at a time were machines creating plastic were so new that I am honestly amazed that the pen's design has stayed untouched for more than 70 years!
We all know why it sold so well: The tip's texture is extremely pleasurable to chew.
I think I chewed up more bics than that I wrote with till empty.
In elementary school I would ravenously chew on the cap till it was totally unusable then chew on the pen till the pen body shattered. Idk what was wrong w me 😂😂😂
@@mechadonia I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I'm sure pupils chew pens for the same reason some people smoke cigarettes: boredom. Bics are just good for chewing. I tried chewing Parker Jotter pens, but the metal makes the experience unsatisfactory.
Chewing the cap only really worked with the narrow end. Chewing the pen itself starts at the little cap at the opposite end of the ball, until it gets loose and lost, and from that moment things go fast, as the hexagonal plastic soon shatters.
@@mechadonia Switching to metal pens helps. Unless you have teeth like a shark...🤣
To all those who chew pens, you are truly the evil in this world.
Actually that was my father's FIRST pen! I have so many in my house and the design is still the same! An engineering marvel....
Indeed! Seems so simple now, but there's so much more to it. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment - good luck in the giveaway!
@@primalspace indeed! And thanks!
The most puzzling bit to me is that although I can imagine how all the parts of this wonderful construction can be manufactured, it's how the mini-ball, the most crucial component, is fabricated. Especially considering the necessary, unbelievable accuracy and surface quality.
This alone would justify a separate video.
Thanks for this one!
The balls are ground from tungsten carbide bits in tumbling machines. They go through many stages, with finer and finer abrasives over time, to reach the optimal size and coarseness. The balls have to be examined by microscopes to determine size and coarseness. If too coarse, writing is not smooth. If too smooth, the ball will not pickup enough ink to write evenly. The process takes about 72 hours, or 3 days.
@@colinpovey7923 Fascinating, thanks for the explanation 🙏
It used to be said that making a ball point pen was a measure of a country's manufacturing ability.
It is rare to design something so perfectly, the very first time you make it. Kudos to the maker for thoroughly testing, identifying shortfalls and downscaling the pen's price so more people could buy it!
Because the original cap wasn't flattened at the top, you could pull the cap off the pen tip by about 1 inch (25mm), then squeeze the tip between three fingers, which propelled the cap back onto the pen tip, which made it look like the cap was magnetic. I amazed many fellow kids with this trick in the 1960's.
The Ultimate Pen that doubled as a perfect cassette rewinder, a blowgun, and mini table-hockey stick that could also write words. Marvelous.
They also make for good on-the-fly drum sticks.
@@raedwulf61 that too!
They didn't write very well, they were too big to fit cassettes, so really they were just useful as blowguns, table-hockey sticks, and drumsticks. Still versatile, I suppose.
Not to mention chew toy.
In my grade school we had folder binders that used elastic bands to secure themselves shut. Kids would hook the cap on the elastic and pull back on the pen until the cap shot off towards the intended target. Got sent to the principals office a few times for pelting my classmates w those bic pen caps lol.
I've been using this pen my whole life without realizing just how genius it is. Its materials made me think it was extremely cheap and normal. But if you take a moment to appreciate its beauty, you realize how perfect this pen really is. The shape, ink, weight, everything is just perfect. I carry one on me everyday.
I’m a doctor and 48, had been using pen for writing for my job . I would honestly said , this BIC is the world best perfect pen ! I tried Japanese stationary, just name it , any brand I had been using, but , this BIC still my all time favourites ❤
In France, when I was young, we started to learn writing with fountain pain. It was very interesting to improve your griping, patience, cleanliness and carefulness. But at the time I did not have understood that, and I couldn't wait to be allowed to use a ball pen. The massives advantages was so obvious !
Yes - I remember being taught with those (especially, weird ones for left-handers). They were indeed a pain!
This is still in practice in many Indian schools.
1 - 3rd grade - Pencil
4 - 8th grade - fountain pens
After 8th grade - fountain or ball pen
@@G6JPG Nowadays, some fountain pen companies actually make "dedicated-left hand writer" nibs, and at pretty affordable prices too. You might be pleasantly surprised if you tried one of them too! ✒ ✒
@@CJA.MP4 huh??? fountain pen???
