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I, Sharpie

I, Sharpie

6 comments

·October 15, 2025
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theamk

it's a bad re-telling of [0] "Sharpie found a way to make pens more cheaply by manufacturing them in the U.S.", in the style of famous "I, Pencil" essay [1]. But while original text was full of interesting technical facts with a bit of politics mixed in, this imitation has no interesting technical details.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45480354

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13016980

profsummergig

I don't understand the appeal of Sharpies. Even if left unused, they die out in a relatively short time. The ones meant for paper are not meant to be used on whiteboards. And they don't write (flow) particularly well on either (the colored ones are particularly terrible on whiteboards).

Maybe I'm using them wrong. Happy to be corrected, and to hear your recos on better alternatives.

happytoexplain

I'm a little confused about your reference to white boards. I didn't know that there are sharpies intended for white boards.

Separately - try "super permanent" sharpies. I love them.

tonyarkles

I use them frequently for marking non-writing-paper things like aluminum brackets, tape labels on wires, circuit boards, spray bottles of chemicals, boxes, etc.

Animats

Onshoring is easier when your product has six parts.

happytoexplain

Yes. We should still praise it.