It absorbs faster than cotton.

We felt we had left behind our 20- to 30-year-old customer. But CB2 turned into something bigger. It's attuned to the way all sorts of people live today.

You can hit it with a hammer, and it absorbs the blow.

Printing on newsprint is a lot different than printing at a photo lab. Newsprint absorbs a lot of ink, and each color is on a different plate and roller. So, if just one color plate is out of line, it can throw the whole photo out of register.

Graphite also absorbs the shock of a hit. The first (graphite) clubs that came out were too flexible, but now you can get them to be just as firm as you want and need.

We were all wondering where all the cotton came from.