Correction: at 5:25 I say "100 billion sales" but the graphic only shows 10 billion. That was a typo, the correct figure is 100,000,000,000. This was definitely the fault of somebody who isn't me. Join membership: ua-cam.com/channels/GHDQtN_vzFYJaq_Fx1eikg.htmljoin Second Channel: ua-cam.com/channels/t93hxFmjppL5nLRAX94UrA.html Merch: qxir.creator-spring.com/ Patreon: www.patreon.com/qxir Twitter: twitter.com/QxirYT Facebook: facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091768766293 Instagram: instagram.com/qxiryt/ Tiktok: www.tiktok.com/@qxiryt Discord: discord.gg/jZzvvwJ Twitch: www.twitch.tv/qxiryt/ Subreddit: www.reddit.com/r/Qxir/
i think the most surprising part(s) of all of this is that: 1) the guy bought the patent rather than trying to steal or copy it 2) for a fair price rather than try and swindle them 3) went on to develop and engineer a superior product 4) has sold it for a completely reasonable price for 70+ years 5) has maintained the same or better level of quality and lifespan for 70+ years if only all of these were the rule rather than the exception...
Qxir skipped a bit there since wikipedia states that ”In 1943, the Biro brothers licensed their invention to Eversharp Faber in the United States for $2 million. In 1944, entrepreneur Marcel Bich acquired the rights.” But anyway, 2 million US dollars in 1943 is equivalent to 34 million US dollars in 2024. So yes, that was a fair price.
1. So, not Bill Gates 2. So, really not Bill Gates 3. So, definitely not Bill Gates 4. So, positively not Bill Gates 5. So, absolutely not Bill Gates So, be like Bich, not Bill. Got it.
I remember back on the 90's here in the Philippines, that exact pen's primary use was to rewind and forward cassette tapes when cassette tapes were still big here
For those of a certain age that remember the cassette tape, the Bic Cristal was the perfect size to advance the little spools on the cassette. It even made a useful method to rewind/fast forward the cassette by twirling it like a football rattle (also for those of a certain age)
Oh yeah... back in high school in the 1990s, rechargeable batteries weren't so great or cheap yet, and of course, we were broke, because we were in high school. Also, a lot of cheap portable cassette players didn't even _have_ a rewind function - only fast-forward. So, enter the bic pen.
One thing I find interesting about the design is that it's timeless. The design is about pure function. The functionality dictated the appearance. Because of that it does not look like it belongs to any particular era or esthetic. It just stands on its own as a top tier example of exemplary industrial design.
"Writes first time, every time" was an early '60's marketing slogan. Being a kid, when mine stopped writing, I wrote BIC a letter and received another pen.
@@Greenious I doubt I had another pen at the time, so I probably used a pencil. First class postage was a nickle then, so I can't swear that I remember.
Also remember the TV adds of the time : Shoot it from a riffle into some hard wood. It still work. Attach one to the skate of a figure skater who perform a full long program. It still work. And a few other.
I was in junior high in '69 The pens were sold at the student store. The little front piece that held the little ball and that the ink tube fit into was all metal - now a lot of it is plastic.
I have a bill in my collection that would have been 10^18 pengo. A hilariously enormous number to be attached to money and still collectively worthless. By comparison my 10^14 Zimbabwean dollar bill is worth its weight in gold. 10^18 is so large if you had 10^18 units of a currency worth something instead of nothing you would be cartoonishly wealthy. For example if you had 10^18 units of a currency worth $0.00001 USD each you could buy Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft and still be the richest person in history by cash reserves by a laughably huge margin.
The 10^18 pengo bill was after they had already made 1 million pengo equal to one new unit called the milpengo and the bill was a milliard (trillion) of those.
I think the reason why the bic cristal has remained so popular is that it began as a good pen and has resisted the urge to cheapen itself in some ill-conceived cost cutting measure. They're still made to a high standard and sold at a reasonable price. Well done, Bic.
I remember buying a 20 pack of cheap chinese made imitation pens from Woolworths here in Australia, and was frustrated at how terrible they were, with the ink failing to maintain a consistent line, and then starting to leak: Absolutely disgusting, why would they sell people such crap.. Never again!
@@sachabinky2915 I've tried the Papermate version and found that the Bic Cristal was just better. I didn't like the feel of the barrel on the Papermate (it felt like soft plastic) and it was thinner than the Bic. This made it harder to comfortably hold.
Although, I'm strangely nostalgic for the earlier ones where the body of the nib was entirely brass - 'modern' ones only have a small brass centre overmoulded in a faux-brass polypropylene.
Those hungarian brothers actually lived in Argentina. They invented the ballpen in Buenos Aires and we call it birome just because it's an acronym of both last names (Byro and Meyer). As Argentinian we are extremely proud of calling it ours
When I got my first proper job as an adult I managed to write one completely out of ink. It then struck me that all the other pens I ever used either broke or went missing at some point. Felt like an achievement.
All of my proper jobs have included having behaviorally challenged animals in my office at nearly all times, so I have never reached this achievement. Even when coworkers refuse to steal them because they're so plain and unlikable, some creature or another with low standards will inevitably use it as a chew toy. Ugh. I mean, that's also why I exclusively use these pens. I'd be mad if they ate a NICE pen.
You haven't heard of Technology Connections have you? If you are interested, there's a 30-45 minute video about a toaster (the best toaster ever), and another two videos almost an hour long each on dishwashers
I used to assemble and test the machines that made the ballpoint tips, I can assure that dipping your hand in a box of 1mm spheres feels oddly satisfying
As a foundry worker that uses steel shot in a shot blaster, I can also assure that dipping your hand in a bag of tiny ball bearings is mind blowing on a sensory level.
Back in the 80s my Dad insisted on using fountain pens and back then cheques were the popular way to pay, I'd get SO embarrassed as he would take SO long to write the cheque because he was using a fountain pen and making his writing as neat as possible. He would literally cause queues in any shop we went to and I'd be hiding in shame
If I worked in a shop and saw a customer take out a fountain pen I'd have a well of ink and a feathered dip pen to take out and ask them if they'd prefer that. If they said no I'd tell them I also had a wax tablet and an ivory stylus.
I don't think the fountain pen had much to do with it taking a long time. Fountains i've used write as fast as the smoothest gel rollers. maybe they weren't as good back then? i wouldn't use a fountain pen for writing a check because some pressure is needed to make the duplicate.
@Qxir And perhaps even a stone tablet, mallet, and chisel. Or perhaps a wet slab of clay and cuneiform stick. Hand it to them and start putting wood in a small kiln to fire the clay when they are done. 😉 Gosh, we are so mean. 😁
It amazes me how Bic has survived so long after only making around four lighters and three pens that've been perpetually stolen off the previous owner ever four to five seconds worldwide.
These pens were used in grammar school to shoot Orange rinds. You’d remove the ink part, and the end cap, used the back end to punch a plug from an Orange rind, push it through the tube to where it narrows, then punch a second Orange rind plug. Hold a finger over the side hole, and then use the ink tube to push the second rind behind the first. The trapped air between the two plugs would force the first plug through the narrow part of the tube, and the Orange rind plug/bullet would become a decent projectile. Accuracy across a classroom or cafeteria was impressive.
We used to cut elastic bands open and duct tape them to the narrow end so it would form a "U" shape under the hole. We'd invert the ink cartridge and pull it through the tube and then it with the elastic band (similar to a bow and arrow) the ink tubes became weapons as sometimes you'd draw blood shooting them at people
We used to make "water wieners" using the lower half of the barrel past the vent shove a piece of latex tubing on one end ( from a wrist-rocket slingshot) on the big end and tied off on the other end then shove the small end in a water fountain filling the "baloon". Stealth water shooter.
We also found that you could push one piece of the rind a little way then punch out another piece to get off two shots in a row or both at the same time.
I can honestly say I have never actually purchased a BIC - or any other ball-point pen - in my life. I'm looking at a jar on my desk, it contains five ball-points, and I haven't the slightest clue where I got them from.
These were freely available to school kids in 60s UK and commonly called a " biro " back then . They made excellent covert blow-pipes for chewed paper or grains of rice or pearl barley and with the aid of an elastic band , a tool to fire refills . I even won a Ribena Award for Handwriting back then using a Bic " biro " , so I guess they made pretty good pens too .
