Fingers versus a stylus on tablet devices
In What the iPad 3 really needs: fewer stupid articles about the iPad 3, I report on a couple of iPad articles, one of which talks about competing tablets and argues their features should be welded to the iPad. In the comments, Oliver Mason argues:
While I fully agree with most of your article […] the one thing I disagree is the stylus issue: since I bought an Adonit stylus I can use the iPad to replace paper for just jotting down notes in a way that is not possible with one of the ten built-in ones. Maybe it’s been too long since I did finger painting as a kid. True, it is easy-to-lose, but for me it really made the iPad that little bit more useful. One of the few issues where I think Steve got it wrong.
I haven’t felt this myself when using the iPad, and that’s primarily because certain input devices (be they a finger, a mouse, a stylus, or a joypad) are better for certain tasks. I don’t often jot notes on my iPad, and, these days, consider that kind of writing increasingly a niche activity. What I think’s most important is to get the default right in terms of what the user assumes is required. To my mind, a tablet with a stylus is arguing that the stylus is the best way to interact with the device—something Samsung tried to hammer home in its Galaxy Note advert (TUAW). But in over-emphasising a single-touch pointing device, you run the risk of detracting from what makes modern tablets so appealing from an interaction standpoint: multitouch. Being able to more fully immerse yourself in dealing with content by manipulating it directly is leagues ahead of a layer of abstraction that a pointing device provides.
I don’t doubt that there are some cases where a stylus is beneficial, and there are loads of third-party options available for the iPad that people can add to their set-up if they feel the need. But I think Steve Jobs got this dead right: by default, just you and the device is the set-up that is most intuitive, usable and forward-thinking.
Spot on. By designing for a stylus, you add a whole heap of constraints on things that don’t need it. I have one (for general poking) and my partner has one (for arty things) but they are an extra, not a designed requirement.
The iPad experience is one where having a stylus can improve certain use cases, instead of where not having one makes everything else worse.
You’re right. When I switched to OS X two years ago, sensible defaults were one area it excelled in. You can make a Windows PC very usable if you customize a lot of stuff in the UI and add a few third-party tools.
I had to *teach* a friend who switched a month ago that you actually WANT to use the built-in tools on OS X. He was just so used to look for third-party alternatives, he didn’t even consider trying spotlight before he replaced it with alfred..
I don’t disagree on that, the default touch has to be a priority. Stylus interaction is awful.
A pressure sensitive stylus isn’t to be sneered at for drawing though, and at the moment there’s no solution for that on the iPad. Hopefully Windows 8’s support for such devices will allow a niche tablet for peeps who want increased fidelity in digital drawing. Certainly it wouldn’t be a device useful for everyone. But a capacitive multi-touch device with an active digitizer would make a bunch of illustrators happy I’m sure.
I do agree with Craig, but I will say that interacting with the Nintendo DS and a stylus felt very good for a lot of different reasons. Certain gestures on iPad would also feel more intuitive. But to make it the standard would be a step back.
> To my mind, a tablet with a stylus is arguing that the stylus
> is the best way to interact with the device
That seems like a strange argument. It’s like saying “a computer with a keyboard is arguing that the keyboard is the best way to interact with the device”, or “bundling the Xbox with the Kinect is arguing that the Kinect is the best way to interact with the device”.
> … something Samsung tried to hammer home in its Galaxy
> Note advert
The ad shows two different shots where somebody uses the pen with the note: to mark something on a map, and to sign a photograph. Both very specific situations; you don’t see anyone launching an app with the pen, for example.
If Samsung’s point was that the pen is the best way to interact with the device in every situation, the ad would look very different.
But I think where we mainly disagree is this:
> I don’t doubt that there are some cases where a stylus is
> beneficial, and there are loads of third-party options
> available for the iPad that people can add to their set-up
> if they feel the need
You imply that pens are useful to certain kinds of people. I, on the other hand, would argue that pens are useful in certain kinds of situations. Clearly, some people use them more, but everybody knows how to use a pen, and encounters situations where the pen makes sense.
Using a pen is one of the first things humans learn, right after they learn how to walk and say “mama”. A pen isn’t a specialized tool, like a hammer. Pens are used by everybody, all the time.
Pretty much everybody has sent a map of his new flat to a friend who’s coming over for the first time; jotting down where to drive is a situation where a pen makes sense.
Everybody has sent a letter to a loved one. Being able to quickly draw a little heart at the bottom is a situation where a pen makes sense.
When I had a P800 and somebody sent me a “it’s a boy!” sms, replying with a sketch of a face with a huge smile felt much more appropriate than simply writing some text; using the pen made sense.
