Mighty Pen? Might Be.

Kickstarter has gotten some bad publicity recently. Doubts about several high-profile projects have caused some anxiety over the crowd-funding gold rush. But the future of Kickstarter is a topic only time will answer. So far, my experiences with Kickstarter have all been positive: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Robotic Edition, The Hall of Very Good, 162Pixels 2012 Baseball Statographic Book, and most recently, The Pen Project. To be fair, aside from the pen, the other projects are books, two of which are electronic, and not hardware.

The Pen Project

My handwriting is partially to blame, no doubt. And the Pen Project and Space Pen use the same cartridge,  but I’ve really come to like my unique pen over the last month.

It did take some getting used to. It’s hard and made of metal, and completely smooth, but feels very nice to hold in your hand. There are no parts to break off, unlike my graveyard of pen caps and buttons. No little bits of plastic to wear out.

On the whole, the Pen Project is everything I think Kickstarter should be: unique, solid ideas come to life. It was made using local shops and craftsmen. And it has a core component, the Space Pen cartridge, which should continue to be available for a very long time to come. Given that the pen is designed to last many years, this is a good feature, preferable to a solution that only works for one pen.

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