There are many and varied difficult and satisfying things in life; scaling the summit of Everest without oxygen, scoring the winning goal in a cup final, swimming from Cuba to Florida, making love three times before midday with the partner of your dreams. Yet none of these noble pursuits can match the feeling of using a bic pen from new until it has run out of ink. The sense of achievement upon committing that final word to the page and beholding the now ink-free cylinder always puts me in mind of Napoleon Bonaparte exclaiming “victory belongs to the most persevering”. It is indeed a truly wondrous feeling.
@@Dwigt_Rortugal it's because the hand on that side holds the pen lower than the other side. and the feet are more stable that way too. Savignac was really good at adding small details that most people would miss or won't understand. 😋👆
Despite being a long time and active viewer of this channel, this is probably the most interested I've ever been to see a video just by the name and thumbnail.
Ah the Bic Crystal, the AK47 of pens, cheap, reliable, durable, and absolutely the weirdest comparison you can make when talking about writing implements.
The fact that they got the idea from marbles in a puddle is honestly crazy, to the right person even a mundane thing can be inspiration for an invention that could change the world
Still known as a Biro in the UK. Back when I was a kid (1960's) that was the name embossed on them. Teachers brought up on fountain pens (and maybe quills?) really looked down on them, and even low-rent schools like mine still had inkwells in the desks. Then around 1970, we started getting pens with 'Bic' actually embossed over the word 'biro' (God knows who had the job of doing that!) and then the word was gone altogether, a change totally ignored by the rest of us. A 'Bic' in the UK is a disposable razor.
@@kittytrail Bic lighters are still the best disposable lighters out there. Whereas a non-descriptive lighter fails in a week of so, usually a Bic lasts me for months.
I remember reading once that the BIC indirectly increased literacy levels in developing countries, by giving them access to a cheap and reliable writing implement.
My parents used to take me on travels to various third world countries when I was a kid. We used to bring little presents for the children over there. They usually didn't speak much english but they were always holding their hands up and saying: "bic, bic, bic!" So we just stuffed our luggage with pens everywhere we went. I think this might still be a thing.
The reason why putting the hole in the pen cap to reduce the chances of choking was so necessary is because of how common it is for people to chew on the pen cap and then the very act of breathing in the pen cap into the back of your throat, causing you to choke on it. By putting a hole in the cap, not only or you creating an airway for you to breathe if the cap gets lodged in your throat, but you’re actually reducing the chance of the cap getting sucked into your throat, as a whole provides passage for air to travel through it, making it harder to suck the cap in
Whenever a business shows attention to detail like that, I think two things (A) This has happened before and (B) The designers are very thoughtful. Honestly really cool they saw the issue before it got worse, many companies don't do that.
In the school science labs we would hold a BIC pen up to the tap without the nib & ink. Turn on the water and could shoot water right across the room from that little hole in the side.
The school I work at only buys utter garbage from companies that exclusivly sell to schools and we have to bin half of them before they are even given out...
We were issued these pens in the army. I always thought they were cheap and mundane. But now, 10 years after my armytime i still use the VERY SAME bic pencil i was given in the army. I dont write much but the when i do i get THE Pen from my closet. It has been in my army uniform pocket through kilometeres of crawling in dirt and snow, hundreds of kilometres of marching with the Pen covered in my sweat in the pocket, thousands of rifle shots and drawing stupid things - and it still works like in 2014 and it still has about 1/3 ink left in the tube. I have realy grown to appreciate that pencil
The nosecone that holds the ball used to be 100% brass. Now it's likely stainless and plastic. One of your pictures shows a red one with the original brass nosecone. I remember the commercials of pen being shot out of a rifle at an oak board. It penetrated the board just barely but still wrote.
Thank you for this! I was hoping someone else knew of-and appreciated - pure brass nosecone. As a kid i could hold the old Bics up to a flame to get the ink rolling. The brass got red hot but it was fun. Wouldn’t try it with the plastic ones
5:42 Well of course it needs improvements, along with the laser n stabilizer it needs a scope, suppressor, foregrip, bipod, extended ink magazine, flashlight, bayonet, range finder, wifi, microphone, geiger counter.
The Bic tactical pen. Because everything is cooler when you call it tactical. Always be prepared... You never know when the s**t will hit the fan and you need to endorse a lot of checks in a flash.
@@edwardtidwell2821 and gps locator to find the pen anywhere....and a de-locater for when you need to be stealthy. Which is just a 4,000 dollar attachment that simply turns off the locator. Oh also flamethrower attachment naturally.
"Pens, the best friends you can have. Everything I know about people I learned from pens. If they don't work you shake 'em, if they still don't work you chuck 'em away, bin 'em" Pauline, League of Gentlemen.
The cap with a hole was not the only change. The original tip of the BiC Crystal was made of brass. That was changed to gold colored plastic. The end cap was also more substantial having a noticeable rim. Today they are flat and more difficult to take off.
In contrast, there have been countless innovations in bicycles and there are many different ones for different purposes. There's only one design needed for a pen though.
@@halotroop2288true, but a basic steel diamond shaped frame is the old standby for good reason. A lot of the "innovation" in the modern bike industry is just marketing needless complexity. Even my e-bike is a steel GT from the 90's.
@@CensorshipCausesBlindness i dont know about needless complexity. bikes are usually highly engineered to meet particular performance or price brackets. Theres very little on them that doesnt serve a purpose. Try doing a downhill race on an old steel diamond, its not going to be easy. Where the bic has remained virtually unchanged, bike technology has continuously and rapidly evolved. Its like saying cars havent changed. I guess fundamentally thats true, but not in the same way as the bic, which is almost identical now as it was then.
@@NbomberThere's many different bicycles, but also many different pens. However if you buy a really cheap bike, like a really cheap pen, you'll probably get something largely unchanged for many decades. Either the diamond-framed "Safety", or what is called a "Bakfiets" by the Dutch, and a "Dutch Bike" by nearly everyone else (except it's a "Mamachari" in Japan, and Cameroon calls it some really badass name like "Black Mirage"). The cheapest ¥12,000 Mamachari is probably very un-innovated, though of course ¥120,000 will get you something a bit fancier!
ANYONE with a brain knows the only reason these exist is for rewinding cassette tapes when they get eaten by the stereo. The ability to write with one was always a secondary bonus.
Obviously the whipper-snapper who made this video didn't live through the cassette, which begat the Walkman, which led to the iPod, and the smartphones we have today.
@@BradHouser Very true statement my friend, I bet NONE of them know the multi colour Bic jobbie, with 8 pens in one was ACTUALLY for rewinding reel to reel tapes.
Here's one use that you probably didn't see coming. Back in the late '70s I worked for Lockheed Missiles and Space on the Mk 500 "reentry body" (that's "warhead" to everyone else) for the Trident II missile. At some point I came across a spec for a type of ballast that was used in the RB for balance and spin control. It was a remarkably tight spec reading: tungsten carbide spheres 0.0390" to 0.395" diameter, surface finish of xxx micro-inches, sphericity of yyy millionths of an inch, and so on. I asked one of the older engineers why such a specific and tight specification since these were, after all, just ballast without any sort of mechanical function. "Wouldn't any sort of metal sphere around that size work?" "Oh," he said, "those are reject ballpoint pen balls that are too far out of spec for use in a pen, and we get them for almost nothing. The spec is written that way to make sure that's all we get." I don't know if Bic was one of the suppliers, but they could have certainly bid on the contract.
Back in the 1980's my late friend Larry Black a master machinist ,made some Christmas gifts. Hexagonal aluminum body for the Bic Cristal. A 100% perfect copy of the Bic clear plastic version, even with the vent hole in the exact size and position! I use it every day. A treasured possession!
"Gy" comes up... English struggles, Hungarian laughs... No, really we always have a kick of it, when foreigners are struggling with this sound. Yes, it's a more rare sound, but it's present in other languages too. Anyway, thank you for the video
My understanding as someone who tried to learn Hungarian is that British English speakers would be more familiar with the sound than American English speakers. I was taught that it is very similar to the way some British people say the d in during, with almost a j sound. American English doesn’t really use that sound; j is close but not quite and can stray too zh-ish, like the g in montage. György is close to George but with an oo vowel.
