Apple Still Considering Offering a Stylus?

[teejaysplace24]

Given that at least one sector (medics) of the target market for tablets will habitually be wearing gloves, optional input via a stylus would probably be a quite sensible and worthwhile idea.

As an aside, yesterday it was so cold where I currently am that I bought and wore a pair of gloves for the first time in 20 years. Tehn I tried to use my iPhone. Doh!

Excellent points, not to mention the fact that, among the the main objective of such a device must be some form of handwriting recognition. To achieve that, users would obviously need some sort of input device that could synthesize a writing too. Writing your name on the bathroom mirror after a shower is fun and all, but I wouldn't want to take my advanced pharmacology notes that way. But fear not, Apple failthful. I'm sure El Steveo hasn't gotten therapy for his button-phobia just yet. If this all comes to pass, I'm sure he realizes what even the ancient Phoenicians knew: sticks + hands = alphabet.

 

[mccldwll]

Carry a AA or AAA battery with you and you can use the positive terminal as a stylus.

Care to elaborate? Any cites?
While I certainly can see it working, I can also see the potential for damage to iPhone from 1.5V. Not a risk I would want to take without more info.

 

[WhySoSerious]

Carry a AA or AAA battery with you and you can use the positive terminal as a stylus.

incorrect. you have to use the negative terminal.

 

[halse]

Wacom

why not have the iSlate/tablet thingie also have some of the capabilities of a Wacom tablet for those who are interested? small niche but a market nevertheless

 

[farmboy]

No need to worry about prior art when you've got a cadre of lawyers and are mainly interested in publicity to increase your stock value.

No, it's not simply the "idea" (your understanding of "prior art"), it's the actual implementation (mechanical, electrical, physical) of the idea that is being patented. If it does not infringe on the claims of the prior art, it can be patented. That's why it's important to write enough claims to protect your work and investment.

"...mainly interested in publicity"? What? Has Apple made one single announcement about the tablet? No. Any upcoming product? No. You guys are doing all the publicity all by yourselves. Sometimes it works out close to an announced product, sometimes it's pure fantasy.

And if publicity was all it took to increase stock value...we wouldn't be in this fine mess.

 

[dawson865]

This is old news - its a patent for the stylus input for their custom pos retail ipod touch thing. You know, you go in store and they pull out the ipod touch and you pay with credit card and sign the touch using a stylus.

 

[farmboy]

Given that at least one sector (medics) of the target market for tablets will habitually be wearing gloves, optional input via a stylus would probably be a quite sensible and worthwhile idea.:

Medical people wear gloves when doing something during which they need to protect the patient or themselves from contamination. When this activity is over, the gloves come off. Then they can type on the computers. Of course, true sterile technique is sadly lacking in hospitals today--it takes a lot of concentration and effort to do it properly.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

More negatives than positives?

A tablet is the only format with the full potential of being the ultimate creative device, working directly, hands-on, and accurately, with your media.

Handwriting, drawing, graphics work, all require a stylus. If you just want to surf web and play iTunes, use your fat greasy fingers instead. Nobody's forcing you to use a stylus. The Motion LE1700's have worked like this for several years, and it's (as) great (as it gets running that herky-jerky OS).

What this comes down to is, the tablet could either be a creative device, or an essentially read-only one, like an ipod. One enables you to create, the other limits you to the role of mere consumer and choose ready-made packages off a prepared menu.

One will be a success, the other... just another ipod.

If Apple chooses the latter, I will produce the former.

 

[Imhotep397]

I'm sure this is a secondary input option as others have said. Those rows of sensors(?) seem to mesh perfectly with a patent design leak here about a year ago or so describing a method Apple has been investigating to incorporate pressure sensitivity. If it does include pressure sensitivity and they can deliver at a lower price point than the Wacom Cintiq, my hope is that you'll be able to utilize it as a display for a more powerful computer as well. The Cintiq market is no doubt a small BUT very profitable one to jump into. Hopefully Apple will deliver something bigger, even though they've always claimed to no want to get into that market.

 

[colinmack]

It is unlikely you scratch a glass surface with a plastic type of stylus

I thought the 3GS had a special coating on the glass to prevent smudges, and that the coating was susceptible to scratches?

 

[homsar]

Patenting something does not always mean that you are going to commercialise it. A company could be patenting technology to prevent others using that technology.

Which is precisely what is wrong with the patent system at the moment.

 

[hokka]

I thought the 3GS had a special coating on the glass to prevent smudges, and that the coating was susceptible to scratches?Originally Posted by ashoka8350
It is unlikely you scratch a glass surface with a plastic type of stylus
I thought the 3GS had a special coating on the glass to prevent smudges, and that the coating was susceptible to scratches?

Stylus' tip like Pogo are made of a special rubber compound (Aluminium Oxide additive to rubber?) that is conductive, so they don't scratch, but like I said you do need to push it down quite hard and not like your fingers can just swipe.

Plastic would not work on capacitive screens like on resistive screens do, well at least not just any old plastic.

