Talk:Stylus (computing)

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Merger

How can a this pen be an "input device"? Is like a fingernail or matchstick that controls an input device: i.e. a touch screen. Mootros (talk) 15:11, 5 November 2009 (UTC)

Hi Mootros. Input devices are generally the component that the human has contact with. In the case of a computer mouse, or a trackball, that's pretty straight forward, as these are the devices that the human is holding. With Pocket PCs and some smartphones that come with styluses, the component the human holds is the stylus. Therefore, in these cases the stylus is the input device. However, with touchscreens it is also possible to directly touch the screens. In Pocket PCs (and most Windows Mobile phones), although it is possible to touch the screen with the corner of the fingernail, it is generally impractical for most people. With these devices, most people still need the stylus for accurate input. With the advent of the iPhone (and other platforms that attempt to emulate it, like Android and WebOS), it is designed to directly touch the screen using multi-touch and capacitive touch screens. In these cases, the capacitive screen is the input device. That doesn't take away from the fact that on devices that were designed for stylus use (usually with resistive screens), that the stylus is the device that the human is holding, and is the first point of contact. The simplicity of the stylus (ie, a glorified match stick) doesn't stop it being an input device. It's technically possible to design a computer mouse without any electronics inside the unit (you could have a motion sensor somewhere on the desk), but the mouse would still be an input device, even if it was a lump of dumb plastic.--Lester 20:23, 5 November 2009 (UTC)

I just noticed the 'merger' template put at the top of the article. Merging the Stylus article with the Touchscreen article would not be appropriate, as the stylus is a separate entity which requires its own definition and description.--Lester 20:45, 5 November 2009 (UTC)

• Oppose merger - I think a stylus has wide enough usage to warrant its own article. I agree that it is an input device, although it must be paired with a touchscreen to be a fully operational input device. However, it might be humorous if someone tried to use a stylus on a standard screen. PDCook (talk) 16:34, 27 November 2009 (UTC)

• Oppose merger - "Stylus" also refers to the pen component of a light pen, or of a digitizing table. The "Pen computing" article also describes at least one input device that really did consist only of a pen (with internal accellerometers). User:PenComputingPerson (talk) 17:11, 29 November 2009 (UTC)

• Oppose merger - There should also be a discussion of styli for graphics tablets which are certainly NOT touchscreens in any way shape or form. Graphics tablets have active electronics (sometimes powered, sometimes passive) which can detect various levels of pressure, which is not a feature of any touchscreen system. Unless you want to break apart stylus (computing) into stylus (touchscreen) and stylus (graphics tablet) or some such arrangement which I think would be cumbersome.

• Oppose merger - Why should we merge? -- pokepal101 —Preceding undated comment added 02:16, 26 September 2010 (UTC).

Redefining the Stylus definition

I feel like the definition of this stylus as described on this article is very outdated. It talks about those tiny pens that would slide into Palm Pilots and that Samsung uses as in it's Galaxy Note phones.

Stylus has more of a broader definition now to encompass capacative (passive) and digital (active) pens used with touchscreens like the iPad, Microsoft Surface and Chromebooks, as well as smartphones - iPhone & Android. These styluses have an enormous range of features that are missing from this article - pressure sensitivity, tilt, palm detection, memory, plus a variety of pen protocols - Microsoft, Wacom, Apple, USI etc.

There are a variety of similar Wikipedia articles that all say the same thing - Active Pen, Digital Pen, Smart Pen, Pen Computing.

I propose redefining Stylus (computing) and consolidating all the secondary pages to reduce confusion and duplication.

Softbanana55 (talk) 22:24, 31 May 2020 (UTC)

Draft:Capacitive stylus

Please consider incorporating material from the above draft submission into this article. Drafts are eligible for deletion after 6 months of inactivity. ~Kvng (talk) 13:19, 4 June 2020 (UTC)

Laser stylus

Someone should add info about styluses where lasers find the position of the stylus on the whiteboard. Wiktorpyk (talk) 20:34, 8 October 2024 (UTC)