@@noobtextwritergamer yeah, the pens which you fill the ink by yourself
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountain_pen
Repeat after me: Correlation does not imply causation.
I think he knew the big shortcut he was taking between bic invention and world literacy. But it makes the video more impactful and marketable.
@@arcaelum2022it also makes it blatantly clickbait and false🤦
Agree. The whole time I was thinking, pencils existed too, way before pens.. and the trajectory of the Bic sales compared to literacy wasn’t even exponential. He compared it to such a long period of time which was steadily increasing 😂
was looking for this
Also known as the _cum hoc ergo propter hoc_ fallacy, for advanced Bic users.
I'm gonna be honest there, this pen probably caused me to view every day objects in a different light when I discovered it at age 4.
My classmates all had fancy fountain pens while I wrote with a Bic pen (because I kept breaking the nibs of the fountain pens)
It was so simple and cheap but still did its job really well, teaching me that being fancy and expensive doesn't always mean it's better at achieving something.
I know right. I am french and we were forced to use fountain pens in my first years of school (it was in early 2000 so not that far away) when it was so bad in comparison to a bic. I am glad they dropped this requirement after primary school
@@uwu_senpai Aye, I'm from The Netherlands and we also were forced to use fountain pens in the 4th and 5th grade.
After the 6th grade that requirement luckily wasn't strict anymore and by the 8th (final year of primary) it was completely "whatever".
Then again, we were also forced to write cursive... But now 10 years or so later, and I rarely write cursive so it feels like I wasted a lot of effort on learning something I wouldn't actually use.
@@FinlayDaG33k cursive is such a pain. "Oh you need it for your signature!" no. no you don't. 95% of the adults who sign crap around me just use squiggles. And you can literally sign with basically *any* symbol you want in the USA. A smiley face? Sure. A penis? might be a tad much and would be heavily frowned upon by a judge or whatever, but technically you could make that your signature.
@@uwu_senpai I too hated to use fountain pens at first when I was forced to in the first half of elementary school but funnily enough now that I’m in university and write pages upon pages of notes a day I rediscovered them, there are some great cheap options out there they’re are sooooo smooth and comfortable to write with compared to how much pressure is needed for a BIC for example.
Additionally they are more environmentally friendly because of the water based inks and ink cartridges/possibility to use bottled ink
@@FinlayDaG33kIm also from NL and hated writing with them, nowadays 12 years later I can’t imagine my life without them and my hand hurts when writing with ballpoints.
Cursive on the other hand is horrible and even when written perfectly is barely readable…at least for me (Im slightly dyslexic). I have created my own fusion between block letters and cursive for more readability but also some hints of cursive for speed advantages (less lifting of the pen).
One thing that surprises me is how no one ever calls it by the brand name. Kleenex, Sharpie, Advil, etc… No one ever says “pass me the Bic” despite it completely dominating the market
They definitely do in France. I'd even say that "un Bic" is more common than "un stylo bille". Maybe not more than "un stylo" though
Well, un stylo Bic would still be correct, non? Since it means "a Bic pen." Un stylo bille just means ball-point pen, right?
Well, "pen" comes from the Italian / Latin "penna", meaning "feather" or "quill", so it had hundreds or thousands of years' head start. Those genericized trademarks are usually used for new technologies. For example, photocopies didn't really exist before the mid 20th century, so Xerox made sense as a name for the new thing. Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen / paracetamol are also relatively new.
their lighters did that though lol
In Argentina, where it was patented, it's divided into "lapicera" and "birome" due to Biró's last name. I'll always call it Birome because an inventor's name inside an invention's name is always badass
I remember making spitwad guns out of these in elementary school. If we got caught, we had to write with a crayon for the rest of the day.
😂😂😂 you just unlocked some great memories!
We used to do the same in our school days
I never bothered making spitwad guns. If only I had your teacher to incentivize me!
