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[RRE]pens -- an alternative viewpoint
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Date: Wed, 16 Sep 1998 11:44:10 -0400 (EDT)
>From: Barry Wellman
A PEN FOR YOUR THOUGHTS -- AND SHIRT POCKET WARDROBE
I read Phil Agre's recent RRE writings about the search for a perfect pen with surprise. I didn't know that any academic actually pays for pens. As an avant-postmodernist, I know that's what conference-going is for. Sheraton, Hilton, et al. go out of their way to be well-stocked. Their pens are good; I actually like them better than Phil's recommended V7). More importantly, the diversity of corporate colors means that conference-goers can pretty much match their shirt pockets with a similarly-colored pen. (I've been having a bit of a problem matching with Taupe though.)
I've gotten to the point that I choose my conferences by the color of pen available. 800 numbers allow me to get this information for free. Once they get over their surprise at the question, hotel operators always have this information at hand -- literally.
The basic brand differences are between barrel-and-separate-cap combos marked either "Bic" or "USA" (perhaps to capture pro-American/anti- French chauvinists). Within these families, the pens are constructed identically. Yet the colors do vary. My favorites in the mass market are the Bics with same-colored dark cap and barrel: navy-blue Hyatt (am I deluded or is their ink better?) and the new all-black Hilton (San Francisco Hilton Towers, 8/98).
To further complicate things, Sheraton/Toronto Centre non-standardly offers an all-grey pen. It is not clear yet whether the recent corporate takeover of Sheraton (including its linking with Westin) will spill over into pen politics.
The Hyatt is the best choice because it has black ink to the Sheraton's blue ink. As no one (except for Phil Agre?) actually uses pens to write nowadays, black ink is superior for photocopying marked up articles and books.
Of the two-tone Bics, Ramada is bright red, Radisson is dark red, Hampton Inn is medium blue, Marriot Courtyard is forest green, and Embassy Suites is a slightly brighter green. The barrel is always white in these, except for the hotel's name. The exception is Doubletree which has a translucent barrel. It is ugly but I value it for the hard-to-match Ecru top.
The two-tone USA-brand pens are the Hilton's robins-egg blue (pretty by itself but a difficult color to match with shirts), the Sheraton's dark grey cap with white barrel, and isolated pens from the Miami International Hotel and the Burbank Airtel Plaza.
The PITA for all of these pens is that their separate caps and barrels hinders those of us who eschew Palm Pilots and use small paper pads for taking notes on the run. The winners here are the Loews chain (at least their Montreal Vogue) and the Indiana Memorial Union. They use one-hander click pens (IU's is marked "Papermate"). Of course, what you gain in handiness you lose in ink supply, but there is always another conference to attend for resupply. Hmnn, I wonder what the Westin Seattle will use for CSCW98.
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