[thelastnode]

Even in the movie 3 Idiots, at the end of the movie, the man with the pen points out that there's a reason for the complexity: bits of graphite flying around in zero gravity near instrument panels and people's eyes, etc.

Simplicity is great, but sometimes complexity is warranted. More importantly, assuming other smart people (many other smart people) are wrong without deep thought is not a good idea.

[bandy]

Not only graphite, but assuming a proper non-mechanical pencil, you'd end up with wood shavings in addition to the graphite bits flying about — which you could solve by adding a vacuum to the pencil sharpener, to capture the debris.