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My main problem with the stylus is that it's so easy to lose; who wants to carry around a separate part with their device? That said, imagine if styluses (styl

by dgurney 15y ago

My main problem with the stylus is that it's so easy to lose; who wants to carry around a separate part with their device? That said, imagine if styluses (styli?) were mass produced and available as ubiquitously and cheaply as pencils. Lose one? No problem, there's another one on the table over there. In that case, I can see styluses catching on big time, and as noted in the article, their precision would give them huge inherent advantages over fingers.

jbermudes 15y ago
It's possible that just as pencils have erasers, that in the future were the stylus more ubiquitous pens might have their opposite side designed to be a touchscreen stylus
- suivix 15y ago
  It's much more likely that there will be almost no pens or styluses.
yummyfajitas 15y ago
The nokia n800 had a little triangular stylus with a holder built into the device. So nothing extra to carry around. It also wouldn't be too tricky to attach the stylus to the device with a wire.
- sjs 15y ago
  Attaching it with a wire limits your movements and has the potential to get tangled. Where does it go when the stylus is tucked away? If it retracts then does it have a button to make it retract, or does it retract automatically causing constant tension while using it? Stylus slots are not new. All the iPaq-like PDAs had them as well, and people still complained about losing them. I never lost mine but it was a relatively common complaint. (I still have it in fact, tucked away in a drawer in my "smartphone" from 2004[1]) [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTC_Blue_Angel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTC_Blue_Angel
  - wickedchicken 15y ago
    The best system was the Samsung Omnia. You attached the stylus to your keys (it telescoped so was quite small when stored). I keep my keys on me all the time, so I always had my stylus. The unfortunate part was it looked like a little thing of mascara which (as a dude) I thought was awkward.

by dgurney 15y ago

jbermudes 15y ago

It's possible that just as pencils have erasers, that in the future were the stylus more ubiquitous pens might have their opposite side designed to be a touchscreen stylus

suivix 15y ago
It's much more likely that there will be almost no pens or styluses.

yummyfajitas 15y ago

The nokia n800 had a little triangular stylus with a holder built into the device. So nothing extra to carry around. It also wouldn't be too tricky to attach the stylus to the device with a wire.

sjs 15y ago
Attaching it with a wire limits your movements and has the potential to get tangled. Where does it go when the stylus is tucked away? If it retracts then does it have a button to make it retract, or does it retract automatically causing constant tension while using it? Stylus slots are not new. All the iPaq-like PDAs had them as well, and people still complained about losing them. I never lost mine but it was a relatively common complaint. (I still have it in fact, tucked away in a drawer in my "smartphone" from 2004[1]) [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTC_Blue_Angel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTC_Blue_Angel
- wickedchicken 15y ago
  The best system was the Samsung Omnia. You attached the stylus to your keys (it telescoped so was quite small when stored). I keep my keys on me all the time, so I always had my stylus. The unfortunate part was it looked like a little thing of mascara which (as a dude) I thought was awkward.