I just received a box of Sharpie Liquid Pencils from the States. Several UX people at Lab49 in New York and London now have one to try out, and I’m looking forward to their thoughts on this pen/pencil innovation.
First Sharpie Liquid Pencil in the UK. UK penny shown for scale.
Sharpie Liquid Pencil disassembled.
Although I have just started using it, I do have some immediate observations. First, if you use it at too much of an angle to your surface, gunk collects on the point. It doesn’t do this when the pen is held near vertical, so I suppose the part of the point that holds the roller ball is scraping away paper fibres. Also, when disassembled, you can easily replace the pen cartridge itself. However, even if replacement cartridges are/become available, the pen body feels so cheap and insubstantial, I doubt anyone would bother. Could the cartridge fit in another, better pen body?
Fred Pollnitz UXA 