Editing The Pen Addict 513/transcript (section)

== Johnny Ive's Favorite Tools ==


'''Brad:''' Let's just say, let's just be on the same page that the nuts pen is one of the greatest pens made this year. It's tracking quickly the pen of the year category. So, here's the fun thing.

'''Myke:''' This wasn't the joke I was going to make, right? But like where I grew up when I was a kid, you could say, for example, that's the nuts. And like that means it's really good, you know?

'''Brad:''' Right. Right. I mean, that's a common phrase in poker or any kind of like a gambling hand. When you hold a position that cannot be beat by anything else, no matter what happens, you are holding the nuts.

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'''Brad:''' Hey Myke. Yes. Did you see that article on the internet this week about Johnny Ive?

'''Myke:''' Uh-huh. People kept publishing articles and then sending them to me. So, Johnny Ive had a takeover of the Financial Times supplement called How to Spend It. and it's basically, he wrote some like articles, but the thing that was lighting my corner of the internet, our corner of the internet up was the, it's called Johnny Ive chooses the 12 tools of his trade, which is part of one of the articles where basically he is, you know, like you see like, you see these videos on YouTube, right? Here's my everyday carry. This is Johnny Ive's everyday carry, right? This is the stuff that he thinks is like, these are my perfect tools. I love these things. And there's a vast variety of things. Do you want to go through any of these?

'''Brad:''' I want to go through all of them, to be honest. Some shorter. You want to go through the whole list? Okay. Some, yeah, some real quick and then some with a little added commentary, but let's hit all the, let's hit the full list because I think it's what, 12 items? Yeah, 12 tools of the trade. That's right there in the thing. You know what? I'm going to go ahead and say the mistake here right out the jump. They did not list what paper they used for the photography for this. So this is not a Johnny Ive favorite thing. It's like this part French rule, part accounting grid paper. And I'm sure they've had questions about it. And it is in every single image they use this paper without mentioning what this is. And it honestly looks like something they just got a digital image of and printed off a copier to be, if I'm being perfectly honest. But hey, that's neither here or there. It's cool paper, but it's like an engineering style paper. So not a surprise to have all of these designery engineering tools on here. The first two, a torque wrench. Myke, he's a big fan of the snap-on adjustable torque wrench. Checks in at 455 pounds. This is going to be a recurring theme of this list. And, you know, something, you know, we kind of understand. I don't know what a tone arm is, Myke. Are you a big fan of the tone arm, his tone arm selection here? A Linn Titanium Ecos SE tone arm for only $5,600.

'''Myke:''' I don't know what a tone arm is.

'''Brad:''' Well, clearly, you're not as cool as Johnny Ive.

'''Myke:''' I think so. I'm trying to look it up, but I'm not having much luck at the moment because my web browser is failing me.

'''Brad:''' Yeah, yeah. So that's a thing. The kind of every man set here is shockingly inex...

'''Myke:''' The movable part of a phonograph or record player that carries the pickup and permits the needle to follow the record is part of a record player. Okay. So it's essentially the arm? Yeah. Okay. So my assumption here is beautiful. So that's probably interesting. Yeah. I can see it. Now I know what it is. I can see what it is.

'''Brad:''' Yeah, yeah, yeah.

'''Myke:''' It's peculiar that he picked that one specific thing, but...

'''Brad:''' As opposed to what? The record player or the needle or the deck or the amp?

'''Myke:''' Honestly, I'm just surprised that there's a tone arm in here at all. Mm-hmm. You know?

'''Brad:''' Because there's no other audio file type stuff in here. No. In this list. And that's one very specific... Like, I would have understood the needle more than the arm. I don't know.

'''Myke:''' For all we know, it could just be like he really appreciates the design of this thing.

'''Brad:''' It is beautiful. Sure, sure, sure, sure. That's probably a lot of it. But this is the tools of his trade, Myke. The designer selects things for making, for marking, for measuring, and for carrying with you every day. Everybody needs to carry their tone arm with them. What you can carry is his Hex Keys Choice, Myke. The Weha color-coded Hex L-Key set. I have these. $369, little rainbow Hex Key. I have this exact set. Everyone needs a Hex Key set.

'''Myke:''' With the rainbows? My friend Ian recommended that I get it, and he made a good recommendation, clearly.

'''Brad:''' Probably everyone should have this set. It's not something you need until you need it, and then you need this exact thing. Mm-hmm. So, yeah, it's great. And it's inexpensive. I went, in response to many of the comments we got on this on Twitter, his paper folder recommendation, whether you choose his paper folder, which is also known as a bone folder, which is right out of the ninth century. You know, terrible tools of the trade. The bone folder is a tool that actually everyone should have. I tend to use things, if I need something that a bone folder would handle, I tend to use, like, the backside of a ruler, right, to straighten paper or to straighten, flatten edges, different things like that. The less sharp side of a ruler, like the backside of a ruler, that is my bone folder of choice. But, like, I've always threatened to get, like, hey, let me just get, like, a decent, you know, $10, $20 bone folder that I keep here on my desk for the few times that I actually pick one up to use it. I will actually probably get something along these lines. The measuring tape, Myke, this is one where...

'''Myke:''' I see this one memed. This one has been memed.

'''Brad:''' Okay, I was going to say, because this is one of the two where he loses me a bit. The second one you might be surprised on, the Hermes in-pocket measuring tape. This is not functional. Like, I get the design aspect of this.

'''Brad:''' No one... It's stupid to say no one needs this, but, like, this is...

'''Myke:''' Why is it not functional?

