The ballpoint pen is a much loved (and often, much too casually discarded) invention.

In OTL, it took until the late 1930s for László Bíró to improve upon some existing ballpoint pen concepts with his own patent. Then, in the 1950s, French enterpreneur Marcel Bich bought the rights to produce Bíró style ballpoint pens and started producing them en masse under the now-famous Bic brand. They were produced in very high quality, at low prices, creating a real ballpoint pen revolution after the second world war. Nowadays, we can hardly imagine going back to fountain pens, whenever we still need to use ballpoint pens for writing by hand.

However, the first person to patent a ballpoint pen was John J. Loud, in issuing his patent on the 30th of October 1888. Due to his pen being an early take on the concept it had some design imperfections, despite showing promise. It was also created for more specialised, workshop-oriented tasks: Writing on harder materials, such as leather and wooden surfaces. Loud was frustrated by the flaws of using fountain pens or brushes for a task like that, and thus developed his own specialised pen for such a purpose. The earliest of ballpoints. The system he used was that of a small rotating steel ball, held in place by a socket. However, as Loud himself noted, his ballpoint was still a bit too rudimentary for good enough use for writing on paper, so if it was to move away from its strict specialisation, it would need further improvement. It wasn't pursued much, and the idea largely faded into obscurity.

This is where the POD discussion comes in.

What if Loud's patent hadn't fallen by the wayside ? What if he or someone else had perfected it, with the best manufacturing techniques available in the late 19th century ?

Would it be feasible to manufacture Loud ballpoint pens with 1890s technology, at an adequate level of quality ? Thus getting ballpoint pens into reasonably common (albeit possibly not ubiquitous) use several decades earlier than in OTL.

What would be the major technological or economic stumbling blocks of trying to improve Loud's patent and radiate it out into more public use ? Would the precision manufacturing of the day be up to the task ?
 
Seems like it would be more of an aesthetics change than a truly history altering event, unless of course I'm unaware of how important ball point pens have been in historical events or advancing industry.

Daily life, throughout many decades. Imagine if we were still using the same old fountain pens, well into the Information Age. I think ballpoint pens were crucial in science and engineering institutions, including those that made things like computing advances (which led to the digital age) and advanced militaries (modern air forces, modern armies) possible at all. To think that ballpoint pens have been something utterly unimportant is like saying motorism has been an unimportant blip in human technological innovation.
 
Daily life, throughout many decades. Imagine if we were still using the same old fountain pens, well into the Information Age. I think ballpoint pens were crucial in science and engineering institutions, including those that made things like computing advances (which led to the digital age) and advanced militaries (modern air forces, modern armies) possible at all. To think that ballpoint pens have been something utterly unimportant is like saying motorism has been an unimportant blip in human technological innovation.

I agree, but this is the kind of WI whose effect is impossible to determine.
 
Come on, guys and gals, there must be at least some reasonable PODs in politics, work habits, culture, etc. if these sorts of pens are introduced sooner. If they proof good enough to displace fountain pens earlier, the divergences could be subtle, but noticeable.

In OTL, air force pilots complained of fountain pen issues while flying at higher altitudes. By the time WWII was in full swing, ballpoint pens were perfected enough to be viable for mass production for air force members. Including the likes of the British RAF, its bomber crews in particular. Imagine WWI spotter pilots in planes and airships already using ballpoint pens... Might have an effect on how well they can keep records, diminishing potential losses of accurate records or timely made records to pen malfunctions, ink spills, etc. Earlier ballpoints could really make a bit of a difference on that front. This is a pre-digital, pre-electronic age. The pen is an almighty and indispensable tool. If one improves it significantly, the repercussions could be bigger than they seem at first glance.
 
It's interesting but you have to bring pencils into the equation for any notable effect to be discussed. Engineers, soldiers, writers all have used pencils as much as they have pens. My first stories I wrote in pencil, for example.
 
It's interesting but you have to bring pencils into the equation for any notable effect to be discussed. Engineers, soldiers, writers all have used pencils as much as they have pens. My first stories I wrote in pencil, for example.
This is a good point.
Why weren't pencils used by those complaining about ink pens?
Or did they and it was just the impermanence aspect that was a disadvantage? And probably resharpening.
In any case early ballpoints would go first to where normal ink pens don't work.
 
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