I learned it’s just pronounced j. So György would be just George. I learned this because of some composer with that first name we learned about in band.
@@ferretyluvIt’s not really a J, that sound has a bit of an “s” suffix to it that makes it different. As the above comment said it’s almost exactly like the British “d” in during.
To all of you English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish (hope I didn't skip on anyone), who even tried speaking Hungarian: Thank you. We really appreciate such, we are a bit similar to Slavic countries in this aspect. We also understand that it's like hell for you even trying it, but we really appreciate that you try.
You should do a complimentary video on the BiC lighter. I have to imagine those are also the most sold lighter ever, and, no doubt, also the most reliable. I wouldn't smoke crack with anything else.
So, funny enough, Clipper. Imagine a Bic that's just a bit more expensive, but you can just keep replacing the flint and refueling it ad-nauseam. All the disposability of a Bic, but all the longevity of a Zippo. Clipper.
It’s said that the Americans spent a fortune developing a pen which can be used in zero gravity space and the Russians just used a pencil. That space pen can be bought from eBay, presumably almost always by people who won’t be using the pen in zero gravity.
Americans wanted that pen because broken lead tips, dust and wood shavings in zero g is a bad idea. It could mess with the electronics and other stuff. And also those pen were originally made to work in place where the pressure is different and would prevent a regular pen from working. Like in a submarine for example.
As a small time UA-cam creator I am compelled to say that the insertion of the bloopers at the end made my day! While the Bic story is captivating it is a wonder that a human can speak for 47 minutes with little hesitation, but cannot read 1,200 words aloud without stammering and swallowing spit and just gagging! Thank you for adding this side note to a great video! You have gained a sub! I carry a Bic "Round Stick" because I love to watch it role off my desk just as I notice it moving!
@@SaltyAsTheSea the Biro brothers actually went to Argentina in 1943, and there founded a company named "Biro Meyne Biro" with a guy named Juan Jorge Meyne, and so the pen was nicknamed as Birome (BIRO, MEyne)
Handy tip, if you love the bic 4 colour but hate how the blue plastic cracks, get a bic 4 colour grip! They made that part stronger while they made it grippy.
I don't understand why some are viewing it through the lense of an adult intentionally trying to swallow one, these safety measures are intended for infants and young children.
@@ArrowArchitect I love that your comments reveal that a. You don't realise that we've evolved an ability to engineer keeping our young safe from danger so they survive, which is part of natural selection and why we are the dominant species. b. That you seem to be doubling down on revealing that you support babies choking on pen lids to somehow cleanse the human race of 'stupid babies' . c. Don't realise that you too were a stupid baby that could have killed yourself if you parents didn't protect you. Shame on them for not letting natural selection take its course I guess?
In 1973, when the BIC lighter was introduced, they had a contest on the radio that was the start of a limerick you needed to finish, and it sounded like this: I once knew a pretty good trick, That began with a flick of my BIC. da da da da da da, da da da da da da, da da da da da da da da da. Every time you had the radio on, you would hear that commercial. Over and over and over. So I eventually entered the contest with this: I once knew a pretty good trick, That began with a flick of my BIC. I wish you would quit, With this BIC-flicking sh*t, The commercial is making me sick! The amazing thing is that I still remember it after all this time!
As a chronic fountain pen user, the cristal is one of the few ballpoints I find to be reasonable to write with. The ergonomics on fountain pens help with repetitive strain injuries.
For me, the standout advantage of fountain pens is how it takes practically no pressure at all to write with them. It's just a feather touch, so amazing. I hate to feel like I'm advertising, but Zebra's disposable fountain pens are just so wonderful. All of the ease of writing with a proper fountain pen, but without having to deal with clogs or leaks.
@@Dee_Just_Dee That's the key. Fountain pens want to write. Even the best ballpoints need to be persuaded. I've found a number of cheap disposable fountain pens. Most of them are pretty ok. None of them are remotely so cheap as the cristal. They also tend to be very fine nib. I rather prefer Broad+.
Somehow in the mid/late 70's the grade school kids in my tiny rural town figured out how to make a powerful pneumatic spit wad gun using a crystal Bic pen and a stiff wire (cut/bent coat hangar is preferred). Disclaimer: I won't claim this is sanitary or even necessarily safe, but it's pretty darn clever. After taping over the hole to avoid air getting out most boys learn pretty early on that Bics are not great as normal spit wad guns because the inside is tapered so the wad just gets stuck in the small end. But if you stand it up, pressing small end down against a table, then take a stiff wire and tamp down the spit wad against the table inside the pen, it squeezes most of the water out of the wad making a hard little paper pellet. Then put another spit wad into the back of the pen (trick is to find *just* the right size and consistency, to seal the tube but not so big that it can't itself be turned into the next pellet. Then using same stiff wire, quickly ram the rear spit wad forward in the pen and it builds up air pressure between the rear wad, and the pellet jammed into the small end. At some point the pressure is too high, and it goes *BANG*, and ejects the pellet across the room at a very high velocity. If the rear wad is the right size, it can be tamped into place to make the next pellet.. rinse repeat. A reasonably thick (not cheapest available) coat hangar wire is usually best as the plunger as it should be large enough diameter that it doesn't just try to punch through the softer wad at the back, but still just small enough to fit through the smaller opening at the front, for ejecting the occasional failures. Cut to length leaving enough room for a bend so that you've got something to push against, and set the length to *just* reach the tip. You don't want to eject the rear wad out the front every time you fire the pellet. The tip of the pen does sometimes break. It can be reinforced with some very tightly wrapped electrical tape, but it does obscure what's going on there, and it helps to see what you're doing the first few times.
About 30 years a go a doctor had to perform an emergency tracheotomy in an airplane and used a Bic outer tube to keep the airway open until they got something better!
@@MyRackley The doctor could keep his finger in the opening and stay like that. One could roll a tube of paper or plastic to make a tube, in an emergency one has to think quickly and innovate.
I had another use for these pens back in middle school. (1970's). I would take a squeeze bulb and fill it with water at a drinking fountain, Then remove the back end of the pen, then place that into the squeeze bulb. Instant squirt gun. Back when you could not use them in school. Hint > It was the hole you mentioned on the side that the water squirted from.
It's my favorite type of pen. When I was in my final year in college, I used a Bic that kept on going. I used it until.the very end where you could no longer see the ink. That was 32 years ago, and I still love these Bic pens. I have a Cross pen I won in a contest in work. I still like the Bic better because it writes much better!
Bic has come out with a refillable version where the clear plastic was replaced by metal, and you could purchase refills for the pen so you only have to toss the refill rather than the entire pen. Don't know how successful it has been.
@@Solitaire001 It sounds like a easy but ineffective way of saving the environment. I guess the feeling of doing something useful was overwhelmed by logic.
@@Willy_Tepes It should save some waste since you aren't throwing away the entire pen, just the refill. Unfortunately, the polystyrene plastic used isn't recyclable.
@@Solitaire001 You are totally forgetting about the extra environmental impact of yet another product, produced, packaged, shipped, and eventually discarded. There are a million things that would have more positive impact than replacing the outer casing of a pen. I am quite sure that you can make a bigger impact with simple changes to your daily life. Things like this and plastic straws are feel-good ways of creating the illusion of doing something.
Fun fact about Bic Cristal ballpoint pens. They cost so very little to make, that inflation over the past hundred years has yet to increase the cost to make the pen by even a whole penny.
Fun fact. Illegal drugs are the only goods that are not affected by inflation. Hash has cost the same for 40 years now and only jumped a bit in price during the pandemic..
@@ro63rto The cost just for the pen itself hasn't increased enough to be measured, but in order to pay their employees an ever-growing livable wage, the resale price has had to increase with time.
Modern fountain pens are far superior to the ballpoint when it comes to writing experience. And most of the downsides are vastly reduced compared to the predecessors.
A fun fact, the pen case is called”crystal “ as this was a trade name for polystyrene at the time. Crystal clear plastic. The company developing the injection moulds for the pen was also working on the Tic Tac box injection moulds. Multi cavity moulds were new at the time. Hot runner vs cold runner was a new technology in the day.
