On Tools
Many writers seem to take it for granted that a good tool ought to disappear. The best notebook is supposedly the one that gets out of the way, the best jigsaw is the one that works right so you don’t have to think about it, and the best computer is the one that you don’t have to fiddle around with.
I disagree.
I think that that a good tool does indeed get out of the way. But an excellent tool gets back in the way, and becomes aesthetically noticeable. The perfect tool is not the one that you don’t notice as you do your job, but the one that is so beautiful, so practical, so stylistic that you don’t just notice it but enjoy using it, and want to use it.
The perfect notebook is the one that makes you feel like writing, the perfect jigsaw is the one that makes you feel like cutting, and the perfect computer is the one that makes you feel like customizing and playing with just for its own sake. Why be contented with the merely useful when you can have the beautiful?
July 13th, 2008 at 10:38 am
very true. For me, there are pens I have that make me want to flow debate rounds.
July 14th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Hmmm. I would tend to agree. There are pie plates I have that makes me want to make pie. However, I think that in the end, ugly useful things can be just as useful as beautiful useful things. Pretty much anything can be beautiful if you like it enough anyway.
July 15th, 2008 at 10:56 am
Pens are the best example, of course ;-). Angela, I think you’re right—we usually think what we really like is beautiful. But, I may add, we never like something that much unless it’s beautiful in the first place
July 15th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Agreed. Tools of beauty become mediums for creating beauty. A good solid pen and lovely parchment inspire me to create something good for their own sake….a Bic pen and college-ruled paper provide no such inspiration.
September 17th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Hi, I found your blog on this new directory of WordPress Blogs at blackhatbootcamp.com/listofwordpressblogs. I dont know how your blog came up, must have been a typo, i duno. Anyways, I just clicked it and here I am. Your blog looks good. Have a nice day. James.
September 17th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Thanks James!
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:28 am
Interesting post, Matthew. I am actually constantly frustrated by the paper I have to work with.
I’m always looking for paper or a notebook that’s the perfect size - not intimidating, but not too small to get some thoughts down on - and it’s remarkably hard to find. I’m weird about notebooks - even some that really inspire me to write at first later become passe. It’s kind of sad…but I do agree about tools. 
Hopefully we’ll all find some tools that we can use again and again that inspire us to do what we do…
October 8th, 2008 at 8:58 am
I agree. I find that the best kind of journal is a pretty one, with really nice paper, which makes me WANT to write down my thoughts. At the same time, perhaps one can have a tool that is made beautiful by what you do with it.
February 5th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Matthew…it isn’t summer break anymore (unfortunately…). We would love to hear from you again…