[smartkids]

Solution: Let these interface gimmicks be the stuff of tech conventions and demos, and never part of any mass-produced product.

But maybe some marketing folks, seeing the success of Apple, have reasoned that these gimmicks can sell products in the short-term, at least until consumers discover the problems with them.

At the end of this era of tapping and rubbing little screens with our fat, dirty fingers, we may be reminded why we had tactile interfaces to begin with. What ever happened to the PDA stylus?

[feverishaaron]

Constantly fumbling with; forgetting or losing the PDA stylus – happened to the PDA stylus.

[mdonahoe]

The other thing removing the stylus did was force the software to go in a completely different direction.

With a fat finger, the ui can't look and work the same as mouse driven ui as it could with a stylus.

[garrettlarson]

It takes two hands to hold a device and a stylus.

[qq66]

I think this is important, and the other important factor is that removing the stylus and reattaching it adds at least 3-4 seconds to an interaction with one's phone. My interactions with my phone today are often under 10 seconds which means that a stylus would add 30-40% friction to those interactions.

[flyinRyan]

>What ever happened to the PDA stylus?

The market despised the stylus. I tried setting up a wireless office using tablets. No one would use the stylus and actually tried using their fingers.