Not long after I got my first job I ordered a 50 pack of these. One of the best purchases of my life. Still have loads in the cupboard. Also I can still remember the smell of the ink in these from school. Don't blow the ink out of the end...
@@joostfloot5279 A friend of mine got sent to the nurse's office because he was using a mechanical pencil to scratch his ear, and the tiny metal cap that covers the eraser got stuck inside his ear and he couldn't get it out.
6:11 At about the same time as bic "for her", someone made pencils "for her". They also had pink, flowers, and I think the body was rubberised for chewing or something. Maybe the erasers were softer so it was easier to rub things out. Can't remember. They didn't sell well, but I still have an unopened pack somewhere that I purchased solely for the purpose of annoying my SO.
I don't know why this channel doesn't yet have 10 million + subscribers?! This is by far the most hilarious take on factual real life events. You are the true king brother.
@@thatguychris5654 they made (maybe still do? 🤔) windsurfing boards, sails and gear though so if it _floats your boat,_ that might be a viable form of transportation... 😋
@@thatguychris5654 😉 the original Smart car or the original Renault Twingo are what Bic would have made as a car if they made one. both are _quirkily_ french too and fit for the tasks they've been built for, much like Bic's product. 😼👌
They also make great projectiles. Stretch a rubber band (elastic) across the rings of a three ring binder, and you can stealthily fire them at the kid two rows over. The brief percussive sounds against the steel desk and a muffled "OW!" always made the teacher pause. "Quick! Put on your pensive and studious face!" (Stifled laughter)
To answer your question in the thumbnail: if you want to take something out of a vessel (ink), you're going to have to replace the lost volume with something (air) or the vessel will draw a slight vacuum, and the liquid will stop flowing. Basic physics 101.
the cap on the end of the pen is not air tight enough to hold a vacuum produced by the tiny amount of ink lost during writing. also, don't care what the vid says, I've known since I was a kid that if the pen stops writing blowing on that hole will usually get it working again
It's hard today to appreciate how mindblowing, (or quite unusual, depending) the cristal really was. There were very few objects in clear plastic in those days, so this would have seemed very unusual to lots of people in 1950. Plastic was the new space-age material, by the 1960's it was everywhere, but back in 1950 it was really special.
When I was learning to write cursive in elementary school in the early 1950’s, my first ball point pen was the Presdon Vu Writer. It was also was first made in 1950, and had a clear green or red plastic body that showed the ink supply (hence the name) like the BIC Crystal. The difference is that the Vu Writer leaked a lot, put smears and smudges on the paper, and gave me ink stained fingers. I wonder why we didn’t use BIC’s.
Correction: at 5:25 I say "100 billion sales" but the graphic only shows 10 billion. That was a typo, the correct figure is 100,000,000,000. This was definitely the fault of somebody who isn't me.
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May I tap good sir?
"Tales from the bottom of the bottle" more like.
I forgive you x
Oh! Well that's fine.
This has completely ruined my trust in everything.
@@JadeTheWolfie indeed, it's just the tip and, well, it's tungsten carbide too so it's, 1 mm, fine. 😏👌
i think the most surprising part(s) of all of this is that:
1) the guy bought the patent rather than trying to steal or copy it
2) for a fair price rather than try and swindle them
3) went on to develop and engineer a superior product
4) has sold it for a completely reasonable price for 70+ years
5) has maintained the same or better level of quality and lifespan for 70+ years
if only all of these were the rule rather than the exception...
Qxir skipped a bit there since wikipedia states that ”In 1943, the Biro brothers licensed their invention to Eversharp Faber in the United States for $2 million. In 1944, entrepreneur Marcel Bich acquired the rights.”
But anyway, 2 million US dollars in 1943 is equivalent to 34 million US dollars in 2024. So yes, that was a fair price.
Well put.
6) They called it "Cristal" before clear plastic was used.
Great job
1. So, not Bill Gates
2. So, really not Bill Gates
3. So, definitely not Bill Gates
4. So, positively not Bill Gates
5. So, absolutely not Bill Gates
So, be like Bich, not Bill. Got it.
I remember back on the 90's here in the Philippines, that exact pen's primary use was to rewind and forward cassette tapes when cassette tapes were still big here
Man, I miss cassette tapes.
Oh! I remember that! 😂🤣
Oh, that's not unique to the Phillippines. Everybody wound their tapes that way.
Pencils as well
In The Netherlands we wound our tapes with pens or pencils too. Especially when winding it to the beginning of the magnetic tape.
Biros never actually run out. You get close and then someone steals it and it's gone forever.
I usually use it once then end up making a toothpick gun with the tube because I’m bored.
It’s cheaper for me to buy expensive pens because of it.
@@rogerszmodis So it never actually runs out?
No further questions, your honour.
That is also my experience
I heard there's a planet where used biros go, to live a biro life.
Old pens never die, they just fade away
For those of a certain age that remember the cassette tape, the Bic Cristal was the perfect size to advance the little spools on the cassette. It even made a useful method to rewind/fast forward the cassette by twirling it like a football rattle (also for those of a certain age)
Oh yeah... back in high school in the 1990s, rechargeable batteries weren't so great or cheap yet, and of course, we were broke, because we were in high school. Also, a lot of cheap portable cassette players didn't even _have_ a rewind function - only fast-forward. So, enter the bic pen.
I remember the twirl to rewind method, to save batteries in my walkman.
As a woman, my pointer fingers also worked like a charm for cassette tapes.
Also for snorting cocaine. Allegedly.
My tape collection 😢
SIGH!!!!
One thing I find interesting about the design is that it's timeless. The design is about pure function. The functionality dictated the appearance. Because of that it does not look like it belongs to any particular era or esthetic. It just stands on its own as a top tier example of exemplary industrial design.
"Writes first time, every time" was an early '60's marketing slogan. Being a kid, when mine stopped writing, I wrote BIC a letter and received another pen.
Did you use a BIC to write that letter?
@@Greenious I doubt I had another pen at the time, so I probably used a pencil. First class postage was a nickle then, so I can't swear that I remember.
Only one? They could've sent you a box full of them for the same price.
Also remember the TV adds of the time :
Shoot it from a riffle into some hard wood. It still work.
Attach one to the skate of a figure skater who perform a full long program. It still work.
And a few other.
I was in junior high in '69
The pens were sold at the student store.
The little front piece that held the little ball and that
the ink tube fit into was all metal - now a lot of it is plastic.
Wild that history's most complex bomb, worst currency inflation, and most omnipresent pen design, can all be traced back to Hungarians.
Egészsegedre. You're welcome.
Let's not forget Erno Rubik, who invented a cube.
I have a bill in my collection that would have been 10^18 pengo. A hilariously enormous number to be attached to money and still collectively worthless. By comparison my 10^14 Zimbabwean dollar bill is worth its weight in gold.
10^18 is so large if you had 10^18 units of a currency worth something instead of nothing you would be cartoonishly wealthy. For example if you had 10^18 units of a currency worth $0.00001 USD each you could buy Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft and still be the richest person in history by cash reserves by a laughably huge margin.
The 10^18 pengo bill was after they had already made 1 million pengo equal to one new unit called the milpengo and the bill was a milliard (trillion) of those.
Zimbabwe would like a word
I think the reason why the bic cristal has remained so popular is that it began as a good pen and has resisted the urge to cheapen itself in some ill-conceived cost cutting measure. They're still made to a high standard and sold at a reasonable price.
Well done, Bic.
I remember buying a 20 pack of cheap chinese made imitation pens from
Woolworths here in Australia, and was frustrated at how terrible they were, with the ink failing to maintain a consistent line, and then starting to leak: Absolutely disgusting, why would they sell people such crap.. Never again!
@@sachabinky2915 I've tried the Papermate version and found that the Bic Cristal was just better. I didn't like the feel of the barrel on the Papermate (it felt like soft plastic) and it was thinner than the Bic. This made it harder to comfortably hold.
Although, I'm strangely nostalgic for the earlier ones where the body of the nib was entirely brass - 'modern' ones only have a small brass centre overmoulded in a faux-brass polypropylene.
The audio cassette probably had something to do with its popularity.
