The resistive-capacitive divide gets to the types of styluses Jobs was talking about when he summed them up with "yuck." Styluses prior to the adoption of capacitive touch were meant to make up for the rudimentary capabilities of resistive touchscreens. The proliferation of capacitive tech in the years that followed helped kill off personal data assistants, relegate the old-school BlackBerry to niche markets, and usher in a consistent set of interactions across basically all mobile platforms. It was a huge improvement over so-called resistive touchscreens found in earlier smartphones. It was the first time many people had seen multitouch gestures like pinch-to-zoom, and capacitive touch allowed Apple to use high-quality layers of glass to increase touch sensitivity and bump up the brightness and clarity of the display. That first iPhone was one of the first smartphones to use a capacitive touchscreen, and arguably popularized them.
What's missing from the reactions is the obvious acknowledgment that Jobs was not only talking about using a stylus with an entirely different product - the 3.5-inch iPhone 1 - but he was referring to both styluses and screens that have been blown out of the water by newer technology.
MAC TOUCH SCREEN IPENCIL FULL
"Apple just announced a product that Steve Jobs famously hated," wrote Business Insider. ABC compiled the internet's best reactions to the product reveal including a rather clever stab from Grand Slam supplier Denny's, which announced its "Toothpick" product alongside the tagline, "your teeth, performing at full potential." Yuck." Yet it turns out that eight years later, some people do want a stylus - and they've improved substantially alongside the devices with which they're used. But on a deeper level it traces back to former CEO Steve Jobs, who famously said in 2007 at the initial iPhone reveal, "Who wants a stylus? You have to get em', put em' away. On the surface, it was because it played into the stereotype that Apple lays claim to everyday inspirations.
MAC TOUCH SCREEN IPENCIL PRO
When Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller announced that the company's stylus for new iPad Pro would be called Pencil, the crowd audibly laughed in unison.