Ahh a young risk taker 🫡
That's a brilliant response from the teacher.
You also missed the hole in the lid of the pen which is there in case it gets lodged in someone's throat. They would still be able to breathe (ablbeit with difficulty) until the pen lid was extracted.
That's an improvement made in 1991, before that, the lid was closed (I was born in 1985 and learn to write at around 4yrs old, so I remember well)
Of course, it takes so long to end a bic pen which is used just to take short notes, that the 80's variant was still around even during the 2000's.
@@Jean-Denis_R_R_Loret Yeah, I remember the closed off ones from my father's office in like 2008.
I was actually looking for this comment myself, because if you hadn't mentioned it, I would have. I found out this little fact a couple of years ago on TH-cam. I think the video was titled, "things you didn't know had another use."
I'm such a sucker for designs like these. No moving parts, nothing unnecessary, frankly genius. 10/10 video, please let me win the giveaway :)
Right? So many seemingly simple things in life with great stories like these. Good luck in the giveaway!
No moving parts? The tungsten carbide ball rolls so that you can write.
Bic also created a upper market version of this called the Cristal Renew. It has a metal body and comes with some refills.
If you are writing quickly the ball is moving at hundreds of rpm.
@@tezcanaslan2877 Yeah, I was going to say, one moving part. Just the one, though! And the ink if you're a pedant, but no one likes a pedant. Including pedants.
Fountain pens have no moving parts.
I still want to hear the case for the BIC Crystal being *responsible* for increased literacy.
Correlation does not imply causation, after all.
A pen was not the only writing implement at the time. Wax crayons came around in the early 1900s. Pencils existed since at least the 1660s. Chalk was being used for drawing for about 10,000 years, and making marks in the dirt with a stick is probably as old as _homo sapiens_
I would consider that the increased availability of affordable things to read (newspapers, magazines, and paperbacks) would have had a greater impact on literacy, as would have the existence of public education.
Nevertheless, this does not in any way impugn the fact that the BIC Crystal is a marvel of elegant design!
The author replied in some of the older comments about that.
In short while pencils were widely used at the time, documents required ink and the fact that pens became much cheaper probably does correlate with the increase of literacy.
@@d4cto If you ignore basically every geopolitical event going on. The Hamburger has existed for a while, and during the time they became more popular and fastfood skyrocketed the global life expectancy increased. Does that mean the hamburger increased life expectancy? No. Critical thinking is needed for these things.
@@coolman3074 I understand your point and I totally agree.
I didn't realize how the name would be pronounced in English until I saw it at 7:47. Then within seconds, the narrator explained how they dropped the "H".
The fact that the design haven't changed much really made this pen even more iconic.
Such an interesting, and wise marketing move. I'm not sure I'd have thought about it myself haha
Another thing Primal Space never mentioned is how fountain pens also used capillary action to control their own ink's flow, the ballpoint is just a compressed mechanism for doing the same thing as the nib of a fountain pen in a smaller space, with less material. This is why oil based ink needed to be developed for ballpoint pens at all.
So….how much did pencils cost? Why wouldn’t literacy rates increase b/c of pencils instead of pens?
The proliferation of cheap pens and skyrocketing literacy rates in the 20th century is almost certainly a case of correlation without causation.
The same social and economic pressures that drove both phenomena.
It's actually a pretty bad analysis of mere correlation, given the raw data alone, because the rise in literacy closely follows _before_ the rise of pens. It would make more sense, statistically speaking, to say that the rise in literacy caused people to use ballpoint pens.
Lack of pencil sharpeners spurred development
Modern pencils were invented in 1795. Bic pens likely didn't have a huge effect on literacy, but they definitely facilitated the weird rules around not being allowed to use pencils in specific cases because they "can't be erased".
Because it’s clickbait they changed the pen market but I doubt they affected literacy rates
The design is so simple, yet many intricate parts make it work so well! Knowing how it works and its back story makes it so much more remarkable than I ever thought it would be!
I used to make "lava lamps" out of these. The oil based soap in the school bathroom made a great solvent for the ink. It would melt into the soap, and the clear casing made a great display. Knew what a "BiC Cristal Ballpoint Pen" was since 3rd grade.
