New Pencil Stays Erasable for 3 Days, Then Turns Permanent

Very neat, but methinks this is a product that supplies a non-existent demand. Can anyone tell me where this would be more useful than a regular pen or pencil?

I was thinking, "Who uses a pencil or a pen when we have printers?" Then I realized how this would be useful if it weren't for those peskey morals: binding contracts, marriage licences,checks.... the possibilities are endless!

I agree, Edward. No obvious demands for this but it could be useful for crossword puzzles, sudoku, maybe sketching. And of course, like djinny pointed out, tricking someone into using this pencilpen when completing an important document is a fraudster's dream come true.

Am I the only one who is super excited for this, even though I have no idea why?

I have no idea what the use would be, but somewhere out there someone is probably reading about this and thinking, "They finally invented exactly what I need!!!"

...And a few years from now Sharpie will stop manufacturing them and that same person will be very disappointed.

This is awesome!!
I would have loved to have this through school. I took notes in pencil, so that I could fix mistakes as I went along, but then I went back to study my notes, the pencil would be all smudged and hard to read. I will definitely be on the lookout for these.

You lot must be awesome at filling out official forms of all sorts (DMV, voter registration, vote-by-mail, taxes, lease agreements, checks, anything). I can't count the times I've had to start over with a new paper because I've done something stupid in ink.

Sign...date...initial...date...CRAP!

Not saying I'm going to run out and buy some of these, but they definitely fit a niche. Just hold on to your contracts for three days and you're set.

School Notes
Fill-In Forms

Anything else I missed?

Meh. Except for young kids - who still uses a pencil? Better yet, who still writes stuff by hand?

//where's that icon when you need it?//

Seems pencils are pointless now.

This sounds like a minor upgrade from eraseable ink pens that have been out for quite a long time from Papermate, though the ink becoming permanent with those was more a flaw than a feature.

You all forgot artists. Making a sketch, then not needing to redo it into pen. The "graphic novel" industry alone will keep it going.

...and no, not all comics are electronically produced like the Marvel/DC megahouses, the small guys still do it oldschool.

These sound awesome! I'm still in college and I take all my notes in pencil (to practice my archaic cursive handwriting ability), but this would be great for that aforementioned smudge factor. I am super excited about these and I hope they work.

I'm an engineer that's in the field a LOT - I'm living in a hotel off-site as I type.
I write in my field books and on borehole logs in pencil all the time - I would LOVE this Sharpie dealie for my work. Much nicer once I have to get all that info into print than trying to interpret my pencil smudges.

School Notes
Fill-In Forms
Puzzles
Field Books/Logs

The list continues

Tests and essays n crap to be completed in school r often required to be in pen and there's nothing more obnoxious (k so I can think of a few more obnoxious things) than to write 3 long sentences only to realize that they suck and now u have to cross out 7 lines or start over. Plus this is just kinda... neato!

As a graphic designer (and graphic design teacher), I start ALL my designs with pencil and paper, whether they're logos, magazine layouts, websites, etc. (and I have my students do the same.)

This may be good, I don't know. I'm itching to try it, though.

As an illustrator, I would never use this. I need to be able to erase the pencil underneath the "clean up" ink drawing. Sometimes I'll pencil something and not get back to it for a week or so.

This won't replace pencils, and it won't replace pens. And there are already erasable pens. This seems like something somebody thought would be cool without really thinking about what it would be used for...