Editing The Pen Addict 397/transcript (section)

== Platinum Curidos Mechanism Details ==


'''Myke Hurley:''' Yep. Okay. But then to get to the, then you have to do the same thing again with what's left. So you're left with like the refill attached to the nib mechanism. You have to then do that again to be able to expose where the refill goes.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Okay. I've never seen such a convoluted system before. Mm-hmm. And it's very curious to me as to why it is the way that it is. Okay. They've, this, this actually goes towards my biggest problem with this pen. Mm-hmm. They have over-engineered it. Okay. So this isn't an issue. Like I just find it like a funny thing, the way that you get the refill into it. But the over-engineering where this pen falls down is the backside of this pen. So towards the nib end, there is like basically what looks like a vent. You will have seen this in pictures and stuff, right?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yes, yes, yes, yes.

'''Myke Hurley:''' And what, what that vent is for is because when you have engaged the nib, right? So you've, you've, you know, you've, you've clicked the knob and engaged the nib. Yep. The little door that creates the seal. Very proud of that seal. Very proud of it. For some reason, it has like a protrusion on the back of the door. Yes. Which leaves the pen body through the hole that they have created.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That's the part I need to see in person. Yep. I'm with you. But yes.

'''Myke Hurley:''' That makes this pen incredibly uncomfortable to hold.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Right. Because it is completely in the way. And it's not just me. Adena's having the same problems. It's not just like a left-handed problem. There is kind of nowhere to really comfortably hold this pen. Mm-hmm. Because then they have the clip. And I took the clip off and that made it easier. Mm-hmm. But there's too much going on on this pen.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' If I described it, this is the picture I have in my head. And I don't know if you'll understand or even the listeners will understand. If I describe this as, do you know those, it's basically like a, almost like a portable sailboat or like a portable kayak. Where you have a rudder that is, you can pull it into the body of the boat. And then you can, when it's time to have the rudder, you push it down and it protrudes out from underneath the boat. And then you can, okay. So it's like that design, right? Yeah. That's what it's like. That's a thing. That's a real thing. I need to see this. Or I need to hold this.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. I'm a little disappointed by it. Because I, I really like this pen. Like it's weird and fun and it actually looks pretty good.

'''Myke Hurley:''' But it's, it's just not good to hold. Mm-hmm. And that's, that's a problem. Sure. For a $90 pen.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' That's always the problem with the retractable pen. It's over-engineered because it has to be to exist.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Because it's incredibly difficult to engineer.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yes. This is why we don't see a lot of these on the market. This is why we're so excited to get something like this, right? Yeah. Because, man, this is hard to do. And did they really do it? And maybe, you know, maybe, you know, I, but you're not the first one to say that.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Talk a little bit about the clip, if you will.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Well, I don't have a ton to say on it. The clip is-

'''Brad Dowdy:''' It's removable. It comes on and off, right? Is it easy to, to, to make that happen? I really, really struggled to get it off.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I've heard, okay. This is why I'm asking because I've heard this. I don't understand what the tool that they included was supposed to do. Like, I had to basically wrench it off, like, myself. Like, I had to, like, get, like, a, a, something thin and thinner and slide it underneath the clip to pop it off. The tool that they included was, was useless for me. Like, I couldn't, I couldn't use it. I didn't understand. Because also, I don't know if this is normal, but there were no instructions in the box on how to remove it anyway. So I had to kind of just work it out on my own. So maybe there was a way to do it with the tool that they included, but I couldn't work it out. So I just had to, like, basically pry it off there.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, so I've gotten a message from a little birdie who has already broken their pen because of that mechanism. You know, the additional little part and removing the clip and has already snapped the clip or part of the barrel trying to remove it. So I really want to see, like, we're not done with the Curidas yet. We have a lot of work to do on this pen.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I would say I'm actually able to use this pen for longer periods of time than the Vanishing Point because the Vanishing Point gave me nowhere to hold. But when I can, like, there is a way in which I can hold this pen for longer periods of time, but it's not the way I would naturally hold a pen. But I could never find a way to do it with the Vanishing Point because so much of the body had the clip on it, right? Where, like, if I just hold this pen a little bit higher than I normally would, I can use it. But it is, when it is wrong, it is significantly more uncomfortable. It's actually painful to hold this pen where I can have that problem with the Vanishing Point, right? So, like, there are higher highs and lower lows compared to the Curidas to the Vanishing Point. Another funny thing to me is, it very typically takes me, like, two attempts to actually engage the knock on this pen because it's so much longer than you expect it will be. So, you're not used to the travel that it takes to engage it? So, like, I push it down maybe, like, four-fifths of the way because it's already at that level significantly more than any other pen, but it's still not enough. So, I very frequently, I pick it up and I, you know, I do this, right? And that didn't do it. That was, like, a quarter of the way, right? So, like, I'm very frequently, like, I have to put, you have to put a lot more into it than normal.

