From WikiPenia for PenBoutique

>Together with the mass-manufactured pencil and the introduction of cheap wood-based paper, the fountain pen was responsible for a major transformation in writing and in the nature of paperwork during the 19th century. They gave birth to the precursor of the modern office, which would only come about at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th with the gradual introduction of the typewriter and early duplicating machines.

The fountain pen, and, to a lesser extent, the pencil, replaced the relatively hard-to-use combination of the dip pen, blotter, and sand tray employed till then for writing. Using a dip pen was in fact a complex and often frustrating exercise due to the irregular flow of ink from the nib and other factors.

Fountain pens are regarded by many serious writers to be the best tools for writing or drawing with ink on paper. However, they can be more expensive, harder to maintain, and more fragile than a ballpoint pen. In addition, they cannot be used with the various oil- and particle-based inks (such as India ink) prized by artists, as can a dip pen, reed, or quill.

That said, fountain pens require less hand pressure when writing than either ballpoint or rollerball pens. This allows for longer, more comfortable writing sessions with less hand fatigue. Additionally, fountain pen inks come in a far wider selection of colors than those available for ballpoint or rollerball pens, providing a nearly unlimited choice of colors for writing.

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