4 ms·

Here's the #1 problem with a stylus: I'll lose it.

moylan 15y ago
i had stylus with psions and several palms and palm clones. over 10 years of use and never lost a single stylus. make a standard stylus and it becomes easy to keep a spare in your bag.
- r00fus 15y ago
  I'll match your anecdote with mine - I lost the stylus several times (and even once the PalmIIe that some kind lady from France mailed back to me in the US after my trip - something that I would never have expected). I hate the stylus. When I'm using it, I feel I need to "work" with it. The finger is natural and playful. Humans have been using their fingers to paint and draw long before they used brushes or pens. A stylus is a powerful tool. To require it is folly. You have to create a platform that either ecompasses both inputs or chooses one. Simplicity would dictate the latter, and the finger is just more human.
  - moylan 15y ago
    and there we run into the problem of one size fits all design. you hate the stylus and i prefer them. it comes down to what you are using your mobile tech for. with the psions keyboards i could get 30-40 wpm typing. with a stylus i was down to around 20wpm. typing on touch screens is a chore and stuggles approach 20wpm. but with stylus i also had the option of doodling info on screen. at higher resolution than a finger can achieve. i could get signatures, scribble a hasty note in freehand. i don't think it should be a requirement but rather an option. but without the option i would lose interest towards a device that has a stylus option. but even then i prefer a keyboard more and currently use a samsung galaxy pro.
nextparadigms 15y ago
You can insert the S-pen inside the Galaxy Note. Apparently some people actually want to do digital handwriting on these devices. I don't really get that myself, but it could be useful for signing documents, I guess? For drawing a stylus is obviously better, and apps like Draw Something can take advantage of that, even for casual non-artist users.
- hessenwolf 15y ago
  Graphs and equations, baby, graphs and equations.

i had stylus with psions and several palms and palm clones. over 10 years of use and never lost a single stylus. make a standard stylus and it becomes easy to keep a spare in your bag.

r00fus 15y ago
I'll match your anecdote with mine - I lost the stylus several times (and even once the PalmIIe that some kind lady from France mailed back to me in the US after my trip - something that I would never have expected). I hate the stylus. When I'm using it, I feel I need to "work" with it. The finger is natural and playful. Humans have been using their fingers to paint and draw long before they used brushes or pens. A stylus is a powerful tool. To require it is folly. You have to create a platform that either ecompasses both inputs or chooses one. Simplicity would dictate the latter, and the finger is just more human.
- moylan 15y ago
  and there we run into the problem of one size fits all design. you hate the stylus and i prefer them. it comes down to what you are using your mobile tech for. with the psions keyboards i could get 30-40 wpm typing. with a stylus i was down to around 20wpm. typing on touch screens is a chore and stuggles approach 20wpm. but with stylus i also had the option of doodling info on screen. at higher resolution than a finger can achieve. i could get signatures, scribble a hasty note in freehand. i don't think it should be a requirement but rather an option. but without the option i would lose interest towards a device that has a stylus option. but even then i prefer a keyboard more and currently use a samsung galaxy pro.

nextparadigms 15y ago

You can insert the S-pen inside the Galaxy Note. Apparently some people actually want to do digital handwriting on these devices. I don't really get that myself, but it could be useful for signing documents, I guess? For drawing a stylus is obviously better, and apps like Draw Something can take advantage of that, even for casual non-artist users.

hessenwolf 15y ago
Graphs and equations, baby, graphs and equations.