'''Brad:''' Oh, it's completely functional. It's just unnecessary. But I guess this is an exercise in excess and things like that. It's a $530, probably a six-foot tape. I didn't look at that. It is 2.6 meters. Like, at this point, I am a big fan of the Taylor's tape, right? You know, the ones you see in movies that they just wear over their neck. It's just a very... Why? Why do you hate those? Because you can just wrap them up and put them in your pocket. No, I like the retracting.

'''Myke:''' I'm on Team Johnny here. Okay. All right. I will just say, like, you know... I understand why it's funny that he has a $530 measuring tape. He is a multi-millionaire. I know. I know. Right? Like, if he was rocking up with a frigging, like, oh, here's my measuring tape from the hardware store, honestly, I would be disappointed by the list. Nah, I'd appreciate that. Because there is stuff on this list that anyone can buy, right? Like, those hex keys. It isn't all absolutely obscene. Most of it is obscene. But, like, it would be weird if Johnny Ive is rocking up with the exact same products I have in my drawer. It would be a bit like, I don't understand what's happening here, you know?

'''Brad:''' He does have an aesthetic with his choices here. Oh, it is fantastic. It's very natural colors. Yeah. It's very natural colors, right? So, the leathers or the ivories or the... It's all pretty much on theme. The hex set is the outlier. It actually has a hint of color in it. So, next one is a loop. They don't even have a link to this, but it's a beautiful loop for someone who would use a loop all the time. I could see him having this. This is a lights loop from Johnny Ive's personal collection. So, there is no link to that one, but it kind of looks stunning. Like, I would be down with that. That's probably... I haven't looked this up. That's probably a several hundred dollar loop, and that's probably worth it, right? More so than a $500 tape. Just a little bit.

'''Myke:''' That feels like something where, like, the clearness of the glass and all that kind of stuff can really make a difference.

'''Brad:''' Right, right. So, we're going to skip number seven, Myke, with the fountain pen to talk about that the most here at the end. Number eight is one that I have probably the most problem with. This is a horribly designed eraser. So, this is the Graffon Faber-Castell Platinum Plated Eraser for 100 pounds. I understand the design. I understand why this is in this post, and I understand why Johnny Ive uses it. This is... I hate round erasers to begin with. Mm-hmm. And having this little fidget spinner style eraser is just going to lead to frustration of use. Designed beautifully? Absolutely.

'''Brad:''' Functional? I have a hang-up on these. You know, using... You know, there's a popular kind of round eraser on the end of a kind of a whisk brush pen. Or like a whisk brush holder, right? So, on one end, you have this eraser that rolls. And then on the other end, you have a little whisk brush to clean off the eraser, you know, shrapnel. And this is just basically like the wheel end of the eraser. And I actively dislike this product. I think it's beautiful. I think it's completely beautiful. I think I would never use it because I would pull my hair out. Why? Like, because it would move while you're erasing. It's a bulk eraser, right? But it's small, so it's not designed to be... It's a bulk area eraser, not a tiny detail eraser. Because if you're erasing details, you can't grip it in the center because it's a wheel design. Okay? So, it rotates generally. I didn't assume it rotated. I believe you, but I didn't assume that it rotated. It may not. Let's see. Circular eraser with platinum-plated hub. Yeah, it calls it a hub. Which, to me, says that it rotates. It's designed...

'''Myke:''' Well, it can be replaced.

'''Brad:''' Yeah. So, it definitely rotates.

'''Myke:''' Hmm.

'''Brad:''' So, it's just non-functional, right? This is a product I would like, just like I like the Faber-Castell Perfect Pencil as an idea and as a design. But in use, it doesn't hold up to the price that they're asking for it from me.

'''Myke:''' Is that the one you own, the Perfect Pencil?

'''Brad:''' I ended up selling it, yeah. Right. Yeah. Right. So, because I realized real quickly that I was going to be disappointed with this. But it doesn't change the fact that, like, it wouldn't look perfect in this picture, right? It's right. It's that type of product.

'''Myke:''' Because I was getting ready to roast you. So, I'm pleased you told me. Oh, gosh, no. Oh, yeah. You know, this is a Glass Houses and Stones thing when we're talking about the eraser. No doubt.

'''Brad:''' Because that pencil is just as bad. It is. I mean, and plus, it's got a worse name. It's called the Perfect Pencil. Yeah, and it is. I mean, you're just setting yourself up for all kinds of problems. Next up is this pencil case. It's just like a classic leather pouch. I don't know that it's specifically designed for pencils.

'''Brad:''' The brand is called Visvim. Visvim. Visvim. This is someone who sells, like, you know, $1,000 chinos and, you know, $700 t-shirts and things like that. So, it's, like, this is basically Johnny Ive, Inc., right?

'''Myke:''' I mean, they have, like, wallets and essential cases that are, like, $300.

'''Brad:''' Right, right. Like, this looks like a brand that he would have ownership of to a degree, although there's more color on here than he would probably get into. So, yeah, that's fine. Like, expensive leather pencil pouch, go for it. Like, that's going to last you a lifetime. It's going to look awesome. It's going to be awesome. A protractor, like, you know, that's a Johnny Ive thing. Like, I have never been in the protractor business, but this looks like a completely awesome protractor, and it's 264 pounds. This looks like a 264-pound protractor. It looks awesome. There's a lot going on with this protractor. It looks super good. This isn't your basic, you know, elementary school protractor. This looks, like, seriously, seriously cool.

'''Myke:''' And again, following with a lot of these products of, like, because I do think that there is an element of, and he appreciates the design. Right.