Goodbye Aiptek 600u, you unbeautifully-named tool, you.

It was old tech, and I used it like twice a week, on average. Meaning maybe a week or three all the time and then not at all for weeks or months.

And then it didn't work1! BUTNO! OMG THAT'S NOT FKN POSSIBLE CUZ I NEED YOU, RIGHT FKN NOW!

So, troubleshoot. Pen is defective. Un-fixable (fuckers!). Unavailable. Damn!

To eBay, some trickery later I have a new graphics tablet3 for around a tenner + postage.

I install VirtualTablet which meh, does not cut it. And wait ...

All good. This isn't an unboxing. This is about the

Pen Holder

Yeah, you didn't see that coming! I was like, WTFx1000!

Here it is:


I throw that stupidly over-engineered POS into the "PC bits" box2, and dropped my pen into my old Aiptek pen holder, shuddered at the thought of it, and continued.

Now, after the shock has passed, I can share this with you.

This is the pen holder I have been using for the last, erm, many years..



It's rubber. This enables you to leave your pen at rakish angles for quick access, or straight-up-when-done, removing peripheral incongruity.

I hadn't thought much about it until I was presented with the stupidly-heavy, madly-shaped alternative which lives in hiding (sure, I tried it, but hell no) until I want a laugh, or need to replace pen tips in a "super-simple" way..



*sigh*.

My new pen fits beautifully in my old pen holder and no way I would consider "upgrading".

My advice: if you are dealing with the heavy, clunky, plasticky nonsense that seems standard these days, seek out an old Aiptek graphics tablet, even a broken one, so long as the pen holder is included.

If someone stole mine, I'd pay five times the cost of the tablet4, just for the pen holder.

;o)