 

[HaXoR7Om]

Considering Steve Jobs dislike of the stylus, I think it's unlikely that they will release one. What Steve wants and doesn't want in a product usually goes lolz. I read somewhere that Steve Jobs is hard of hearing which is why the iPods can be cranked up to such a high volume. I'm sure Chinese retailers will be selling third party styluses on ebay for as little of £0.99

 

[nagromme]

Apple’s patents have never meant anything more than protecting ideas they’ve come up with so that someone ELSE can’t make money off them without including Apple. A patent doesn’t indicate future plans in any way.

A stylus WOULD be a nice accessory occasionally, for the sake of certain kinds of drawing (a sharp point being more precise, and easier to see around). But I doubt Apple would bundle one: it would invite comparison to tablet failures of the past, would invite users to use the tablet “wrong” instead of using a finger as designed, and would either need wasted space for a storage slot or else risk criticism that there is no such slot.

Apple might make an optional accessory, though, or leave that to third parties. (As for industries that use gloves—I don’t think Apple’s likely to target those niches so much that the overall product is affected. It’s a consumer device first and foremost, I’m sure—aimed at a market that past tablets have NOT succeeded in--and third parties can step up in particular niches.)

Apple could also simply offer a finger-sharpener.

 

[TraceyS/FL]

Stylus' tip like Pogo are made of a special rubber compound (Aluminium Oxide additive to rubber?) that is conductive, so they don't scratch, but like I said you do need to push it down quite hard and not like your fingers can just swipe.

Plastic would not work on capacitive screens like on resistive screens do, well at least not just any old plastic.

I ordered 2 pogo's for christmas. I opened one to try before i gave it to my dad - and was kinda surprised at how hard i had to push with it. But i went with it. Even pushing firm it was easier on him than not having it, and it seemed to "break in".

Then i opened mine a few days after Christmas. It was night and day. I went to his house and handed it to him - and he was shocked at how different it was than the other one. I hadn't told him anything other than, "try this". He kept that one! LOL!!

it's still a bit firmer than i expected, but no where like that mucked one (that also only worked straight up and down).

I contacted tenone about the mucked one, and that same day they mailed me out a new one! It works like the one that i had given myself for Christmas.

SOOO, what i'm saying is that - you could have a bum one, and don't hesitate to contact them and ask them if what you are seeing is within specs.

But it does have a different "touch" than my palm styluses had/have (i use my fingernail on my Treo currently).

 

[mrr]

The Tablet could be one of the greatest tools for graphic artists ever made, but ONLY if it has Pen or Stylus input.

Making art with your fingers is... finger painting.

Writing or drawing with a PEN is the most natural way for input and we have been doing ever since grade school.

Making people learn all of this FINGER GESTURE stuff, is like Sending them back to KINDERGARDEN !

 

[Rogzilla]

Offering the tablet with the option of a stylus would be a good move on Apple's part. It opens up the tablet much more.

Think about it, I mean actually think about it. Steve Jobs said he didn't like having to use a stylus when we have a perfectly good "pointing device". Pointing, not writing, not drawing, not painting. So, for basic interaction (web surfing, OS navigation, reading, ect.) a finger is all you need. Why on earth should you NEED a secondary device when a finger should work! Consumers will (and currently do) love the lack of NEED for a secondary device.

But then there is all those niche markets that tablets have belonged to exclusively in the past. The ones people keep citing as the "only people who would buy a tablet". All those people who need a computer that they can take notes on while standing up and moving around. Artists who want a way to sketch out ideas anywhere. If Apple made a tablet that was for consumers only, they would loose all these other potential sales. Why do that when the only thing they would have to do is include an option...and emphasizing this...OPTION...to use a stylus for some applications. A consumer would never need to take the stylus out.

So how Apple store the stylus? Certainly, there would be a need to store the stylus in or on the tablet somehow, right? Easy. My old HP tablet laptop came with a DVD drive. However, HP knew that there wouldn't always be a need for that drive, especially as it adds a lot of weight to the tablet (which needs to be light for extended use while standing). So there was the option to take out the drive and cover up the whole with an enclosed...thing.

So what Apple could do is have the tablet come a place to keep the stylus/pen and the covering for that place when you don't have said pen. Then, seperately, you have the option to purchase a pen and place it into the whole when not in use. The eraser portion would sit flush and to eject, you push it in and it pops out just a little bit.

To reiterate, this is just how they COULD do it and it would make a lot of sense. But they may, at least for the start, just focus on it being a consumer device. But I don't think we should just brush off the idea of Apple doing this period. It would be like brushing off the idea of Apple including the option to pair a bluetooth keyboard with it because it has a software keyboard. I am sure a lot of people would like to have that option for extended text input.

It all depends on how Apple decides to market this device and their long term plans. It may start directed at consumers and open up more in future generations. In any case, this is all so exciting, I may explode in delight!

 

[kdarling]

If they do support a stylus, we'll have to watch all the really naive fanboy heads explode.

Jobs is a salesman, first and foremost. He says whatever it takes at the time to make a sale.

