The Internet is abuzz with rumors of Apple delivering a stylus with its upcoming iPad. Why? Well, because it's a move former CEO and product visionary Steve Jobs would never consider.
Hey, we can't blame him as Apple isn't one to follow in anyone's footsteps, especially Samsung, and iStylus just doesn't roll off the tongue like iPad, iPhone, iTunes, etc. He likely thought it a bit pedestrian. It may also be the fact that the one time Apple offered a stylus was part and parcel with the Newton way, way back when. Not a phenomenal success for those old enough to remember.
If the impending larger iPad does come with a stylus, one thing is for sure: it won't be anything like today's stylus. It'll probably be able to make holograms or double as a thermometer or track body vitals like pulse points and heartbeats while a user is writing and tapping out emails.
So just in case you, like we, were curious about the stylus and its history given the Apple rumblings, here's a rundown of historical moments of a computing pen most of us who use one have never looked at twice.
First Came The Styalator (1957)
Well, first off, the name of one of the earliest tablet-like devices likely requires its own historical explanation, but let's not digress. The Styalator is largely considered the world's first tablet, and while certainly not portable, it included a pen, or stylus, as an input device and software that recognized handwriting. And no, that's not a photo of the Styalator above, or its pen in action. Images of the Styalator are extremely hard to come by despite intense online search.
RAND Tablet (1964)
The RAND Tablet proved more popular that the Styalator, but photos of it in action are just as scarce so we're using another view of a stylus in action. Like the Styalator, RAND's portable computing device included the use of a stylus as an input method. The big drawback? Well, the device itself cost a whopping $18,000 when it hit the market. Innovation sometimes doesn't come cheap. The RAND tablet essentially replaced the keyboard as an input method on a computer and was also able to detect handwriting.
IBM Debuts Simon (1994)
IBM released the first PDA with mobile connectivity, the Simon Personal Assistant, in 1994. The device was one of the first in what would become a hugely popular product category -- the personal digital assistant (PDA). The PDA was a precursor to the smartphone in many ways.
The use of a PDA stylus was primarily for handwriting and input, replaced later by more accurate touchscreens. IBM likely didn't know it but its form factor was spot on given future smartphone devices, as illustrated in this photo of Simon.
Nintendo DS (2004)
Leave it to the gaming industry to truly bring the stylus truly into play (pun intended). The Nintendo DS (actually shown) was released in 2004 and served as the device that put the stylus into millions of small hands. In fact, the stylus remains one of the main methods of input for many games on Nintendo DS. As parents worldwide can attest, buying packs of stylus' becomes the norm given the penchant young DS gamers have for losing them.
The Nintendo DS is still being released in various different versions, and continues to be sold with the stylus as a principle form of input.
Samsung Galaxy Note (2011)
Samsung has been including a stylus in its Galaxy Note since the product series was first introduced in 2011.
At the time of its release the Samsung Galaxy Note was questioned because of the screen size of 5.3-inches, which was considered quite large at the time. Now, not so much. The Galaxy Note would go on to pave the way and spur consumer demand for larger smartphones and the ultimate development of what some call phablets.
The stylus is a very prominent and useful feature in the Galaxy Note and likely most responsbile for putting the accessory into the most adult hands. Samsung continues to improve its functionality, especially when it comes to handwriting functionality and recognition.
