SensoryMetrics

In 1941 a ballpoint pen cost $9. With such a high cost, trusty Consumer Reports built this pen testing machine to compare how long different brands of pens would last. Nearly 70 years later, consumers are still being pillaged by the ink cartridge pirates…

A short history of ink gouging:
1888 – John J. Loud gets patent for un-manufacturable ballpoint pen
1938 – The Biro brothers of Hungary patent a manufacturable pen – pens cost hundred$
1960 – BIC battles the ink pirates – begins selling the ubiquitous 29 cent pen
1984 – Ink jet printers are introduced

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