I regret not knowing this back then
What about the hole on the side? It was too small to let the liquid through?
Bruh i never know there was THIS MUCH engineering behind a mere thing called 'Pen'
it's utterly amazing fr.
Bro was really holding himself back with that pronunciation of Marcel Bich 🗿
Haha I caught that too. Very very good scriptwriting to slip that in there.
It might have been developed in the 50's but we started seeing them become common in the 60's.
Honestly, never thought a video about pens could be so interesting! Might have to go get a few. Absolutely crazy the amount of design work that went into this thing!
For real!
I couldn't agree with you better. This is the power of detailed and high quality presentation, it brings out the true value of something that is easily regarded as boring... Kai!!!
As one of those people who still use and enjoy fountain pens, i don't much care to go back to the ballpoint world, but even I have to admit how smart this design was and how important it became
Somehow managed to still be taught writing using a fountain pen, this didn't help improve literacy rates but you damn well made sure to not lose your pen!
But you may have thrown away in anger a good few that leaked ink all over your shirt pocket.
@@richardofoz2167 what r u talking about fountain pens are BETTER than ballpoints
fountain pens are expensive and touchy. that's part of the argument for bic being revolutionary
@@dercooney were...modern ones don't do that. They also write smoother
@@silverscalederg8632 doesn't really matter, unless you're saying that they were around in the 50s
funnily enough the current trend of digitalization in schools has had a negative effect on literacy, although I'm not saying that school should stay purely analog, but clearly digitizing education has to be done the right way
I wish you would have mentioned that the invention happened in Argentina; Biro was an Argentinian national, an immigrant from Hungary.
They're too lazy, these channels are all about ad money & sponsorship deals.
How is that information important? Are you by chance argentinian or hungrian?
@@MrHjacky at some point in the day, we're all "hungrians".
Information registered 😌
@@MrHjacky Because I thought it was weird that the nationaility of other people was mentioned but not his. I am argentinian and I can help mention sth when I think our history is made invisible :)
I just wish you would have mentioned Biro's nationality, (Argentinian born un Hungary) just like you mentioned John Loud's nationality.
Nació en Hungría en 1899, fue a Argentina en 1944, falleció en Argentina en 1985.
7:53 Bruh😂💀
I would love to hear what those people would have said💀💀💀
Isn't it obvious 😂
Wow, I never realized the impact a simple pen could have on the world! This video does an amazing job of highlighting how the Bic pen revolutionized writing and made it accessible to so many people. From its design to its affordability, it's incredible to see how something so small has played a huge role in our daily lives. Great content-thanks for sharing the fascinating story behind such an iconic invention!
The BIC pen is just stunning. In fact, the question is: how many inventions have remained identical to their first prototype?
Simple yet reliable and efficient... But I think we should also thank the man who came up with the sphere pen design!
We have remembered him. In ireland, and I'm sure in other countries. It is called a "Biro" rather than a ball point pen.
He probably stole the idea from someone else and didn't give them credit. Rich business magnates are all scum.
One of the first to see the videos....
Ballpoint pens; the unsung heroes of writing tools! They're not just reliable and durable but also versatile, making them perfect for any writing task. With their professional look and efficient ink usage, they're a must-have in any workspace. Who else can't live without their trusty ballpoint pen?
Me 🙋
🙋🙋🙋
🙋♂️
are you chatGPT?
idk, for fine point give me felt tips. For broader stuff, I've always gone with cartridge pens with a metal quill.
Cheap ballpoint pens are pretty handy though, they definitely have a place. But I for one can certainly live without them.
(Ye olde dip pens aren't that hard to use, just annoying. I always wanted to try a glass one but have only used ones with a metal nib.)
I have used these pens for decades going back to grade school in the 1970's. Now, I use Pliot Precise 0.5mm gel rollers. The ink is more fluid and does not dry up on the tip. This happens sometime with the Bic, though I still have dozens of them!
If this was today, then it surely would be a subscription model.
