Just a side point from the last line of this article: shorthand (and "cursive") is specifically adapted to the fountain pen: the strokes are continuous and drawn (i.e. you never push the pen, only pull it). Even with a pencil or ball point/byro if you pull rather than push you end up with a much more readable handwriting.
And a 10% improvement is YUGE when you have to write everything by hand and there are no copiers!
Woah, you're so right: I live my dexter privilege without even thinking about it My apologies to any sinister folks out there.
And this reminds me to take let-handed single-handed operation into account when designing mobile UIs.
(Although you still have to pull the fountain pen -- I assume you're talking about the speed increase of writing continuously rather than printing each character).
I'm not quite sure what you mean by "have to pull the pen"; It's been some years since I last used a fountain pen, but there are basically two options when you're left-handed. One is to mirror your hand horizontally, and the other is to mirror in the plane of the nib (which is at 45 degrees to the rules on the paper). So your hand ends up above and to the left of the letter you're writing. I found that much more natural and easy to do, but it requires having blotting paper under your fist to avoid smudging everything.
(The third option is the Da Vinci one of mirroring your hand and the writing, but that's no use if you want other people to read it.)
So if your hand is to the left of the nib and the writing is going from left to right, I think that counts as "pushing"?
The third option is doable though if you write on paper that is thin enough to be seen on the other side - then just write on the back of the paper, reversed :)
You do push the pen. Otherwise how would you write an O? like ()? Similarly there are upward strokes in h, b, d, k, m, n, r...
I would say that cursive ("joined up handwriting" as I know it) prefers downward strokes, and I don't think it ever begins a letter with an upward stroke.
That was a bad idea. Much better: graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/09/08/opinion/OPED-WRITING.1.pdf, briem.net, italic-handwriting.org, studioarts.net/calligraphy/italic/hwlesson.html, BFHhandwriting.com, handwritingsuccess.com, Lexercise.com, HandwritingThatWorks.com, freehandwriting.net/educational.html
You pull it on the upward strokes too. Have you used a fountain pen for long periods of time? The nib acts as a spring (in fact it's called a "feder" in German, which coincidentally can mean "spring" though it also means "feather" which, of course, is the sense in which it is used) if you push on it. Little kids learn with a special kid's pen which has a very strong nib because they tend to push down hard and to push on the pen.
I don't know if they still require it, but as of 5 years ago my kid was still required to do his schoolwork with a fountain pen (until grade 8).
And a 10% improvement is YUGE when you have to write everything by hand and there are no copiers!