Marking up my little brother’s school paper is much easier with a pen than with my fingers, on an iPad.
It’s not a question of “who”, it’s a question of “when”. The pen isn’t the best way of interacting with any device, and I don’t think anyone claims that, even Samsung. However, everybody encounters situations where using a pen just makes more sense than using your fingers.
I wish Apple would ship their iOS devices with pens, or at least built-in support for pressure-sensitive pens.
Sorry Lukas, I have to disagree. While a pen was good in the past, iOS devices provide other opportunities:
>>Pretty much everybody has sent a map of his new flat to a friend who’s coming over for the first time; jotting down where to drive is a situation where a pen makes sense.<>Everybody has sent a letter to a loved one. Being able to quickly draw a little heart at the bottom is a situation where a pen makes sense.<> When I had a P800 and somebody sent me a “it’s a boy!” sms, replying with a sketch of a face with a huge smile felt much more appropriate than simply writing some text; using the pen made sense.<>Marking up my little brother’s school paper is much easier with a pen than with my fingers, on an iPad.<<
Yup, you're correct there.
Dang scripting in this input field lost my answers. Here they are again, truncated:
> map
Send maps.app screenshot or link to google maps. He’ll have a map to get general overview and directions for the trip.
> heart on letter
Emoji keyboard. Cute lives there.
> it’s a boy sms
Take picture of your actual face, send via whatsapp or imessage.
> mark up school paper
Stylus would be convenient there. I would not want a stupid stylus hole in my iPad for that, though.
@LKM: I’m not implying pens are only useful to certain people, but for specific tasks (something I mention twice). That, however, does then ultimately map to people who more regularly require an input device for those kinds of task.
I do agree that everyone knows how to use a pen, but I’m also seeing people with young children who are more rapidly progressing with certain tasks through intuitive touch interfaces rather than having to wait to develop the motor functions required for pen input (something Fraser Speirs has in the past mentioned regarding the youngest children in the 1:1 tablet deployment at the school where he works); I’d also argue writing is become a more niche activity. I’m not arguing that it’s obsolete nor that it will disappear, but I don’t see the value in adding a stylus by default to the iPad, just for a few use-case scenarios.
“I wish Apple would ship their iOS devices with pens, or at least built-in support for pressure-sensitive pens.”
I agree with the second of those things, purely because it’d make the iPad superior as a tool for creating artwork; but I don’t agree about the former. If people want a stylus, let them buy one (and the one that best suits them)—don’t ‘force’ everyone to pay for something not everyone would use.
@Felix: Apologies about the input field. I think WordPress tries to convert things it things are HTML tags into HTML tags.
Oh dear, what did I start…
Of course I’m not advocating that you should have to use a stylus for iOS interaction – I don’t do that myself, even though I have a stylus. Fingers are just right for that. But I do a lot of note taking in meetings, and I prefer hand-writing my to-do lists over typing them. And with a keyboard you cannot quickly sketch a diagram easily.
And because it’s a while since I left kindergarten, writing (or even drawing) is much easier with a pen. It’s just the right tool for the job for me.
Now, is finger-versus-stylus the next iteration of tabs-vs-spaces and vi-versus-emacs? I hope not, as I use both in this case.
Pressure-sensitive surface. Now here’s a thing I’d like to see on the iPad3, and I will bloody well hate Apple if they haven’t done that. They’d be doomed otherwise…
“Pressure-sensitive surface. Now here’s a thing I’d like to see on the iPad3, and I will bloody well hate Apple if they haven’t done that. They’d be doomed otherwise…”
Heh! You win the internet with that one!
Feeling suitably inspired by the David Hockney exhibition, I downloaded some nice drawing applications, which were remarkably fun to use. However, drawing with a finger is incredibly frustrating, especially when compared with the dynamic strokes that can be made with a pen or pencil. I also tried doing some sketches in a meeting, and found that I couldn’t write very well with my finger, and switching to a clunky keyboard input mid sketch felt counter intuitive and broke my flow.
Excited by what I might achieve with a stylus, I set off to the Apple store and was utterly dismayed to find out they don’t stock them, and have furthermore have no plans to in the future. “Why on earth not?” I indignantly demanded. I was informed that the stylus is deemed to be detracting from the intended use of fingers for interaction on the iPad. While I agree, to a certain extent, I couldn’t help feeling that this an extremely short-cited view.
@Kieran: There are plenty of things Apple doesn’t stock that are useful, and it has its own viewpoint, which is valid. But if you want a stylus, tons of options exist. And while I somewhat agree about painting apps, I still fully believe that by default the iPad should not ship with a stylus. Instead, it’s better to enable users who want one to buy the right one for them and the task they need it for.