Admiral says:

wood and graphite. yes it is just a pencil.

This is a great way to start his education! (sarcasm)

By letting him “learn” that overpriced and over promoted things actually mean something in his life.

Next it will be his cereal. No daddy I do not like the $2.00 box of cereal.. I want the $10.00 BOX!! WHAAAAAAHHHH..

I feel sorry for you and your wallet.

Bob Francis says:

It just proves, you can advertise anything to the top of it’s heap!

Trae says:

Yeah, standardized requirements for #2 pencils are out there primarily to ensure that machine readers can read the marking on the page, but it also means that any #2 pencil you buy is pretty much going to write the same way. The only difference available is the eraser on the top…

I’d question the rational behind the schools requirement for type (ie brand) of pencils.

Steve Priro says:

I smell a marketing kickback to the school…

lionemom says:

I think this strip answers your questions….

http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComic.mpl?date=2006/9/25&name=Close_to_Home

Admiral says:

Same. I just do not agree with any school “teaching” kids that one object is better than another when all of the said objects are the same except for price.

A pencil is a pencil….

Sam's mom says:

Clarification here: The school supplies list stated that we needed to buy 24 pencils, and that Ticonderoga is the preferred brand because the pencils tend to last longer.

We were not REQUIRED to buy that brand. I’m sure Miss Rita is not getting a kickback.

Steve Prior says:

So this whole blog entry is one big “nevermind” then since Andrews point seemed to revolve around that brand being a requirement and “don’t show up with some store-brand crap”…

Andrew says:

No no no. The point wasn’t the school’s telling us to buy it — the point was the affection this brand of pencil seems to have all over.

“It sets the standard for the everyday writing utensil,” writes one person. But the definitive review goes to Sara Halm who wrote 1,600 words on the Dixon Ticonderoga for Epinions.

That’s what I thought was funny. You don’t see reviews like that for most things, but people love these pencils.

Admiral says:

“It wasn’t a recommendation, it was a requirement; don’t show up with some store-brand crap.”

Fabricating that the school “required” this brand of pencil when it did not was a mistake on your part.

Also reading Sara Halm’s review will reveal that she wrote it out of boredom and the title reveals it all: “The Fine Art of Procrastination, or Why I Reviewed a Pencil”

Quite funny in her delivery. Writing such a long post about a subject that does not deserve such substance.

Her style of comedy is kinda like sarcastic irony. I like it. I need to use it more.

Andrew says:

“Fabricating” is kind of a strong word. I just misinterpreted what my wife said. [shrug] Again, the point wasn’t about the school — it was about whether this is some sort of special pencil.

Sara Halm was just one person who wrote about it. The point was that for a pencil there was certainly a lot of chatter on teh internets. (There’s even a YouTube video review of one of the company’s other pencils.

Admiral says:

Fabricating is an accurate word. Even if you misunderstood what was said to you, your mind fabricated the incorrect fact that the pencil was required. Which is not the case. Therefore the fact was fabricated (made up).

There is nothing special about any pencil unless you are led to believe that there is something special about it. That is the responsibility of the advertising department of the pencil manufacturer. They create a buzz about something in order for it to sell and sell at a much higher price I may add.

tommy says:

I prefer the Pentel 0.9mm standard mechanical pencil. Not that I would write a blog about it. If I did, I would write it in pencil and it would have to be scanned. :-b

…but I have two, one with normal #2 lead, the other with red lead. My pencils are special to me because I have had them so long.

My kids have a thing for the pencil sharpener. Normal wooden pencils do not last long in my house.

T

Andrew says:

By the way, I just looked at the note from the school. Ticonderoga pencils are required, not suggested. “Please buy Ticonderoga brand. They last longer.”

Tommy: Do you have an electric sharpener? That might be your problem. A hand-cranked one is more fun, but the fun doesn’t last as long. :)

HN says:

A pencil is not just a pencil! There are good quality and crap, pencils which are scratchy and break easily, sharpen bad - and there are good quality which last long, are soft, sharpens well and are easy to write with - all of them # 2 pencils. There are pencils for every use one can think of - even ink pencils, which cannot be erased.
IMHO the quality do make a difference to someone learning the craft of writing. The Tricondroga will perform much better than some cheap crap, which can hardly make a mark on paper.However, real luxury would be the Palomino.
regards
HN