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Comment by xiaoma | Hacker News Reader

Don't you ever take notes? A lot of people still write. I mean pens are still sold at pretty much every convenience store in every country I've lived in.

Learning cursive is so easy it's kind of amazing to me that some people, especially Americans, feel there's no ROI. Legibility on the other hand seems very easy for some and very hard for others.

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Worth remembering that cursive, as taught in America, is different than "joined writing" as taught in the UK. The American version is a bit harder to read and write, particularly the lower case 's' upper-case 'q' and both cases of 'z'.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cursive#/media/File:Cursive.sv...

vs.

http://www.cursivewriting.org/joined-up-handwriting.html

In the old days, American cursive was defined by a periodic national competition. So letters would mutate over time as tastes changed. I remember upper-case Q got really weird (like a number 2) for a while. As a kid I just ignored it and did it my own way, which turns out folks could read anyway.

my cursive (in the rare event that i write it these days) is really a hybrid of standard american cursive and print. I avoid the weird capitals in favor of the print versions that I then just join up with the cursive lowercase letters.

Please give details on the first two sentences of your message.

Kate Gladstone DIRECTOR, World Handwriting Contest CEO, Handwriting Repair/Handwriting That Works http://www.HandwritingThatWorks.com

I remember in grade school when we got the latest winning results, we had to write our capital Qs like a large number two. Because it 'looked prettier'. I refused; I closed the circle so it would look like a real letter Q.

Interesting. When I finally went to college after leaving high school, my handwriting started evolving into a joined style. I just figured that I was writing lazily. I suppose it is the path of least resistance as there aren't stops between letters but there isn't anything extra like there is in cursive.

Which countries have you lived in? I don't think that convenience stores (aka 7-11s, spar, corner-shops, newsagents) in the UK normally have pens.

I take notes in sermons/talks ... on my mobile [cell-phone].

Are you serious? I think almost all small stores in the UK (and most of Western Europe) will sell you pens.

I must be pen-blind ... will need to do research on my way home tonight!

3:3 for having pens - TIL.

Sure they do. They sell lots of crosswords and puzzle books - clearly complementary goods.

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