When did my finger start resembling a giant breadstick? More on that in a moment.<\/p>\n
Of tablet computers Steve Jobs recently said, “If you see a stylus, they blew it<\/a>.”<\/p>\n I think he’s right, insofar as he’s talking about requiring<\/strong><\/em> the use of a stylus. There’s a big difference, however, between requiring something and enabling<\/em> it as an option.<\/p>\n Regarding the former, ten years ago I bought and almost immediately returned a big Kyocera-Palm frankenphone. I loved the promise of a phone\/pocket computer, but having to pop out a stylus to perform even the simplest tasks was a deal breaker. In contrast, my simple Nokia offered just two soft keys and a rocker switch, but that simplicity led to an efficient UI. Forcing me to use a stylus forced me to ditch the phone.<\/p>\n When it comes to drawing and painting, however, using a finger really sucks for anything precise. Yes, a talented artist can do impressive work<\/a>, but there’s a reason people don’t use their fingers to draw and write on paper. Have you tried drawing anything with any precision on an iPad? (Don’t just launch an app and screw around; try to draw something very specific.) Maybe it’s just me, but suddenly my fingertip looks enormous, blotting out the area I’m trying to mark. I find myself tipping my whole hand up and down, trying to see what’s underneath my finger.<\/p>\n I don’t know what can be done with the I\/O on iPads and future tablets, but I really hope that a vendor can deliver a pressure-sensitive stylus. I think it would be a watershed moment for sketching on the go.<\/p>\n