Re: Why the stylus isn’t dead
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAUcrUO8rQQ

See the 'Mypaint' app....

You CANNOT do that without a resistive screen and a stylus....take that apple!

Re: Why the stylus isn’t dead
 

Nearest object is already available in Fennec 1.0 as an addon.

Re: Why the stylus isn’t dead
 

And for some cosmic irony of fate it's even called the MT810! :)

Re: Why the stylus isn’t dead
 

oddly the stylus/hadwriting versus onscreen keyboard debate always seems to miss the point that usability tests tend to demonstrate that almost everyone is faster with the later...

drawing is a different exercise, if you want to write use a keyboard, you'll be more productive.

Re: Why the stylus isn’t dead
 

autodesk sketchbook pro I think would tend to indicate otherwise.

http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...sketchbook+pro

the debate of which kind of digitizer is superior for a finger oriented device has pretty much already been won by the capacitive devices. it's mostly a question of corner cases where some other aproach is more appropriate, either cost enviromental considerations or precision (and the 4 wire active digitizer will beat both capacitive and resistive in the later case every time).

Re: Why the stylus isn’t dead
 

Faster isn't always better.

Re: Why the stylus isn’t dead
 

Ah, but which keyboard? For me the fastest input method by far is the stylus virtual keyboard, followed by the physical one (because of the constant need to use modifier keys and the character palette) followed by the finger virtual keyboard. Handwriting comes last obviously since a single tap will always be faster than a stroke or three.

Re: Why the stylus isn’t dead
 

Exactly. for example I find Graffiti the best system for on-the-go text input, specially because I can use it without looking at the screen.

The only other input system that shares this trait is the hardware keyboard, but since its layout is nowhere near standarized nor intuitive...

Re: Why the stylus isn’t dead
 

So.. The variables..

- speed
- accuracy
- comfort/effort
- difficulty (barrier of entry)
- flexibility (works across multiple languages, etc

I'm pretty sure virtual keyboard lists highly on the majority of the traits, given it's such a universal paradigm. If it doesn't work as well for you, chances are you'd be in the minority that has special cases/preferences.

Re: Why the stylus isn’t dead
 

+1. As geeky as it sounds I’m still fastest with the cr@ppy WinMo stylus keyboard. Not because it’s that great, cool and modern, but simply because the movement required for entering a char is the smallest. I still think people here think exclusively. Like, if you want to be able to use the device one handedly, then you cannot have a stylus at all. Which is wrong. There is far more ’stylus is old tech so you have to omit it to appear hip, regardless if you need it or not’ in this than anyone will admit (it’s like Jobs saying having a task manager is an automatic fail, duh).

Re: Why the stylus isn’t dead
 

"Capacitive is better for onscreen-keyboard typing"

And REAL KEYBOARDS ARE BETTER STILL. AND LOOK. A N900.

Re: Why the stylus isn’t dead
 

Indeed fast isn't best. I'm fastest with HW keyboard, but OSK is one-handed. Short SMS while holding coffee or cigarette is best. When posting, I get around 30 characters before I sigh, put beverage down and use my second hand on the HW keyboard.

Right now my top slowdown is the inability of the phone to stand still on the table so I can type two-handed. Followed by the key size.

So, speed-wise, stable, on table:
* Full kbd
* Stable N900 kbd
* Real N900 kbd
* One-handed OSK
* One-handed N900 kbd.
* T9

One-handed, on the run, etc NOT ON TABLE
* T9, hardware
* OSK
* N900 kbd
* T9, touch
* Full PC kbd (it's too large to thumb in)

Comfort (no rush, relaxed, key in a few words)
* Full Kbd, stable
* N900 HW (two handed)
* OSK
* T9

Re: Why the stylus isn’t dead
 

Finger interface is fine when you have a phone (or iPhone with half-VGA screen), but if you have a phone-size computer and you want to use it with complex applications you will have more information on a screen. To control it you need better precision than your fingers can give you.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I never seen any complex application with finger-friendly interface. Can anybody give me a link to an example?

Re: Why the stylus isn’t dead
 

With all respect

Developer and engineers need GUI designers and Product Designer in their teams to design good quality product. It's about differences which part of our brains is bigger ;)

This looks like rescue solution to me.

Re: Why the stylus isn’t dead
 

I almost always use the stylus, and when I do use my finger I use my fingernail (palm of my hand facing away from the screen, I never actually touch my skin to the screen. This is because I get more precision, speed, and obscure less of the screen, and I also don't like to get fingerprints on my screen...

For example, if you try to use file manager and do a long-press to get the "Right click menu"", if you're right-handed and using finger, you can't even see the menu... but with stylus it's visible. The web browser is almost impossible to use without stylus unless you like to zoom in and out constantly (which I don't).

Once in a while I'll use someone else's device that has a capacitative touch screen and it makes me crazy. I press it with my fingernail and nothing happens. Then I have to put my actual finger into the other person's disgusting skin oils to use it... and then immediately wash my hands so I don't get H1N1 from their slimy screen. :p

Re: Why the stylus isn’t dead
 

wow,originally, I'm wondering whether your hand feel soft when use it, it looks nice, seems so convenient, I had never see such gadgetry like this, I'm a little regret that bought a ordinary PDA pen a week ago from a store. :(

Re: Why the stylus isn’t dead
 

the entire asian market disagrees, writing recognition is pretty hard to do without a stylus. Unless you got an +A in finger painting.

Re: Why the stylus isn’t dead
 

Well yes, maybe you can use it one hand it if you need to - but it's not comfortable.

My fingers are a little longer than average, but my thumb can only access an area of roughly 2.4" in diameter without re-positioning the device in my hand. That's plenty for all standard phones with numeric keypad, but it's definitely not enough for - well, a 3,5" area. ;)

It could be that I have a genetic defect or so.... but then I just never see anyone operating any touch phone with one hand in real life. People even put down their shopping bags to answer a phone call with the second hand.

Re: Why the stylus isn’t dead
 

@benny1967

Haha, maybe it's the way your holding it? If I hold the N900 in portrait mode I can access probably 3 inches of the screen with the bottom half requiring me to bend my thumb so it contracts if I want to hit anything in the last .5 inches.

Re: Why the stylus isn’t dead
 

Man, do Engadget editors suck. This POS is only worth reading because of the solidarity shown by the viewers. Like I've always known, styli will come back with a vengeance. And we can only hope that it will happen in Steve Jobs' lifetime.

I'm writing this on a Mac. I'm still in shock that 'stylus' wasn't flagged as a misspelled word.