[NTLK] Modern Tablets and the Stylus: Sound Off!

[Joel M. Sciamma]

Hi Ryan,

> What do you all think about the stylus and modern tablets? Does it have a place today?

No question about it - if you want to do more than just the basics. I have tried using the iWorks-like apps. on the iPad and they are excruciatingly cumbersome when all you have is a finger, to the extent where that kind of task might as well be impossible given the time you are wasting. I used a stylus as well and it was only marginally better because the iPad just doesn't have the interface smarts to use a stylus even if it were supported for pixel-level control, so it gets you both ways; no hardware and no software support for small, precision gestures.

The pen, pencil or stylus is the most developed form of fine human control which has been developed over thousands of years, so ignoring it is like being forced not to use language or vision. Any device of this kind that ignores that inheritance is just crippling itself into a box that will exclude a whole host of useful possibilities. Maybe that's the point.

I see that Apple are intending to spread this contagion to the Mac, which is a pity, as it doesn't need more problems.

Joel.