On 23 Jun 2006, at 11:14 AM, A. Pagaltzis wrote:
You know the clichéd anecdote about how the US space programme
spent millions of dollars creating a pen that can write upside
down and underwater when they discovered that normals pens don't
work in zero G, and the Russians just used pencils?
Yes, but...
The lesson of this anecdote is a valid one, that we
sometimes expend a great deal of time, effort, and
money to create a "high-tech" solution to a problem,
when a perfectly good, cheap, and simple solution is
right before our eyes. The anecdote offered above
isn't a real example of this syndrome, however.
Fisher did ultimately develop a pressurized pen for
use by NASA astronauts (now known as the famous
"Fisher Space Pen"), but both American and Soviet
space missions initially used pencils, NASA did not
seek out Fisher and ask them to develop a "space
pen," Fisher did not charge NASA for the cost of
developing the pen, and the Fisher pen was
eventually used by both American and Soviet
astronauts.
http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp
But by all means don't let that get in your way.
--
Chris Devers