Those hungarian brothers actually lived in Argentina. They invented the ballpen in Buenos Aires and we call it birome just because it's an acronym of both last names (Byro and Meyer). As Argentinian we are extremely proud of calling it ours
When I got my first proper job as an adult I managed to write one completely out of ink. It then struck me that all the other pens I ever used either broke or went missing at some point. Felt like an achievement.
All of my proper jobs have included having behaviorally challenged animals in my office at nearly all times, so I have never reached this achievement. Even when coworkers refuse to steal them because they're so plain and unlikable, some creature or another with low standards will inevitably use it as a chew toy. Ugh.
I mean, that's also why I exclusively use these pens. I'd be mad if they ate a NICE pen.
Well, who knew I'd dedicate 8 minutes of my time to a video about pens
You must have zero social skills
Like me 😢
And I wanted more!
☝️ Bic pens.
Likewise !
You haven't heard of Technology Connections have you? If you are interested, there's a 30-45 minute video about a toaster (the best toaster ever), and another two videos almost an hour long each on dishwashers
I used to assemble and test the machines that made the ballpoint tips, I can assure that dipping your hand in a box of 1mm spheres feels oddly satisfying
Wow, I can imagine: almost like powder but not; slightly cold perhaps.
must be pretty heavy if they are all tungsten still.
As a foundry worker that uses steel shot in a shot blaster, I can also assure that dipping your hand in a bag of tiny ball bearings is mind blowing on a sensory level.
Just your hand I hope!.
@@scottneil1187 have you been watching me work? 🤔
Back in the 80s my Dad insisted on using fountain pens and back then cheques were the popular way to pay, I'd get SO embarrassed as he would take SO long to write the cheque because he was using a fountain pen and making his writing as neat as possible. He would literally cause queues in any shop we went to and I'd be hiding in shame
If I worked in a shop and saw a customer take out a fountain pen I'd have a well of ink and a feathered dip pen to take out and ask them if they'd prefer that. If they said no I'd tell them I also had a wax tablet and an ivory stylus.
😄 he was right the other can wait for a little while
@@ottoneiii4353 Wrong! He was just a pain in the ass.
I don't think the fountain pen had much to do with it taking a long time. Fountains i've used write as fast as the smoothest gel rollers. maybe they weren't as good back then? i wouldn't use a fountain pen for writing a check because some pressure is needed to make the duplicate.
@Qxir And perhaps even a stone tablet, mallet, and chisel. Or perhaps a wet slab of clay and cuneiform stick. Hand it to them and start putting wood in a small kiln to fire the clay when they are done. 😉
Gosh, we are so mean. 😁
It amazes me how Bic has survived so long after only making around four lighters and three pens that've been perpetually stolen off the previous owner ever four to five seconds worldwide.
They also make cheap razors. Seems like they love making those well designed, extremely cheap everyday products.
They also produced surfboards until 2 years ago. Sold that division to Tahe.
These pens were used in grammar school to shoot Orange rinds. You’d remove the ink part, and the end cap, used the back end to punch a plug from an Orange rind, push it through the tube to where it narrows, then punch a second Orange rind plug. Hold a finger over the side hole, and then use the ink tube to push the second rind behind the first. The trapped air between the two plugs would force the first plug through the narrow part of the tube, and the Orange rind plug/bullet would become a decent projectile. Accuracy across a classroom or cafeteria was impressive.
YES! The hole was what you covered to shoot the orange peel plugs across the classroom! Good times.
We used to cut elastic bands open and duct tape them to the narrow end so it would form a "U" shape under the hole. We'd invert the ink cartridge and pull it through the tube and then it with the elastic band (similar to a bow and arrow) the ink tubes became weapons as sometimes you'd draw blood shooting them at people
We used to make "water wieners" using the lower half of the barrel past the vent shove a piece of latex tubing on one end ( from a wrist-rocket slingshot) on the big end and tied off on the other end then shove the small end in a water fountain filling the "baloon". Stealth water shooter.
@@TomsCustomCreations Ha ha! "Draw" blood.
We also found that you could push one piece of the rind a little way then punch out another piece to get off two shots in a row or both at the same time.
When I was in school, the 4-colour pen was akin to an artifact of alien technology in the cachet it bestowed on the wielder
Then you tried to use it... Kind of awkward ergonomically.
Thank you for teaching me a new word: cachet.
@@Dwigt_RortugalI remember there were even bigger ones with more colors. Utterly ungainly to use. 😜
@@CybershamanX i had one with, like, 8 colors.
@@anonomuse9094 I think that was it! Thank you! 😎☮
Did I just watch an 8 minute long UA-cam ad? Because it totally worked, I’ll take 10,000 pens please
i watched 2 ads to watch the better ad
I can honestly say I have never actually purchased a BIC - or any other ball-point pen - in my life. I'm looking at a jar on my desk, it contains five ball-points, and I haven't the slightest clue where I got them from.
The only times I have ever bought pens was when I needed a red one for school. Even then I probably bought about five in my entire life.
I can usually tell from the company or advertisers logos on them. But some of the nicer ones I really don't know either.
@@jayhill2193
Some unsung hero bought those 100 billion pens, and now the rest of the human population will always have a few at hand.
Same, I don’t recall ever buying any but somehow I always had a few on hand.
These were freely available to school kids in 60s UK and commonly called a " biro " back then . They made excellent covert blow-pipes for chewed paper or grains of rice or pearl barley and with the aid of an elastic band , a tool to fire refills . I even won a Ribena Award for Handwriting back then using a Bic " biro " , so I guess they made pretty good pens too .
Then when you grew up you'd use it for snorting cocaine.
There are many and varied difficult and satisfying things in life; scaling the summit of Everest without oxygen, scoring the winning goal in a cup final, swimming from Cuba to Florida, making love three times before midday with the partner of your dreams. Yet none of these noble pursuits can match the feeling of using a bic pen from new until it has run out of ink. The sense of achievement upon committing that final word to the page and beholding the now ink-free cylinder always puts me in mind of Napoleon Bonaparte exclaiming “victory belongs to the most persevering”. It is indeed a truly wondrous feeling.
5:56 drawing the bics shoes asymmetrical was hilarious
And his wonky shoulder! 😂
It's a security logo. That way nobody can bootleg them.
The drooping shoulder... 😅
@@Dwigt_Rortugal it's because the hand on that side holds the pen lower than the other side. and the feet are more stable that way too. Savignac was really good at adding small details that most people would miss or won't understand. 😋👆
5:16
The hexagonal shape is also so the pen or pencil doesn't roll off your desk as easily as a round shaped one would.
True, the cap helps in that a great deal as well.
This is a genius idea to be honest
Despite being a long time and active viewer of this channel, this is probably the most interested I've ever been to see a video just by the name and thumbnail.
Ah the Bic Crystal, the AK47 of pens, cheap, reliable, durable, and absolutely the weirdest comparison you can make when talking about writing implements.
Only some Irish dude I’ve never met could make learning about a pen interesting
The fact that they got the idea from marbles in a puddle is honestly crazy, to the right person even a mundane thing can be inspiration for an invention that could change the world
It's similar to the origin of the game Pokémon. The Creator saw children having large beetles fight each other.
"What's this tiny hole for?" says the thumbnail.
That's also what my proctologist asked me.
Or was actually it your urologist? I’m kidding!
If mine ever asked me that, I’d call him an asshole
he never answers it this video IS CLICKBAIT
"It's here to fistulate"
@@drkatel Joke's on both of you, that guy wasn't a doctor at all. Not even a veterinarian. Not even a plumber.
Still known as a Biro in the UK. Back when I was a kid (1960's) that was the name embossed on them. Teachers brought up on fountain pens (and maybe quills?) really looked down on them, and even low-rent schools like mine still had inkwells in the desks. Then around 1970, we started getting pens with 'Bic' actually embossed over the word 'biro' (God knows who had the job of doing that!) and then the word was gone altogether, a change totally ignored by the rest of us. A 'Bic' in the UK is a disposable razor.
Everyone gets box disposable razors then. But a Bic in the US for a while was a lighter. Flick your Bic.
