On the World
Review / Stylus for Tablets
NEVATHIR
August 29, 2017
A popular technological debate today surrounding tablets like Apple iPad or Microsoft Surface focuses on the role and form of a companion stylus as well as complementary tablet functionalities. We would like to establish a view held for many years by our company Glacier Studio and its founders that gestures and styluses are trade-offs, and arbitrary partisan favoritism is destructive. For example, gestures are better for web browsing, while styluses are better for music composition with Symphony Pro, etc.
Tech industry Titan Steve Jobs is famous for his excellent taste and the consequence that people way too often regard his opinion as aesthetically authoritative, without ever questioning its soundness. Thus, his disapproval of tablet stylus banished people, who are easily charmed, from seriously considering the possibility of a good tablet stylus, which is why we see bunch of poorly designed tablets like iPad Pro around us. While Steve Jobs's opinion is valuable, we think his dislike for stylus is quite wrong.
The reason why Microsoft made poor Surfaces is quite simple. They can not answer what a stylus is for and consequently made awkward electronic styluses.
Aside from obvious uses like taking notes, drawing diagrams and pictures, retouching photographs, and applying cosmetics, a good stylus is essential for apps that require precision, like music composition. With computer playback, music composition is very convenient on tablets. A good stylus is what makes the difference between a toy and a essential equipment for composers and musicians.
Like gadgets, a variety of sizes and styles benefit stylus users and apps. Choices between firm grip and thinness are suggestive. Tip and tablet sensor engineering for precise positioning and UI responsiveness obviously yield design diversity from stylus providers.
A complication occurs how to match styluses with tablets, both of which provide a very wide range of proportions. We won't answer it here, but postulate that a successful stylus requires serious consideration for UI and tablet combinations.
For children, stylus safety and handiness are essential, while colors and attractive industrial design satisfy different tastes and backgrounds. For professionals, stylus availability helps for a great number of activities like architecture review, 3D modeling, and data organization.
From market point of view, a good stylus will not only enhance the usability of tablets, but also open a market for accessories like smart covers to fold tablets and styluses together. Positive implications are abundant with little efforts. Tablets diminished many markets like books without quality replacements. We need to make current tablet applications better.
To conclude the review, we encourage tech corporations like Apple to build good tablet styluses that save mankind from the awkward iPad Pro and other questionable premises.