Hmm, interesting! The way I guessed these FriXion pens work is the ink is actually liquid plastic and by friction, the plastic inks gets rubbed away when "erased". I guess that explains my curiosity of why there isn't any "ink residues" after the ink is erased away.
Still, I'll much prefer these friXion pens over the new Sharpies since under normal usage, writings usually don't get exposed to tremendous heat. So to me and perhaps normal users, these friXion pens are more like erasable pens since they are not subject to the 3 day rule the new Sharpies impose.
The only question remains is if these new Sharpies' "liquid graphite" writes like a real pencil, in which case, it would have a totally difference use and market (art, drafting, etc.). Since it says it's available already, I'll probably grab some and find out for myself. I'm cited!