This morning, Musubi, a small Singapore-based notebook maker, published a note informing its customers about the end of the road for Cosmo Air, a type of paper popular with aficionados of fountain pens.
I am one of those, who revels in the sound, feel, and sensation of a beautiful nib laying ink as it scratches (or dances) on the paper. In this note, one paragraph stood out and summed up what makes paper so special.
Paper is an analog product, made by analog processes, and everything, from the composition of the pulp, to the water that runs through it, to the machinery that is used, has an impact on how that paper feels and writes. It’s the joy inherent to something physical, and simultaneously its Achilles heel.
Technology has taught me – change is unavoidable. Embrace it. I might miss the Cosmo Air paper, but I won’t be despondent. Something else will come along as long as I have the strength to hold a pen and the ability to write.
If you have never indulged in writing with fountain pens, or have never experienced inky fingers, then it is not too late. It will cost you less than $100, and you will experience a joy that is hard to describe.
September 26, 2022. San Francisco