@@unclenogbad1509 well, Bic makes disposable pen, lighters, razors and did make windsurfing boards and gear around forty years ago. 😏👌
I still had ink wells in class in the late 90s 😂
@@kittytrail OK, Windsurfing boards? I think you win the prize with that one.
@@kittytrail Bic lighters are still the best disposable lighters out there. Whereas a non-descriptive lighter fails in a week of so, usually a Bic lasts me for months.
6:30 HULK WANT BIC FOR HIM!
I was in grammar school in the 60's. Boys liked them because they were great for shooting spitballs!
Until they grew up and started using them for snorting cocaine. Allegedly.
I remember reading once that the BIC indirectly increased literacy levels in developing countries, by giving them access to a cheap and reliable writing implement.
they are also great for drawing.
Sounds like absolute marketing bullshit. People are no longer literate.
My parents used to take me on travels to various third world countries when I was a kid. We used to bring little presents for the children over there. They usually didn't speak much english but they were always holding their hands up and saying: "bic, bic, bic!" So we just stuffed our luggage with pens everywhere we went.
I think this might still be a thing.
@@PersonS6 You were The Pen Fairy who used to sneak into my bedroom and leave Bics and Biros under my pillow!?
The reason why putting the hole in the pen cap to reduce the chances of choking was so necessary is because of how common it is for people to chew on the pen cap and then the very act of breathing in the pen cap into the back of your throat, causing you to choke on it. By putting a hole in the cap, not only or you creating an airway for you to breathe if the cap gets lodged in your throat, but you’re actually reducing the chance of the cap getting sucked into your throat, as a whole provides passage for air to travel through it, making it harder to suck the cap in
Whenever a business shows attention to detail like that, I think two things (A) This has happened before and (B) The designers are very thoughtful. Honestly really cool they saw the issue before it got worse, many companies don't do that.
I think they missed an opportunity to shape the hole in such a way that if it lodges in your throat you emit funny whistle with every breath.
@@grantm6514Yes, like a wheezy, penguin toy...😊
@@TheCatBilbo or a rubber chicken 🐔
In the school science labs we would hold a BIC pen up to the tap without the nib & ink. Turn on the water and could shoot water right across the room from that little hole in the side.
Thanks!
The Bic 4-color is a happy childhood memory. I loved playing with them. I never had one of my own, just had to play with one of my friend's.
Majority of sales are teachers that never would lend out their pen stash but it would seemingly be empty by mid-March
The school I work at only buys utter garbage from companies that exclusivly sell to schools and we have to bin half of them before they are even given out...
@@MacGuy3135 So, buy the cheapest and end up paying more than bulk buying BIC.
I buy bundles of pens at thrift stores for cheap... they're full of them, since so many companies give away branded ones.
We were issued these pens in the army. I always thought they were cheap and mundane. But now, 10 years after my armytime i still use the VERY SAME bic pencil i was given in the army. I dont write much but the when i do i get THE Pen from my closet. It has been in my army uniform pocket through kilometeres of crawling in dirt and snow, hundreds of kilometres of marching with the Pen covered in my sweat in the pocket, thousands of rifle shots and drawing stupid things - and it still works like in 2014 and it still has about 1/3 ink left in the tube. I have realy grown to appreciate that pencil
The nosecone that holds the ball used to be 100% brass. Now it's likely stainless and plastic. One of your pictures shows a red one with the original brass nosecone. I remember the commercials of pen being shot out of a rifle at an oak board. It penetrated the board just barely but still wrote.
Thank you for this! I was hoping someone else knew of-and appreciated - pure brass nosecone. As a kid i could hold the old Bics up to a flame to get the ink rolling. The brass got red hot but it was fun. Wouldn’t try it with the plastic ones
Saving this in case I ever get asked "sell me this pen". Thanks in advance for getting me hired.
By far the best lid design for scratching your ear holes
I'm 77 and I can't stop calling it a 'biro'. Thanks for the interesting video.
All this time I never realized that mascot had a ball point for a head.
@LTPottenger
Me neither! Im now being weirded out by the dots on its legs. What are they? Knees?
5:42 Well of course it needs improvements, along with the laser n stabilizer it needs a scope, suppressor, foregrip, bipod, extended ink magazine, flashlight, bayonet, range finder, wifi, microphone, geiger counter.
The Bic tactical pen. Because everything is cooler when you call it tactical. Always be prepared... You never know when the s**t will hit the fan and you need to endorse a lot of checks in a flash.
Don't forget the Picatinny rail, and grenade launcher.
@@edwardtidwell2821 and gps locator to find the pen anywhere....and a de-locater for when you need to be stealthy. Which is just a 4,000 dollar attachment that simply turns off the locator. Oh also flamethrower attachment naturally.
"Pens, the best friends you can have. Everything I know about people I learned from pens. If they don't work you shake 'em, if they still don't work you chuck 'em away, bin 'em" Pauline, League of Gentlemen.
The cap with a hole was not the only change. The original tip of the BiC Crystal was made of brass. That was changed to gold colored plastic. The end cap was also more substantial having a noticeable rim. Today they are flat and more difficult to take off.
Some designs so perfectly solve the problem at hand that they are timeless. The bicycle is another example.
In contrast, there have been countless innovations in bicycles and there are many different ones for different purposes.
There's only one design needed for a pen though.
@@halotroop2288true, but a basic steel diamond shaped frame is the old standby for good reason. A lot of the "innovation" in the modern bike industry is just marketing needless complexity.
Even my e-bike is a steel GT from the 90's.
@@CensorshipCausesBlindness i dont know about needless complexity. bikes are usually highly engineered to meet particular performance or price brackets. Theres very little on them that doesnt serve a purpose.
Try doing a downhill race on an old steel diamond, its not going to be easy.
Where the bic has remained virtually unchanged, bike technology has continuously and rapidly evolved.
Its like saying cars havent changed.
I guess fundamentally thats true, but not in the same way as the bic, which is almost identical now as it was then.
@@NbomberThere's many different bicycles, but also many different pens. However if you buy a really cheap bike, like a really cheap pen, you'll probably get something largely unchanged for many decades. Either the diamond-framed "Safety", or what is called a "Bakfiets" by the Dutch, and a "Dutch Bike" by nearly everyone else (except it's a "Mamachari" in Japan, and Cameroon calls it some really badass name like "Black Mirage"). The cheapest ¥12,000 Mamachari is probably very un-innovated, though of course ¥120,000 will get you something a bit fancier!
*Professional unicycle riders looking at this comment*
Pathetic
ANYONE with a brain knows the only reason these exist is for rewinding cassette tapes when they get eaten by the stereo. The ability to write with one was always a secondary bonus.
Obviously the whipper-snapper who made this video didn't live through the cassette, which begat the Walkman, which led to the iPod, and the smartphones we have today.
@@BradHouser Very true statement my friend, I bet NONE of them know the multi colour Bic jobbie, with 8 pens in one was ACTUALLY for rewinding reel to reel tapes.
@@bitemykrank1970 The Bic 4 colour cant rewind tapes, only the cristal can
Already knew this was gonna be about Bic from seeing the title. Love that product.
Here's one use that you probably didn't see coming. Back in the late '70s I worked for Lockheed Missiles and Space on the Mk 500 "reentry body" (that's "warhead" to everyone else) for the Trident II missile. At some point I came across a spec for a type of ballast that was used in the RB for balance and spin control. It was a remarkably tight spec reading: tungsten carbide spheres 0.0390" to 0.395" diameter, surface finish of xxx micro-inches, sphericity of yyy millionths of an inch, and so on. I asked one of the older engineers why such a specific and tight specification since these were, after all, just ballast without any sort of mechanical function. "Wouldn't any sort of metal sphere around that size work?" "Oh," he said, "those are reject ballpoint pen balls that are too far out of spec for use in a pen, and we get them for almost nothing. The spec is written that way to make sure that's all we get."
I don't know if Bic was one of the suppliers, but they could have certainly bid on the contract.
Back in the 1980's my late friend Larry Black a master machinist ,made some Christmas gifts. Hexagonal aluminum body for the Bic Cristal. A 100% perfect copy of the Bic clear plastic version, even with the vent hole in the exact size and position! I use it every day. A treasured possession!
