4 ms·

"if you see a stylus, they blew it." - Steve Jobs, after the 2010 iPad introduction.

rev_bird 11y ago
I just can't figure out why Jobs, and apparently lots of other people, are against adding an extra, more accurate method of interacting with a touchscreen, without removing any of its current capabilities. I'm not taking handwritten notes with my finger, get real. A stylus totally changes the range of interactions I can have with a device.
- tsunamifury 11y ago
  Jobs didn't like Modes -- something you see quite a bit in todays presentation. He felt that Modes obscure the immediate discoverability of functions and they keep you from pushing your design to ensure you can use something without left clicking or pulling out a pen. It should just work.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  - 72deluxe 11y ago
    The "no modes" approach is a good one. I do find with modern systems that the obscure hieroglyphics and no hints for buttons is just as bad though - who would have thought that a box with an arrow going into it was "share"? Or that I had to swipe left or right to show a delete option in a list? Or on Windows, that Win-U or hovering near the right showed charms? IMHO these non-discoverable items are a barrier to use. Screens are big enough that buttons can be drawn on them, and even with text.
- mozumder 11y ago
  Because it adds complexity to the user experience. Most people don't need handwritten notes. How would a stylus help with their text messaging or photo taking? They're fine just pressing on the on-screen keyboard. Hell, they don't even teach cursive writing in school anymore. So, a stylus is STILL not a valid useful device for the average person. You'll notice that they introduced this stylus for the iPad Pro, and not for the regular iPad. This stylus is for a specific pro user that actually needs a pen input.
andreamazz 11y ago
Then people started buying 3rd party crappy stylus, because drawing with just your finger is hard. If there's demand, it would be stupid not offering a solution. The stylus is an optional, not included nor needed for the iPad Pro. People are under the impression that what Jobs said to sell his ideas at the time should be an unbreakable company law, but that would be idiotic.
- carlosrg 11y ago
  Yeah, like the bigger iPhone screens. So many market demands to be fulfilled, so many times Apple and the Apple faithful said something was stupid and then rectified themselves.

I just can't figure out why Jobs, and apparently lots of other people, are against adding an extra, more accurate method of interacting with a touchscreen, without removing any of its current capabilities. I'm not taking handwritten notes with my finger, get real. A stylus totally changes the range of interactions I can have with a device.

tsunamifury 11y ago
Jobs didn't like Modes -- something you see quite a bit in todays presentation. He felt that Modes obscure the immediate discoverability of functions and they keep you from pushing your design to ensure you can use something without left clicking or pulling out a pen. It should just work.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- 72deluxe 11y ago
  The "no modes" approach is a good one. I do find with modern systems that the obscure hieroglyphics and no hints for buttons is just as bad though - who would have thought that a box with an arrow going into it was "share"? Or that I had to swipe left or right to show a delete option in a list? Or on Windows, that Win-U or hovering near the right showed charms? IMHO these non-discoverable items are a barrier to use. Screens are big enough that buttons can be drawn on them, and even with text.
mozumder 11y ago
Because it adds complexity to the user experience. Most people don't need handwritten notes. How would a stylus help with their text messaging or photo taking? They're fine just pressing on the on-screen keyboard. Hell, they don't even teach cursive writing in school anymore. So, a stylus is STILL not a valid useful device for the average person. You'll notice that they introduced this stylus for the iPad Pro, and not for the regular iPad. This stylus is for a specific pro user that actually needs a pen input.

andreamazz 11y ago

Then people started buying 3rd party crappy stylus, because drawing with just your finger is hard. If there's demand, it would be stupid not offering a solution. The stylus is an optional, not included nor needed for the iPad Pro. People are under the impression that what Jobs said to sell his ideas at the time should be an unbreakable company law, but that would be idiotic.

carlosrg 11y ago
Yeah, like the bigger iPhone screens. So many market demands to be fulfilled, so many times Apple and the Apple faithful said something was stupid and then rectified themselves.