Not entirely, and that doesn't account for the rise in sales. Paradoxically, the destruction of handwriting by computers may have benefited some fountain pen makers. As most everyday writing tasks are now computerised, writing by hand is increasingly becoming an activity for special, often personal occasions such as writing a journal entry. Now that the task has become rarefied, it occupies a different part of the mind which attaches a higher and perhaps more ritualised value to its tools. The experience is now done for pleasure not utility, and so the implements should be as joyful to use as possible. The emotional attachment to the activity justifies the disproportionate money and time spent on it (as is typical of recreational activities).