If his device cannot use a stylus, or doesn't come with one, then of course he makes fun of the stylus. The moment his device uses a stylus, he'll claim it's the most important feature ever created. That's his job.

There's plenty of reasons for stylus, brush, finger, voice, air gesture, keyboard, button, mouse, you-name-it support. One input style does not fit every need.

Apple will do whatever makes the most sense to them, just as with the Intel move.

 

[Friscohoya]

I am pretty sure Steve Jobs has bashed every market that Apple is currently in at one time or another. His dislike for something is typically a precursor to Apple's entry. While I like the thought of a stylus free stylus as described in the patent of a few days ago, it does not allow for pressure sensitivity. Given Apple's historical design related market, that just seems like too much of an ommission.

If Apple does not release a stylus, 3rd party developers will. It just makes sense. I do think, however, that the stylus will be optional.

One day we will live in a land where fingers and styluses of all shapes an colors will holds hands and say Free At Last....oh, that's Monday.

 

[MacTheSpoon]

I think this is the way to go, as far as getting any serious work done on a tablet.

 

[Rogzilla]

If his device cannot use a stylus, or doesn't come with one, then of course he makes fun of the stylus. The moment his device uses a stylus, he'll claim it's the most important feature ever created. That's his job.

QFT!

 

[skate71290]

There you go - Apple patents the capacitive stylus, stops anyone else making it, and people buy them 6 at a time and lose them, that sounds like the kind of business model razor blade manufacturers love. Everything still works with a finger but .. if you want to give us more money, we're open for business.

and knwing our luck, Apple will make the stylus mandatory and charge £50 for one stylus because it will have an Apple on the top of it

 

[charlituna]

There you go - Apple patents the capacitive stylus, stops anyone else making it,

the question to ask is not that this patent was just published. but when was it filed. if it was 4-5 years ago it could be related to early work that Jobs then nixed in favor of the finger.

and consider that Pogo has an iphone capable stylus that uses none of this tech. Heck they use them at the Apple stores with their paytouches.

The tablet WILL have a stylus.

You can choose to believe me or not, but my friend has SEEN a prototype tablet. She works at a dialysis center and treats an Apple executive. "That's the biggest iPhone I've ever seen," she told him. He replied, "Oh, this isn't an iPhone. It's a new product that's going to come out in a few months."

i'm calling bull on this. no way would a company like Apple let anyone off campus with even a drawing of anything not yet released so they can wave it around in front of folks.

but nice try signing up just to get some attention by posting that a friend of yours (with no name) treats an (also unnamed) Apple Exec and has seen the mystery device. that move has never been done before.

now since you know so much how about the name of the exec, the hospital and the exact date your friend saw said device. oh wait, you don't want to get your friend fired so of course you won't reveal any of that. that move has also never been done before.

If his device cannot use a stylus, or doesn't come with one, then of course he makes fun of the stylus.

Jobs has never "made fun" of a stylus. His comments were that many of the phones out in the market require a stylus because the touch points are so small. which didn't make sense to him. especially since if you lost the stylus you were hosed.
so the iphone was designed to use the most convenient stylus of all, one that you couldn't drop, leave behind etc -- your finger.
but he never made the phone anti stylus or prohibited anyone from making one. which he could have done by denying them access to the vital details to make them work, or refusing to license the various patents.

 

[spaz8]

I love the wacom tablet in your lap idea. We've talked about it at length at work but I don't think the tech (horsepower) is there yet, to be a digital artbook that is beyond a toy. That and it is small niche sadly. If there is a stylus, I'm a fan, but I expect it to be an accessory you have to pay extra for.

 

[Thomas158]

I said that you can choose to believe me or not. It's 100% true. Perhaps you aren't as clever as you think. The state is Arkansas; the hospital is UAMS. My friend wouldn't give me a name-that's a violation, and besides, I didn't ask.

I'll look for your apology in late January.

the question to ask is not that this patent was just published. but when was it filed. if it was 4-5 years ago it could be related to early work that Jobs then nixed in favor of the finger.

and consider that Pogo has an iphone capable stylus that uses none of this tech. Heck they use them at the Apple stores with their paytouches.



i'm calling bull on this. no way would a company like Apple let anyone off campus with even a drawing of anything not yet released so they can wave it around in front of folks.

but nice try signing up just to get some attention by posting that a friend of yours (with no name) treats an (also unnamed) Apple Exec and has seen the mystery device. that move has never been done before.

now since you know so much how about the name of the exec, the hospital and the exact date your friend saw said device. oh wait, you don't want to get your friend fired so of course you won't reveal any of that. that move has also never been done before.



Jobs has never "made fun" of a stylus. His comments were that many of the phones out in the market require a stylus because the touch points are so small. which didn't make sense to him. especially since if you lost the stylus you were hosed.
so the iphone was designed to use the most convenient stylus of all, one that you couldn't drop, leave behind etc -- your finger.
but he never made the phone anti stylus or prohibited anyone from making one. which he could have done by denying them access to the vital details to make them work, or refusing to license the various patents.