"Gy" comes up... English struggles, Hungarian laughs... No, really we always have a kick of it, when foreigners are struggling with this sound. Yes, it's a more rare sound, but it's present in other languages too. Anyway, thank you for the video
I call all versions of them gay orgy
My understanding as someone who tried to learn Hungarian is that British English speakers would be more familiar with the sound than American English speakers. I was taught that it is very similar to the way some British people say the d in during, with almost a j sound. American English doesn’t really use that sound; j is close but not quite and can stray too zh-ish, like the g in montage.
György is close to George but with an oo vowel.
I learned it’s just pronounced j. So György would be just George. I learned this because of some composer with that first name we learned about in band.
@@ferretyluvIt’s not really a J, that sound has a bit of an “s” suffix to it that makes it different. As the above comment said it’s almost exactly like the British “d” in during.
To all of you English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish (hope I didn't skip on anyone), who even tried speaking Hungarian: Thank you. We really appreciate such, we are a bit similar to Slavic countries in this aspect. We also understand that it's like hell for you even trying it, but we really appreciate that you try.
We always called it a biro, here in Australia
Same here in Scotland
Same in Ireland.
Same in Italy
Can confirm this is true
Oh fuck off, I've literally never heard someone call it a
Biro here
7:57 "Bic(h) invested in swish..." 🏀
You forgot to say that, if you want, you can change only the refill, thus reducing waste. What a great product !
Fountain pens are no way as bad as you make them out to be. Much more enjoyable to use than a Bic Crystal
"...so it wouldn't be pronounced 'bitch'" 😂
Then he says "Bic boy" like my mind went straight to "bitch boy"
"Heckler and Kock.." lol
That's the pronunciation when someone throws one at you or you drop it between the seat and the console in the car.
@@worawatli8952They've surely had their share of heckling.
@@Dwigt_Rortugal but did they have their share of Koc? 😋
One of the best pens I’ve ever used. I still have one that’s a decade old that I’ve used for alot of drawings and it’s still buttery.
@@arguekayes Caran d'Ache model 888 is way more than buttery while being _clicky_ too and you can also get refills like the Bic pens. 😼👆
@@kittytrailBut 10 times the price for only a marginal improvement😂
@@ryy1704 not so marginal, it's better, more robust, has a clip and is of the reliable _clicky_ type. being 🇨🇭 is a bonus. 😉
You should do a complimentary video on the BiC lighter. I have to imagine those are also the most sold lighter ever, and, no doubt, also the most reliable. I wouldn't smoke crack with anything else.
So, funny enough, Clipper. Imagine a Bic that's just a bit more expensive, but you can just keep replacing the flint and refueling it ad-nauseam. All the disposability of a Bic, but all the longevity of a Zippo. Clipper.
@@Dee_Just_Dee I've had a few of those back in the day.
*complementary
@@MyRackley *eatshit
It’s said that the Americans spent a fortune developing a pen which can be used in zero gravity space and the Russians just used a pencil. That space pen can be bought from eBay, presumably almost always by people who won’t be using the pen in zero gravity.
Americans wanted that pen because broken lead tips, dust and wood shavings in zero g is a bad idea. It could mess with the electronics and other stuff. And also those pen were originally made to work in place where the pressure is different and would prevent a regular pen from working. Like in a submarine for example.
As a small time UA-cam creator I am compelled to say that the insertion of the bloopers at the end made my day! While the Bic story is captivating it is a wonder that a human can speak for 47 minutes with little hesitation, but cannot read 1,200 words aloud without stammering and swallowing spit and just gagging! Thank you for adding this side note to a great video! You have gained a sub! I carry a Bic "Round Stick" because I love to watch it role off my desk just as I notice it moving!
4:43 wait 'til you learn about Steyr Mannlicher
7:09 universal type face actually sounds intresting. I wonder 🤔
I always called those "birome" in my country
also, this reminds me to the phrase "if it's not broken, don't fix it"
What country is that? Super cool to here about the history and learn its name/ slang is still being used.
@@SaltyAsTheSeaArgentinians Paraguayans and Uruguayans say "Birome"
@@SaltyAsTheSea it's from argentina but I think it could be used in other places where people speak spanish
@@ZeyLogger oh gotcha, thanks both for the answers!
@@SaltyAsTheSea the Biro brothers actually went to Argentina in 1943, and there founded a company named "Biro Meyne Biro" with a guy named Juan Jorge Meyne, and so the pen was nicknamed as Birome (BIRO, MEyne)
Handy tip, if you love the bic 4 colour but hate how the blue plastic cracks, get a bic 4 colour grip! They made that part stronger while they made it grippy.
this pen legit ALWAYS works, and the cap i use to stampen my joint , ALWAYS fits
I love how they changed the cap specifically to combat natural human stupidity. Spitting straight in Darwins face with that.
I don't think Darwin was a big fan of choking babies, but who knows.
I don't understand why some are viewing it through the lense of an adult intentionally trying to swallow one, these safety measures are intended for infants and young children.
@@SteveKfpv I don't think Darwin was fan of children being dumb enough to swallow a plastic pen cap, but to each their own
@@ArrowArchitect I love that your comments reveal that a. You don't realise that we've evolved an ability to engineer keeping our young safe from danger so they survive, which is part of natural selection and why we are the dominant species. b. That you seem to be doubling down on revealing that you support babies choking on pen lids to somehow cleanse the human race of 'stupid babies' . c. Don't realise that you too were a stupid baby that could have killed yourself if you parents didn't protect you. Shame on them for not letting natural selection take its course I guess?
Counter point: monch (I am a fully grown woman who chews on them, the tism works wonders)
In 1973, when the BIC lighter was introduced, they had a contest on the radio that was the start of a limerick you needed to finish, and it sounded like this:
I once knew a pretty good trick,
That began with a flick of my BIC.
da da da da da da,
da da da da da da,
da da da da da da da da da.
Every time you had the radio on, you would hear that commercial. Over and over and over. So I eventually entered the contest with this:
I once knew a pretty good trick,
That began with a flick of my BIC.
I wish you would quit,
With this BIC-flicking sh*t,
The commercial is making me sick!
The amazing thing is that I still remember it after all this time!
That's brilliant!
As a chronic fountain pen user, the cristal is one of the few ballpoints I find to be reasonable to write with. The ergonomics on fountain pens help with repetitive strain injuries.
For me, the standout advantage of fountain pens is how it takes practically no pressure at all to write with them. It's just a feather touch, so amazing. I hate to feel like I'm advertising, but Zebra's disposable fountain pens are just so wonderful. All of the ease of writing with a proper fountain pen, but without having to deal with clogs or leaks.
@@Dee_Just_Dee That's the key. Fountain pens want to write. Even the best ballpoints need to be persuaded.
I've found a number of cheap disposable fountain pens. Most of them are pretty ok. None of them are remotely so cheap as the cristal. They also tend to be very fine nib. I rather prefer Broad+.
I love the blowtorch and the angle grinder used to make Biros.
Somehow in the mid/late 70's the grade school kids in my tiny rural town figured out how to make a powerful pneumatic spit wad gun using a crystal Bic pen and a stiff wire (cut/bent coat hangar is preferred).
Disclaimer: I won't claim this is sanitary or even necessarily safe, but it's pretty darn clever.
After taping over the hole to avoid air getting out most boys learn pretty early on that Bics are not great as normal spit wad guns because the inside is tapered so the wad just gets stuck in the small end. But if you stand it up, pressing small end down against a table, then take a stiff wire and tamp down the spit wad against the table inside the pen, it squeezes most of the water out of the wad making a hard little paper pellet. Then put another spit wad into the back of the pen (trick is to find *just* the right size and consistency, to seal the tube but not so big that it can't itself be turned into the next pellet. Then using same stiff wire, quickly ram the rear spit wad forward in the pen and it builds up air pressure between the rear wad, and the pellet jammed into the small end. At some point the pressure is too high, and it goes *BANG*, and ejects the pellet across the room at a very high velocity. If the rear wad is the right size, it can be tamped into place to make the next pellet.. rinse repeat. A reasonably thick (not cheapest available) coat hangar wire is usually best as the plunger as it should be large enough diameter that it doesn't just try to punch through the softer wad at the back, but still just small enough to fit through the smaller opening at the front, for ejecting the occasional failures. Cut to length leaving enough room for a bend so that you've got something to push against, and set the length to *just* reach the tip. You don't want to eject the rear wad out the front every time you fire the pellet. The tip of the pen does sometimes break. It can be reinforced with some very tightly wrapped electrical tape, but it does obscure what's going on there, and it helps to see what you're doing the first few times.
