Mankind discovers way to make Moleskines even more pretentious
Moleskines are wonderful, overpriced, deceptively-advertised notebooks. They're the blogger's dirty little secret, lurking in closets and drawers, unsullied by actual use—no, sirs, only the Internet is for the daily drudgery of the paid word. Moleskines are for the inspiration! And now you may have them laser-etched.
LaserMoleskine offers monograms, quotes, and dozens of ready-to-burn pictures, many of them featuring presidential candidates. They'll also take custom orders through an upload form, though you pay extra for the privilege. The result? A blank notepad that cost you $50.
Xonex makes a great cheap Moleskine alternative to satisfy the appetite for production. Below are a two fantasy Moleskine-based gadgets I'd love to covet.
Laser Etched Moleskine Are Reassuringly Expensive [Wired: Gadget Lab]
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OK, I get that Obama is pretty popular right now. He might even end up being a great president. But he's a politician. They are not to be trusted.
This is like, "You know celebrity worship has gone too far when..."
Throw in "hand made with recycled paper by US workers who conmute in hybrid cards" and you'll have a smugness black hole.
Worth noting: this guy will do it for $5 over the cost of the notebook. Oh, but the expensive people have Jeff Dunham designs for theirs! I think that if I saw someone with a Moleskine with one of Jeff's marionettes on it, I'd head to the nearest home improvement store to buy some sand to kick in their face.
Moleskins aren't as bad as most of the other entries in the blank book sweepstakes. At least the pages aren't covered with desaturated sepia images of little girls standing on the edge of the prairie or horses or views of Tuscany, with inspirational quotes in the corners and stuff.
But they're too bulky for me. If you're really interested in bound clumps of blank paper to note stuff down on there are many fine examples in your average drugstore or stationers for a dollar or less. Actually, I admit to using Moleskins -- but only the thin little three-packs with brown paper covers -- much cheaper, much thinner.
I've got a laser-etched Moleskine. I did it on the laser engraver at Foo Camp last year. It looks swell. Their cover stock takes well to laser etching.
Tell me that makes me pretentious, and I'll kick sand in your face.
Why begrudge the artists at LaserMoleskine their Stupid People Surcharge? Artists don't always get to collect their SPS, and the times when they do make up for some other times when prospective customers are loudly offended that handwork and short-run manufactures aren't priced like sweatshopped mass-produced items at Wal-Mart.
fine examples in your average drugstore or stationers for a dollar or less.
I'm a 'paper-quality' person. Does that make me pretentious? Perhaps, but I like my moleskines and my Pilot G2, and I only need one in two months or so. I use them, don't consign them to drawers, and have three so far absolutely filled with artwork / writing. The memo-pads just don't hold up- and the paper isn't as nice.