The Bic pen? Now that's a game-changer. Here in Laayoune (southern Morocco), it's not just a pen, it's a bridge. A bridge between ideas, cultures, across the world. Thanks, Primal Space for the video.
The design is so practical yet simple. It really made me think how easy our lives have become in such a short time frame.
What a fascinating exploration into the impact of the BIC Cristal! It's remarkable to see how a seemingly ordinary tool can have such extraordinary implications for literacy and innovation. This video beautifully illustrates the intersection of design, physics, and global influence, showcasing the power of simplicity in changing the world. Truly inspiring!
This pen is the one of the greatest invention of the world that change the path of the world.
I must say that this pen is more powerful than a nuclear bomb or nuclear weapons and power.
Man, talk about things we take for granted! I never ever looked at this pen as an amazing invention. Boy, did this video changed my outlook on these!
My favorite part was when Primal spoke about the polystyrene design that Marcel took on, Marcel showed great innovation by taking a not yet popularly use material, testing it, and trusting it which ultimately led to others use the material also and being involved in the growth of the material and it’s popularity as a prime variant of plasticity. ✍️
Exactly as you said, the fact that over all the decades the design of the pen barely changed just shows the genius of its creator. Simply an engineering perfection. From now on i will think about it everytime i see one of these (so pretty frequently).
Genius indeed. Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment. Good luck in the giveaway.
The actual reason that the design hasn't changed is because the greedy business magnates who invent this crap have absolutely no idea what will sell. Whatever stuff sells best they worship like its some sort of dark magic, meanwhile they tweak everything else endlessly like it's cursed if it can't reach top sales. BiC Crystal was inferior to every other ballpoint pen design I ever used, and I have used many. So why was it never improved?
the plagesof modern society is that they always want to change things and make them new but sometimes you shouldnt have to make them different
6:01 guys, this is unbelievable. i just had a crazy existential experience. i live in belgium and 20 years ago in school for kids aged 6-12 y/o. there was a word for a pen that we used 'bik' and for exemple if you forgot your pen or bik. then we asked our classmate for a spare pen or bik. BUT NOW i just looked it up and bik is not even an existing word in the languages in Belgium(dutch french) !! even the french ask me for a bik. and it is not an existing word in here!!! when we were young, the word 'bik' was the umbrella term for a pen, pencil, everything that could write!!! cool story to tell my fellow belgians
5:05 🎶In order to master the ball point pen🎶
This video fails to mention the millions of businessmen's dress shirts that were ruined because the pens were prone to leaking in one's pocket.
...And school children's pockets! I grew to hate BIC.
Glad to see your image showing the changes over time included the fact that the original version had a choking hazard closed cap. But at 3:55 you show a pen being operated upside down, pretending that capillary action feeds ball point pens, when it is most certainly gravity that does this, just as it does with fountain pens. Just try to write with your pen upside down. Unless it has pressurized ink (like a Fischer), you will not be able to write all that much without the aid of gravity.
Capillary action does keep the ink from dripping out of ball point pens, but that's no different from how it works in a fountain pen.
Also, the flexibility of the cap was not to absorb impact, but so that it could form an interference fit with the barrel without cracking.
this guy doesn't care about facts, just pumping out video$$$
thanks!!
I think it is wonderful with all of its mechanism with employ the knowledge of physics. Its just perfect
This pen has a great idea. cheap, design with multiple purposes, is compact, durable, without damaging the paper, its just perfect.
Indeed! Thank you for watching and good luck in the giveaway!
This is so intriguing. I always took this simple pen for granted, but never knew that its design was this carefully constructed to millimeter precision 😮 The hexagonal shape was something I never really understood until now. Thanks so much for this! 🙌🏾
And thanks for watching! So glad that you enjoyed learning more about this seemingly simple item. Good luck in the giveaway!