The feet being different sizes at 5:59 is a nice touch.
6:22 example of the Pink Tax
About 30 years a go a doctor had to perform an emergency tracheotomy in an airplane and used a Bic outer tube to keep the airway open until they got something better!
So: if it was less than 30 years ago, and nothing better was available, what would happen then?
@@MyRackley The doctor could keep his finger in the opening and stay like that. One could roll a tube of paper or plastic to make a tube, in an emergency one has to think quickly and innovate.
I had another use for these pens back in middle school. (1970's).
I would take a squeeze bulb and fill it with water at a drinking fountain,
Then remove the back end of the pen, then place that into the squeeze bulb.
Instant squirt gun. Back when you could not use them in school.
Hint > It was the hole you mentioned on the side that the water squirted from.
It's my favorite type of pen. When I was in my final year in college, I used a Bic that kept on going. I used it until.the very end where you could no longer see the ink. That was 32 years ago, and I still love these Bic pens. I have a Cross pen I won in a contest in work. I still like the Bic better because it writes much better!
Everyone takes these pens for granted, but they are an absolute marvel of engineering. Their only failure is that they are a single use plastic.
Replacing the ink tube inside the plastic shell would in fact make the pen more expensive and increase pollution.
Bic has come out with a refillable version where the clear plastic was replaced by metal, and you could purchase refills for the pen so you only have to toss the refill rather than the entire pen. Don't know how successful it has been.
@@Solitaire001 It sounds like a easy but ineffective way of saving the environment. I guess the feeling of doing something useful was overwhelmed by logic.
@@Willy_Tepes It should save some waste since you aren't throwing away the entire pen, just the refill. Unfortunately, the polystyrene plastic used isn't recyclable.
@@Solitaire001 You are totally forgetting about the extra environmental impact of yet another product, produced, packaged, shipped, and eventually discarded. There are a million things that would have more positive impact than replacing the outer casing of a pen.
I am quite sure that you can make a bigger impact with simple changes to your daily life. Things like this and plastic straws are feel-good ways of creating the illusion of doing something.
Fun fact about Bic Cristal ballpoint pens. They cost so very little to make, that inflation over the past hundred years has yet to increase the cost to make the pen by even a whole penny.
Fun fact. Illegal drugs are the only goods that are not affected by inflation. Hash has cost the same for 40 years now and only jumped a bit in price during the pandemic..
So all the price hikes over the past 20 years are just pure profit related then ?
@@ro63rto The cost just for the pen itself hasn't increased enough to be measured, but in order to pay their employees an ever-growing livable wage, the resale price has had to increase with time.
@@ro63rto Inflation and profit. Both forms of theft.
@@ChicagoFaucet.etc. transportation etc has also increased steadily in price
props for making bic pens interesting. that alone is impressive
Modern fountain pens are far superior to the ballpoint when it comes to writing experience. And most of the downsides are vastly reduced compared to the predecessors.
FN right. Got a couple sitting next to me right now lol
But biros work better for signing bank cards.
And less waste.
A fun fact, the pen case is called”crystal “ as this was a trade name for polystyrene at the time. Crystal clear plastic. The company developing the injection moulds for the pen was also working on the Tic Tac box injection moulds. Multi cavity moulds were new at the time. Hot runner vs cold runner was a new technology in the day.
Not long after I got my first job I ordered a 50 pack of these. One of the best purchases of my life. Still have loads in the cupboard.
Also I can still remember the smell of the ink in these from school. Don't blow the ink out of the end...
3:41 for those like me who have a short attention span 😊
Literally, only wanted the answer from the thumbnail.
And the answer was exactly what anyone with common sense would expect anyways..
i was looking for this 😂
4:25
I've seen so many people put the pen in their mouths while they work, people choking on a pen cap doesn't surprise me.
This brought back memories of accidentally cracking one of those while thinking and chewing. It wasn't very pleasant.
@@joostfloot5279 A friend of mine got sent to the nurse's office because he was using a mechanical pencil to scratch his ear, and the tiny metal cap that covers the eraser got stuck inside his ear and he couldn't get it out.
The black bic is great for art..I've used it for portraits..mechanical drawing,inking and self defence!..true stories!
The pen lid is also brilliant for scratching the inside of your ear. THE BEST
Come on, Qxir. We Irish also call them biros.
6:11 At about the same time as bic "for her", someone made pencils "for her". They also had pink, flowers, and I think the body was rubberised for chewing or something. Maybe the erasers were softer so it was easier to rub things out. Can't remember.
They didn't sell well, but I still have an unopened pack somewhere that I purchased solely for the purpose of annoying my SO.
Welcome everyone... You're all part of the PEN15 Club.
Reminds me of the one smosh episode...
Ah, 7th grade is back and cringy as ever.
@@Dwigt_Rortugal Lmao hell yeah it is. You must have grown up in the 80's and 90's too???
I don't know why this channel doesn't yet have 10 million + subscribers?! This is by far the most hilarious take on factual real life events. You are the true king brother.
BIC 4 Colors are my all time favorite pens… just perfect and then so simple!
Bic pens and lighters are a prime example of cheap, yet durable, products that were done right the first time. Now if only Bic made cars....
@@thatguychris5654 they made (maybe still do? 🤔) windsurfing boards, sails and gear though so if it _floats your boat,_ that might be a viable form of transportation... 😋
@@kittytrail They also made phones at one point
@@olavsanchez909 they only licenced the brand to Alcatel. 😉
@@kittytrail lol touche, I never knew. 😝
@@thatguychris5654 😉
the original Smart car or the original Renault Twingo are what Bic would have made as a car if they made one. both are _quirkily_ french too and fit for the tasks they've been built for, much like Bic's product. 😼👌
The Hexaganol design is to keep it from rolling off the table. Not grip comfort.
But if you knock them just a bit they roll like a perfectly machined bearing.
I used them as a Pea shooter 😇 using Barley for wet projectiles.
They also make great projectiles. Stretch a rubber band (elastic) across the rings of a three ring binder, and you can stealthily fire them at the kid two rows over. The brief percussive sounds against the steel desk and a muffled "OW!" always made the teacher pause. "Quick! Put on your pensive and studious face!" (Stifled laughter)
Some people have used them for snorting cocaine. Apparently.
It was a great spitball weapon in class. Converts from weapon back to pen and life goes on.
3:43 the reason for the hole
0:34 "U-Bic-uotous". I see what you did there lol
😂
First comment I seen, and it was 34seconds into the video 😂
To answer your question in the thumbnail: if you want to take something out of a vessel (ink), you're going to have to replace the lost volume with something (air) or the vessel will draw a slight vacuum, and the liquid will stop flowing. Basic physics 101.
I dont think the seals and speed at which the ink goes down makes that a problem. Maybe it does, i dont fucking know
It's explained in the video
Or you could watch the fucking video
the cap on the end of the pen is not air tight enough to hold a vacuum produced by the tiny amount of ink lost during writing. also, don't care what the vid says, I've known since I was a kid that if the pen stops writing blowing on that hole will usually get it working again
Nobody asked you to answer it. Its also in video genius
Excellent video as always! Thanks for brightening up Fridays everywhere!!
It's hard today to appreciate how mindblowing, (or quite unusual, depending) the cristal really was. There were very few objects in clear plastic in those days, so this would have seemed very unusual to lots of people in 1950. Plastic was the new space-age material, by the 1960's it was everywhere, but back in 1950 it was really special.
When I was learning to write cursive in elementary school in the early 1950’s, my first ball point pen was the Presdon Vu Writer. It was also was first made in 1950, and had a clear green or red plastic body that showed the ink supply (hence the name) like the BIC Crystal. The difference is that the Vu Writer leaked a lot, put smears and smudges on the paper, and gave me ink stained fingers. I wonder why we didn’t use BIC’s.