EOTO: Response
When listening to other groups' presentations, I gained a significant amount of knowledge regarding the development of new technology around the world. A couple of specific technologies that I found to be extremely interesting were the creation of the pencil and the utilization of tactical products and natural materials such as graphite, wood, and even breadcrumbs. I think that the pencil is just a precursor to other more advanced communication technologies - Apple has made their version of the pencil called the Apple Pencil - which ultimately is inspired by the technology of the original pencil.
The pencil was originally named in the 1660's in Nuremberg, Germany, when graphite was attached to a stick to create a long-lasting, useful writing utensil. However, the Napoleonic Wars forced the French to create an alternative recipe for the pencil. The modern pencil was developed by Nicolas Jacques-Conte, who was a scientist actually serving Napoleon himself. The word pencil is derived from the Latin word "pencillus," meaning "little tail." This was to represent the thin-line writing of the middle ages. The first pencil factory, Cumberland Pencil Company, just celebrated their 175th anniversary.
Though the pencil has lots of positive impact on communication and society in general, the pencil has had a negative effect on society. 82,000 trees are cut down every year to make 14 billion wooden pencils. Many pencil and stationery brands switched to making mechanical or plastic pencils, which aided in the amount of trees being cut down, but provided more plastic which can also be damaging to the environment. Without the pencil, writing and education would have never been introduced to the world the way we know it now. We would not have had such an essential form of writing at such an early time period. The pencil revolutionized communication in general, and without it, we would not be where we are today.
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