"This pen has no moving parts"
> Opens pen
> Finds ball bearing
> Moving parts
Joking aside very well done animations
*I am from India and after 25 years this is the first time I have seen this pen.*
Sometimes thinking outside the box is needed to solve problems. Just like trying to change the pen design didn't solve the problem, but changing the ink's recipie was the key breaktrhough. Its insane that this time chemistry helped to change the world
like all the other times
As a retired industrial designer, I find stories like this fabulous and inspiring. I graduated from high school in 1975. The BIC crystal pen was ubiquitous throughout my school years. There are many more choices now, but I'll always remember chewing on the soft cap of a BIC will taking exams...
Jordan Belfort: "Sell me this pen"
Primal Space:
This pen got me through HS - I wrote tiny cheat sheets and inserted them into the barrel of this style pen. The plastic also acts as a magnifying glass enlarging your cribbed text (I could write very small w/ a sharp pencil) making it easy to read. Bonus - since you are looking at where you are writing your answers on the paper, you are also looking where your cheat sheet is. You have several pens w/ different sheets and change them during the test when your pen mysteriously won't write- so you exchange for one of your other pens with a new set of notes :) you're welcome students!
honestly, i have used it. but never appreciated it because of mainly the fact that there were many other pens that were better. but after seeing this video, i truly appreciate it now :)
I think Marcel Bich should be given Nobel prize for that
Unfortunately, he is 30 years deceased. Post-mortem Nobel prizes are very stigmatized by the Nobel Foundation.
@@tasteslikewall oh no :(
PRESIDENT TRUMP DESERVES ONE FIRST BUT CROOKED CORRUPT LIBS AT NOBLE PRIZE AGENCY REFUSE TO HONOR HIM FOR INVENTING COVID VACINE AND SAVING WORLD INSTEAD THEY GIVE PRIZE TO AL GORE!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!! AL GORE IS LOSER WHO LOST ELECTION!!!
@@tasteslikewall *posthumous 🤓
For what? Scamming the market with an inferior pen design? The real question is why anybody paid for these when better pens were readily available for free!
I still remember being in primary school in Australia in the late 1960s we were still writing with quills with ink wells in each of the desks and then seeing the first of the biros being advertised on television
Wow, you had quill pens *and* television at school at the same time? In the USA we had it the opposite: all fountain pens were a vestige of the past by the time schools even owned a TV. At first, the schools would have like three total TVs which they would wheel around on a cart so each classroom could "rent" a TV to show educational films. The school building wasn't even equipped with television cables.
@@TheReaverOfDarknessHe means they had TVs either at home or in shops at that time, not in schools.
@@Ggdivhjkjl oh! D= I dumbed out there for a moment because my household didn't have a TV when I was a kid.
@@TheReaverOfDarkness TV mum and dad only rented in the school holidays as a treat :)
As a kid I would pull out the ink stick and put it backwards into the barrel. You can swing it and the ink tube sticks out like those old lightsaber toys.
😂😂 another childhood memory unlocked!
Anyone old enough to remember when these things leaked into our shirt pockets, despite the "revolutionary" capillary design? Yeah, that' happened a lot back in the 70's and 80s.
That's why they now have a gel backstop. Also they aren't meant to be shaken backwards.
@@N0Xa880iUL These pens have a cap with a built-in clip for your pocket. The pen has NO choice but to face upward when capped correctly. Nobody's "shaking" them...
@@NorthernChev No I meant, in winters where people shake them to get working again.
@@N0Xa880iUL OOoooooohhh! Yep. You're right.
Under circumstances they could leak under some circumstances. Much less likely though than than most fountain pens ('vacuum fill' fountain pens are much improved)
My absolute favourite pen. Stack a few papers underneath to soften the paper up. *chefs kiss*
Thank you for another amazing video before I even watch! 🇨🇦
It really is the best! Thanks so much for watching!
Now those pens are ultra cheap and ultra efficient. we will never run out of pens.
so true.
Especially that some 5 (five) years ago China figured out how to make all components. See: serpentza, laowhy86.
Thank you! It is a wonderful thing to know about this pen. Never knew it had such a great history.
So glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for watching and good luck in the giveaway!
3:07 "this turned out to be a stroke of genius..."
Well written.
The hexagonal shape was also great for rewinding cassette tapes!
Yes !! I figured I was not the only person who discovered that use for them.
