4 ms·

“Who wants a stylus? You have to get ’em and put ’em away, and you lose ’em. Yuck. Nobody wants a stylus. So let’s not use a stylus. We’re going to use the best

“Who wants a stylus? You have to get ’em and put ’em away, and you lose ’em. Yuck. Nobody wants a stylus. So let’s not use a stylus. We’re going to use the best pointing device in the world. We’re going to use a pointing device that we’re all born with—born with ten of them. We’re going to use our fingers.” — Steve Jobs, 2007 (8 years before the introduction of the Apple Pencil)

nunez 6mo ago
The Pencil isn’t a stylus. At least not primarily. It’s designed for freehand. This is probably why they insisted on it charging via Lightning by removing its end cap. They didn’t want people getting ideas.
zuhsetaqi 6mo ago
When Steve Jobs said that, he was talking about a stylus as a main or even only input device. And he is still right about it. The Apple Pencil for the iPad never was a main input device but an alternative.
- overfeed 6mo ago
  That wasn't the only time Jobs trashed a category Apple didn't currently have annon-sale model for, but was actively developing; he also slurred 6-inch Android phones as "Hummers", and mocked the 7-inch Android tablets as "too small" a little while before Apple launched its iPad Mini.
  - fennecbutt 6mo ago
    Exactly, but watch people leap into to defend how brilliant he supposedly was.
    - eru 6mo ago
      I see no contradiction.
    - isidusjdjsu 6mo ago
      There’s no contradiction here. Jobs’ point was about the MAIN input method. A touchscreen that requires a stylus as main input method still is a terrible idea. The Apple Pencil is meant for alternative and creative input, something you can’t do well with your fingers. Please, leave that reddit-esque “iSheep”-type of comment out of here.
  - Maxion 6mo ago
    To be fair, 7.9 inches is quite a bit bigger than 7 inches. That's ~30% more screen area.
- f33d5173 6mo ago
  Touch input needn't be the main input to a laptop with a keyboard and a trackpad...
VerifiedReports 6mo ago
And here we are, and the Pencil STILL doesn't work on the defectively oversized trackpads on Apple laptops. So... we're talking about more than one blunder here.
- lostlogin 6mo ago
  > And here we are, and the Pencil STILL doesn't work on the defectively oversized trackpads on Apple laptops. Many (including me) argue that Apple sells the best trackpads ever made, the size being a key attribute.
  - qwertytyyuu 6mo ago
    That and the excellent palm rejection. Probably why other manufactures didn't make track pads as large
    - VerifiedReports 6mo ago
      It's just like Apple to create a problem and then have to implement an overly-complicated and flawed "solution."
  - VerifiedReports 6mo ago
    Then they're not paying attention to how little of the pad they actually use, and the irritating-as-hell spurious presses that can cost you several minutes (or more) of work. There's nothing like filling out a form (or comment) on a Web page to have it suddenly reload or back-page, deleting everything you entered.
    - theshrike79 6mo ago
      I've literally never had a "spurious press" on a modern Apple trackpad. I absolutely loathed non-Apple ones when I had to use them, the palm detection was completely useless and the cursor just swooshed around. I usually disabled the touchpad in the BIOS and just used the red nipple-mouse on Lenovos instead.
giancarlostoro 6mo ago
For a device that fits in your hand I understand his argument, for something that takes more than one hand to hold, I can see the usefulness of a different "pointer" device, but also, artists use things like the Apple Pencil, it makes way more sense.
znpy 6mo ago
> (8 years before the introduction of the Apple Pencil) I have briefly used one of the old PDAs with Windows Mobile and a stylus, and i have an ipad with an apple pencil. They are two completely different experiences. A stylus is clunky, particularly if you consider styluses as they were back in the day: pieces of dumb plastic with a specific shape to fit in the PDA itself, to be used on dumb resistive touch screens. the apple pencil (as well as other modern styluses) are completely different, and work on capacitive touch screens.

nunez 6mo ago

The Pencil isn’t a stylus. At least not primarily. It’s designed for freehand. This is probably why they insisted on it charging via Lightning by removing its end cap. They didn’t want people getting ideas.

zuhsetaqi 6mo ago

When Steve Jobs said that, he was talking about a stylus as a main or even only input device. And he is still right about it. The Apple Pencil for the iPad never was a main input device but an alternative.

overfeed 6mo ago
That wasn't the only time Jobs trashed a category Apple didn't currently have annon-sale model for, but was actively developing; he also slurred 6-inch Android phones as "Hummers", and mocked the 7-inch Android tablets as "too small" a little while before Apple launched its iPad Mini.
- fennecbutt 6mo ago
  Exactly, but watch people leap into to defend how brilliant he supposedly was.
  - eru 6mo ago
    I see no contradiction.
  - isidusjdjsu 6mo ago
    There’s no contradiction here. Jobs’ point was about the MAIN input method. A touchscreen that requires a stylus as main input method still is a terrible idea. The Apple Pencil is meant for alternative and creative input, something you can’t do well with your fingers. Please, leave that reddit-esque “iSheep”-type of comment out of here.
- Maxion 6mo ago
  To be fair, 7.9 inches is quite a bit bigger than 7 inches. That's ~30% more screen area.
f33d5173 6mo ago
Touch input needn't be the main input to a laptop with a keyboard and a trackpad...

VerifiedReports 6mo ago

And here we are, and the Pencil STILL doesn't work on the defectively oversized trackpads on Apple laptops. So... we're talking about more than one blunder here.

lostlogin 6mo ago
> And here we are, and the Pencil STILL doesn't work on the defectively oversized trackpads on Apple laptops. Many (including me) argue that Apple sells the best trackpads ever made, the size being a key attribute.
- qwertytyyuu 6mo ago
  That and the excellent palm rejection. Probably why other manufactures didn't make track pads as large
  - VerifiedReports 6mo ago
    It's just like Apple to create a problem and then have to implement an overly-complicated and flawed "solution."
- VerifiedReports 6mo ago
  Then they're not paying attention to how little of the pad they actually use, and the irritating-as-hell spurious presses that can cost you several minutes (or more) of work. There's nothing like filling out a form (or comment) on a Web page to have it suddenly reload or back-page, deleting everything you entered.
  - theshrike79 6mo ago
    I've literally never had a "spurious press" on a modern Apple trackpad. I absolutely loathed non-Apple ones when I had to use them, the palm detection was completely useless and the cursor just swooshed around. I usually disabled the touchpad in the BIOS and just used the red nipple-mouse on Lenovos instead.

giancarlostoro 6mo ago

For a device that fits in your hand I understand his argument, for something that takes more than one hand to hold, I can see the usefulness of a different "pointer" device, but also, artists use things like the Apple Pencil, it makes way more sense.

znpy 6mo ago

> (8 years before the introduction of the Apple Pencil) I have briefly used one of the old PDAs with Windows Mobile and a stylus, and i have an ipad with an apple pencil. They are two completely different experiences. A stylus is clunky, particularly if you consider styluses as they were back in the day: pieces of dumb plastic with a specific shape to fit in the PDA itself, to be used on dumb resistive touch screens. the apple pencil (as well as other modern styluses) are completely different, and work on capacitive touch screens.