Microsoft Working on Stylus That's Used On Any Screen

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freggo

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How many LCD displays will get damaged by using too much force on one of those?
I can see less computer literate, but ill-tempered users with a pointy object going after a slow updating screens/websites that way.
 

DRosencraft

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[citation][nom]freggo[/nom]How many LCD displays will get damaged by using too much force on one of those?I can see less computer literate, but ill-tempered users with a pointy object going after a slow updating screens/websites that way.[/citation]

Most stylus aren't nearly strong enough for someone to punch one through a screen. And even if they could, that rate at which it would happen would probably be about the same as anyone else using a stylus based device and doing the same, which I've never heard of.

I think it's a promising idea. It could save some people a lot of money over upgrading to touchscreens. I recall a few years back a company trying to make a device that would make any monitor a touchscreen. It used a pair of sensors to track the size of the screen and the location of a hand relative to that screen. I don't remember that idea gaining a lot of traction, however. I would love to know what happened with that one.
 
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Screen overlays that make lcd's touch capable are one the market. Popsci or Popmech had a cool article on how to make an old laptop into a tablet (sort of).
 

Thunderfox

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So it's a modern light pen, basically. Those only worked on CRT screens, because they used the position of the beam to track their own location. This business of altering the blue color channel to give the pen something to track sounds like an attempt to implement something similar for LCD screens.
 

phamhlam

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[citation][nom]DRosencraft[/nom]Most stylus aren't nearly strong enough for someone to punch one through a screen. And even if they could, that rate at which it would happen would probably be about the same as anyone else using a stylus based device and doing the same, which I've never heard of. I think it's a promising idea. It could save some people a lot of money over upgrading to touchscreens. I recall a few years back a company trying to make a device that would make any monitor a touchscreen. It used a pair of sensors to track the size of the screen and the location of a hand relative to that screen. I don't remember that idea gaining a lot of traction, however. I would love to know what happened with that one.[/citation]

The screen use a grid lasers that measure the distance of your fingers. The problem was that they aren't good for multiple fingers.
 

killerclick

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Styluses (styli?) seem a bit atavistic to me. I never liked using a stylus because I never liked using a pencil. I can't draw for shit and I can type faster (and longer) than I can write.

Plenty of people seem to like styluses, at least based on Galaxy Note sales. I would be very interested to know that demographic.
 

DRosencraft

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[citation][nom]killerclick[/nom]Styluses (styli?) seem a bit atavistic to me. I never liked using a stylus because I never liked using a pencil. I can't draw for shit and I can type faster (and longer) than I can write.Plenty of people seem to like styluses, at least based on Galaxy Note sales. I would be very interested to know that demographic.[/citation]

It's definitely a preference thing. I write a lot still, even though I spend tons of time typing on a keyboard. My brother, who is an artist, hates pens and pencils to the point that he refuses to keep one around just for whenever he needs to jot down a note or something. But he has an Intuos that he needs for his 3D modeling and design work. He actually is getting ready to buy a new Intuos because his is getting old and scratched (my only worry about this proposed stylus). So it really is a matter of preference.
 

eddieroolz

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I'd still prefer the use of a stylus over basic fingers as styluses are much more accurate. This would allow UI design that can pack a lot more information on screen than currently - but unfortunately it has fallen out of favor.
 

Camikazi

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[citation][nom]silver565[/nom]I'm waiting for Apple to rush one through, market it and then sue Microsoft for "stealing their idea"[/citation]
I'm not even sure Apple can sue MS, their whole cross licensing thing they have had for years probably doesn't allow it. If you notice MS is pretty much the only company that Apple has not sued recently.
 

super d spamalot

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A stylus is a much better idea for any device that doesn't have a real keyboard then using your finger. I fully support the idea and hope that more manufacturers start including them with their devices.

I'm not sure this really makes sense though. If the device in question doesn't have a touchscreen, that means it already have a native way of using it, either a keyboard, keypad or track pad/stick, or any combination of those. I can't imagine that a light pen would be any better then those things.
 

ravewulf

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It'll be interesting to see what they come up with, but I'll probably still prefer Wacom pens/tablets. Weight and bulk is going to be an issue in a powered pen.
 
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