Agree,I used the bic pen to rewind my cassette.
Who would have thought that something so simple would do so much!
this video is great. Never knew this about this pen until now
A single pen saved the world. Incredible.
Not really, pencils were a thing long before that
There's absolutely no proof that BiC pens were the main driver for improved literacy rates. In fact, the correlation is as tenuous as claiming rock music drove literacy.
Nice one 😄
Don't be a sucker, this video is just a BIC advertisement hidden behind a 'documentary'.
@@TheNinetySecond Actually, there is data to show that rock music improved literacy rates. We also have null data to show that BiC pens didn't.
Another design feature is the hole in the lid which meant a child was less likely to suffocate if the lid got lodged in their throat.
The fact that the pen's cap was given a hole to prevent choking would actually go on to influence the design of other pens in the future is just amazing.
I bought this pen recently because of the thumbnail. Let us hope it lives up to it.
Plus, I need to verify the statistics.
Update: already verified to be false. But the tactility of the pen is already worth the price I bought it for, along with other aspects of brain activity that can be observed through using the pen.
2:14 You skipped over the first "ball-point" pen, though, which is a pen nib with a steel ball shape on the end to make upwards strokes possible, which also makes it significantly easier to write (especially to write fast)
edit: typo
*ball
Proud Argentinian here, like Ladislao José Biro (Born Hungarian and then Argentinian nationalized) and his creation "La Birome" 5:18. A true innovator.
0:33 why change something that does exactly what one expects it to do
Just discovered you, this is the first video I watched. Instantly hooked, very good content. Visuals, information, everything is on point. Enjoy your new sub, very well deserved :)
Wow, I didn’t know that. Now I know the backstory that I never thought to look for.
Definitely makes you look at the "simplest" things in life a little differently. Thanks so much for watching.
Yeah no, this pen's design and sales didn't change literacy rates. Literacy rates changed this pen's sales.
Shut up hater.
Need to mention the precision of the ball and tip. The balls are made from tungsten carbide, a very hard material, much harder than steel. The material arrives at Bic facilities in the form of a thin rod, and is then cur into little cylinders. The little cylinders are then put onto grinding/polishing tumbler machines, about 70,000 at a time, along with grinding materials. The material is then tumbled, and every few hours, the cylinders are removed, rinsed off, and returned to the tumblers, but with a finer grade of grinding/polishing material. Multiple steps are required, and after a certain number of hours, a sample is removed and checked for size, smoothness, etc. The entire process takes from 60-72 hours.
The tricky part is the precision required: The balls must be very, very round, and very smooth, but not too smooth. If they are too smooth, then cannot pickup the correct amount of ink, and will produce gaps in writing, or if too rough, they produce uneven line widths and smears, because they pickup too much ink. Microscopes are used to determine the smoothness and size of the balls.
That's so interesting! Thank you for sharing.
It's funny, my doctor said the same thing: he needed a microscope to determine the smoothness and texture of my balls...
I think I'm beginning to understand why non-BIC pens fail to write so often, and always at the most crucial time needed to write down vital info.
You know meditating deeper on this video, I used to think real technology were the digital and electronically powered machines but with such a fantastically insightful exposition of the creation of bic pen, I now truly understand that technology is the application of insightful knowledge to create devices ( manual or electrical) that make life easier for people.
"and the cap is perfect for cleaning your ear" (7:31)
Ball point pen is my favourite pen ever.
I'm gay too buggy lol
I agree bro
🙌🙌🙌
I think there's still a niche for fountain pens. I love the way there are so many ink shades you can buy, and the ability to vary line thickness gives a lot of opportunity for self-expression.
@@XxZeldaxXXxLinkxX Yeah also fountain pens are extremely collectible and have high emotional value.
4:16 "All the animations in this video were made on a macbook but rendered on a personal computer" isn't a macbook a pc too?
You meant 4:18?
No, i didn't. That's a 2 second difference. And at 4:18 you're a bit too far.@@tycoonsandsimulators904
Correct but some people also consider computers running windows a PC
Apple users trying to be quirky as usual.