'''Myke Hurley:''' This is, uh, the nib is fantastic. Right? I would expect nothing less. Yeah. It's tiny. Sure. But it is superb. I got a fine. I really wanted to test myself with it. So, I got a fine nib. It's a steel nib. And it's superb. I'm just really disappointed about, about that, the protrusion on the back. I wonder if it would be better if it wasn't, like, like a, like a two, I'm trying to think of the way, like a valley that they created, basically. Where it's, like, it's, it's, like, two planes with a hole in the middle. I wonder if they just completely enclosed it, if it would be a little more comfortable to hold. Mm-hmm. Um, or maybe if they just made the entire bottom of the pen a little bit thicker to include it. Or basically found a way to not have to have a piece fly out the back. I can't work out, looking at the mechanism, Brad, why they even needed to do this anyway. Right. My only thinking is, it's, like, to keep it closed. That, hmm, maybe so when you've got the pen upside down, the door doesn't open. But, yeah, maybe. But this is the part that they have cheaped out on compared to the vanishing point. Right. So the vanishing point has a door, right? But it's obviously more complicated than the Platinum's one. The Platinum one. And it might, it may have been that, like, for them to achieve their big thing that they wanted to achieve, which is this, like, six months it will continue writing thing. That's what they had to do. But it might be that the reason this pen sits down for six months is because I don't want to use it.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Right? So, like, you know, you can tell me, oh, you can pick it up six months later and it will still work. That's great. But maybe that's because it pains me to use the pen. Right. So I don't pick it up for a few months at a time. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So I think we're learning that, you know, making a retractable fountain pen is hard. And it's what are you willing as a company and as an engineering team to sacrifice? Because you're going to have to make some type of sacrifice to make a retractable fountain pen. What are you willing to take? Where are you willing to take your stands during that design process? Right. I'm just, I would love to see how Platinum think people hold this pen.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Well, I can't wait to get one. Like, I need to see this. Hopefully I'll see one in Baltimore for sure and get some feedback on that myself. I'm anxious because, yeah, I'm super curious now.

'''Myke Hurley:''' But this is a pen that I'm happy to own because of its peculiarities now. Absolutely. I'll totally own it. The Curitas is at its way into pen addict infamy, you know? Yes. Without a question. But it is a much better pen than any other pen that is in that hall of infamy. Right? Like, this is actually an excellent pen. Yes. With some significant drawbacks. Yeah. And I would love to see a, like, Curitas 2 where they can refine this process. And I believe they can. But I want to see that happen because they were so close, Brad. Like, I'm telling you right now, if it did not have this protrusion on the back, this rudder system that it has, I would 100% flat out fully endorse and recommend this pen. Gotcha. Because it's weird. It's got some cool colors. The mechanism to get to the refill is just, like, a funny thing. Right? Like, it's just, like, this is hilarious. Every time you're filling it, it's, like, this six-stage process. Like, you're cleaning a rifle or something. Right? Like, it's, like, this whole to-do. And then the knock is weird. Like, it's weird but in a fun way. But, and then the performance of the pen itself is fantastic. It has that idea of you can just leave it for a while, which is just, like, a cool performance thing for it to have. But then when you're picking up the pen to use it, I mean, it doesn't hold up. And that's the key thing. Right? Right. Yeah.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' You want to be able to write with it every day. You do. And if they've created this pen for the workers, right, which is what they have, young workers. These are people that should be using their pens all day.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I couldn't use this pen all day.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. And it's, let's be honest, as much as we like the price, it is not an inexpensive pen by any stretch of the imagination. Especially if they're going to market it the way they sound like they're going to market it. This is an investment for a lot of people. And if you're making that type of investment, you, like you said, you want it all day, every day. Agreed. Yep.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. So, we'll see. We'll see. I'm intrigued to see what the general consensus is. I know I actually have this pen early, right? Like, I know that they're not, it's not easy to get your hands on it immediately right now. I don't think there are a lot of stores that are carrying it, but choosing keeping was. So, I had it for basically a week. And I've been using it every day. And it was such a shame for me because at first my notes were like, this thing's amazing. I can take the clip off and hold it however I want. And then just like over the days, like I had to keep deleting those lines and rewriting them. Like at first it was like, oh, I have to hold it like a little bit differently. And then it just became like, I can't hold this pen.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah. I think it's going to be a thing. I'm upset about it. So, Curidas, maybe to no choosing keeping, definitely yes.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Nice.