Jobs insisted that even the inside of the products should look aesthetically pleasing, ...

:D LOL - That's how I feel when I sew clothes. It doesn't satisfy me if only the outside has neat seams, it should also look appealing from the inside. Easier said than done. My husband says: "It doesn't matter, no one can see anyway." But I think that a self-sewn, fine garment should also look beautiful on the inside. This is usually achieved with so-called French seams.

Your example with the fountain pen shows once again how interested people are in addressing issues of design and functionality. It is fun to be involved in the development and refinement of products and actually there is an inventor in all of us if we also use the products we buy intensively. Especially where the use serves more than a purely functional purpose. Of course, you can take it to the extreme with this, something the Japanese are particularly good at. LOL

I hope the mess wasn't too big when the fountain pen exploded in your hand. What a pity that it had this weakness after all, even though so many minds worked on it. The long-term effects, however, can of course hardly be predicted.

Just the other day I bought a stapler suitable for working with wood and realised that probably none of the developers could ever have tried this themselves, because if this stapler had been tested, they would have found that the front end must never have a sharp, raised edge, because you have to exert pressure at the front with the heel of your hand so that the metal can press properly into the material. Since I didn't know that beforehand, I bought the thing unaware of what it must be able to do. Wasted money.