does ipad need active an digitizer (stylus)

I bought a stylus for use with my iPad, but I haven't ever used it.

It may have some use for artists and people who intend to draw a lot on the iPad, but for people who are reading books, playing videos, composing emails, surfing the web, etc., it's probably not of any use.

i use my stylus a lot when writing notes, and annotating pdf files. So much faster and easier than a finger.


as compared to a captive setup, wacoom and bamboo is way more precise and less latency. Idk the surface was going to have one like that. That is awesome. I cant wait to try one out. I wish microsoft would have been more detailed about release dates, prices, battery etc.

They're only useful for drawing or handwriting notes. I've never needed one.

I've tried a few different styli and have settled on the iFaraday RX II as one that works well for me. I use it for note taking, sketching and filling in forms. The rest of the time a finger works well.

It would be nice if the digitizer were more precise and if there were a way to make it pressure sensitive.

I wonder if it might not be sufficient to open up the API to allow for high precision third party digitizers. This way the iPad as is works fine for most people but third parties can compete to develop interesting hardware for those who need it.

There is at least one active digitizer for iPad now which shows what is possible.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ipen/ipen-the-first-active-stylus-for-ipad

i use wacoms bamboo duo and i really like it.

my two cents...

Apart from the normal iPad activities like watching movies, reading books, browsing internet, I do use it for taking notes during my client meetigns. I am a technology consultant and I tend to manage projects (design and development).

For a lot of notes taking, you would definitely need a 'proper' pen like stylus. I tried foam-tipped stylii but i was disappointed. I personally feel those are meant for casual writers and for artists but definitely not for serious note-taking.

I did find the iPen but did not pursue as it has its own USB attachment and it required developers to develop the apps for their product/api.So didn't like that dependency and also its not cheap.

So, I tried JotPro and stopped searching for the stylus. Its fantastic I love my jotpro. its cool... Word of caution though - dont use it without a screen protector as the dust in the air might get trapped in teh disc and scratch your ipad.

Yes

I don't own an iPad. I would buy one if it was built for taking notes in class.