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Beta
The cheap pen that changed writing forever
Combining functionality with affordability
The first generation of ballpoint pens cost around 55 shillings (£82.50/$107.50 in 2020 prices). It was in the same style as fountain pens. They were made of metal and intended to be refilled with ink. But with so many companies selling it, the market became saturated, buying refills, but not more pens.
Italian-born French industrialist Michel Bich added the catalyst of disposability. He understood the concept of the mass market and created his new company, Societe Bic. His pen only cost a shilling.
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Key Ideas
“If something is important enough, even if the odds are stacked against you, you should still do it.”
Elon Musk
Hustle Early In Life
Elon Musk (Founder Of Spacex, Tesla Motors And Contributor To Paypal): Musk, at 12 years old, taught himself to code and sold a game he made for $500. When he moved to Canada, he worked odd jobs including tending vegetables, shoveling out grain bins, and cleaning out gunk from a boiler room in a lumber mill.
In university, Elon sold computer parts to make extra cash and turned his 10 bedroom fraternity home into a nightclub on the weekends and charged a cover. Since then, he’s built several companies, including SpaceX, Tesla Motors, PayPal, and zip2.
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Key Ideas
The Philosophy of The Nordic Design
Nordic philosophy has a deep respect for functionality, clean lines, and longevity. Nordic design is created to be in harmony with its environment and a direct result of the region's cl...
Moving from Art Nouveau towards Art Deco
In 1915, a Danish company for decorative arts launched a magazine to promote local craftsmanship.
It was made to compete against the Art Noveau movement. Social commentary pressed more on the arts, which paved the way for Art Deco - an industrially-driven design philosophy.
The Golden Age of Scandinavian Design
- In the 1930s, artists, inspired by the concepts of Constructivism, Functionalism, and Surrealism, paved the way for Nordic design's iconic milestones.
- In the 1950s, the Lunning Prize (an equivalent of Nobel Prize) hailed exemplary designers who have given valuable contributions to Nordic Design from 1951 to 1970.
- In 1954, a traveling exhibition comprised of the region's best designs landed in the United States and Canada and influenced the American culture.
- In Denmark, Danish design thrived during the 1940s to the 1960s and created its own flavor, abandoning grandeur ornamentation in pursuit of form and function.
- After WWII, Danish design has become a democratic movement, where makers turn to mass-producing natural raw materials such as ceramics, wood, and leather.
- While the popularity declined in the 1970s, it had an upturn a decade later.
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Key Ideas
The Escalator
The Escalator, or ‘moving stairs’ is an infrastructural technological development which is actually a trademark, a brand that became so common that its name became a ‘trademark genericide’, just li...
Escalators: New Tech For Infrastructure
The new technology of escalators transformed not just how the walking person is transported in a building, but the way architecture itself is designed, and created fluid transitions without the limits of the sky or ground.
The Moving Stairs
Nathan Ames, an inventor, applied for the patent in 1859 for the first kind of moving stairs, with a belt attached with three wheels, and powered by kinetic energy. This was never built.
As the 19th century came to an end, there were improvements in the way people lived and worked, facilitating the development of malls, skyscrapers, and electric subway trains. The print and photography industry paved the way for better advertising of products and services.