Apple founder Steve Jobs wasn’t a big fan of the stylus. “Who wants a stylus?” he asked at the original iPhone launch in 2007.
What happened
“You have to get ’em and put ’em away, you lose ’em, yuck. ” Nobody wants a stylus. ” Instead, the iPhone’s interface was built around what he referred to as the best pointing device in the world: the human finger. This was a risk at the time, but the iPhone ended up doing reasonably well. This is still a developing thread, so the useful part is knowing which source signals are hardening and which ones still need caution. With devices, practical impact usually shows up in battery life, heat, stability, and long-term usability rather than in a few flashy headline numbers.
Where the sources line up
That’s not to say that Jobs’ view on the matter was definitive. Look up a YouTube clip of the stylus monologue–as I just did, to get the wording right–and you’re sure to see plenty of commenters gleefully pointing out Apple’s later change of direction. In 2015, a different CEO named Tim announced the launch of the Apple Pencil, a stylus. What an embarrassing U-turn, those commenters would have you believe. Although it’s worth bearing in mind that the Apple Pencil was designed for the iPad, not the iPhone, and to this day the company has resisted the urge to make a smartphone that can be controlled using a stylus.
Practical impact for readers
It’s nice to have the whiff of a last-minute surprise going into the September 9 event. But on balance, I hope this ends up being one of the thousand noes rather than the one yes. I think launching the iPhone Ultra as a stylus-based (or even a stylus-optional) device would be a colossal mistake. Here are six reasons why. The readers who should care most are the ones planning to replace a device, buy an accessory, or upgrade a work setup in the next few months. The next step is to see whether the current signals harden into a durable change or fade as a short-lived experiment.
Who should pay attention now
It’s been 19 years since he made them, but Steve Jobs’ objections to the stylus remain valid. They’re annoying, fiddly objects, inconvenient to get out, and easy to lose. It’s an extra thing to worry about when the revolutionary joy of the 2007 iPhone was the way it unified all your tech into a single point of use. You no longer needed to carry a digital camera, an iPod, and a cellphone. Gratuitous accessories like the stylus are a regression to the bad old days.
What is still unclear
On a larger, more work-focused device like the iPad Pro, such annoyances can be viewed as an acceptable compromise. iPads often live in a bag, and bags have side pockets for things like the Apple Pencil. If you set up your iPad for a longer work session, it’s less of a hassle, but iPhones are instant-use devices, and they don’t need random gizmos adding friction to the process.
Latest comments
0No comments yet. You can start the conversation.