
Pencil  - xuki
http://www.fiftythree.com/pencil
======
diydsp
>"artisanally crafted" (grammar)

Did an artisan craft it? No, it looks to me mass-manufactured to spec by
someone or something who doesn't have a say in its design or the ability to
individualize it. You mean "made of wood," but that's the most you can squeeze
out. Please don't try to steal the thunder of actual artisans.

> "unique built-in eraser" > "unique sensor lets you flip Pencil to erase"

Yeah, the crappy Wacom knockoff I bought in 1998 had the same thing. Wacoms
have the same thing. If you are like all the other, most popular, long-
existing things, you are not a unique thing.

If they're delusional about this, what else are they delusional about? Why
would I spend money to support hubris? Because I'll have some minor extension
of my abilities within a double-walled garden?

Aim higher.

~~~
dag11
I think they're selling this as a product _for tablets_. I haven't seen a
capacitive stylus for tablets that supports erasing from the other side. I
believe they're taking the type of product that has existed with Wacom-type
tablets for a while and bringing it to the portable capacitive tablet world,
with a tablet many consumers -- including many artists -- already own.

~~~
phaus
They aren't taking the type of product that has existed with Wacom type
tablets and bringing it to the portable capacitive world. This is going to be
terrible in comparison.

Its impossible to make a capacitive stylus that isn't like drawing with a
giant, cumbersome crayon.

~~~
joeschmoe
I've used one that worked like a pen. It had a small plastic disk at the tip
that swivelled so it would keep contact and not slip. I never found out who
made them though. It didn't feel like a giant cumbersome crayon though.

~~~
phaus
I've used one of those and I found it to be an equally terrible experience.
Not sure if they fixed them, but the first few generations of that product
left scratches on the screen.

~~~
desipenguin
Recently came across this on kickstarter :
[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/227221698/truglide-
apex-...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/227221698/truglide-apex-fine-
point-electronic-stylus-for-ipa) \- says it has 2.4mm tip (also says 5mm some
other place - but that too is equally small) This one is w/o the "disk"

------
fidotron
Maybe I'm stupidly jaded, and it's one of the things that has steadily pushed
me out of the Apple ecosystem, but this trend for overly emotional marketing
of stuff, especially in the hipster end of the market, grates enormously. This
is like a sort of tech-etsy.

It's got to the point I can't actually take products like this seriously
without getting annoyed by them going on about artisanal wood carvings. Like
the owning of the object itself is more important than what you're supposed to
do with it . . .

~~~
ruswick
I agree. Much of the copy on that page is simply comical. For instance, the
marketing describes the Bluetooth pairing process as "as easy as falling in
love."

I don't understand how companies can publish copy that is this absurd and
expect people to do anything but laugh at them.

~~~
resu_nimda
Most marketing isn't targeted at the niche of crotchety, critical, cynical HN
readers. I would guess the majority of the greater Apple demographic would
hardly bat an eye at the copy.

~~~
toddmorey
I don't think so. "Each Pencil has a unique character that will subtly change
with years of use." That's likely too much for any demographic.

~~~
sp332
I'm a software engineer with a CS degree and over 22,000 karma on HN. I
actually liked that part! I like things that show wear over time for two
reasons. First, it communicates how people use it. The wear patterns create
some context, so the object feels familiar as soon as you see it. Second,
designing a product to wear well means it can stand up to some abuse and isn't
a victim of planned obsolescence.

On the other hand, "as easy as falling in love" is definitely over the top ;)

~~~
chii
> wear well means it can stand up to some abuse and isn't a victim of planned
> obsolescence.

so making it out of wood, which chip easily, is designing it to wear well?

The brushed aluminium is probably better than the wood.

------
asolove
This is wonderful and beautiful. I don't want to knock it. I'll probably buy
one and love it.

If you like this, also look at the demo video for Adobe's project
Mighty/Napoleon, a pen and drafting tool combo that is pretty incredible:
[http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/17/adobe-xd-mighty-
napoleon-...](http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/17/adobe-xd-mighty-napoleon-
contour-parallel-hands-on/)

What I think is sad about both of these products is that they are tied to
specific apps. These closed ecosystems get to be more powerful instead of
becoming tools on top of which larger things can be hacked together. I don't
blame 53 or Adobe for that: making open hardware with open standard
communication is probably incredibly hard, and getting it to interact with a
tablet operating system through anything other than your one app is perhaps
impossible.

But it's still sad.

With the growing popularity of hardware hacking, it's only natural that
developers will start making our own physical tools the same way we write our
own software tools. Unix makes this easy by providing abstractions like pipes,
sockets, etc. for getting small programs to work together using common
interfaces.

What are the OS-level abstractions that will make it easier to build, combine,
and reuse our own hardware tools? The current methods for using device
drivers, detecting wireless devices, or sharing them across a network are not
very open to reuse and sharing.

What is the way forward where we can use something like this pencil with its
smart palm rejection and erase, hack together our own physical drafting tool,
and plug them both in to existing software by writing a little adapter?

It makes me wonder whether we need to go back and steal some of the bits of
plan9/inferno: a single abstraction around sharing both data and devices, a
natural way to multiplex input and output streams, and transparent network
sharing of everything.

~~~
wmorein
Pencil isn't designed to only work with Paper. Anyone who is interested in an
SDK for Pencil should let us know what they are thinking about.

business AT fiftythree DOT com

~~~
kbenson
_Pencil isn 't designed to only work with Paper. Anyone who is interested in
an SDK for Pencil..._

I can't help it, this makes me think of joke engineering documentation for
everyday items.

~~~
repsilat
I didn't realise it was a real product until near the end. I was thinking
"Jeez guys, Penny Arcade did this joke four years ago!"

[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/3/9/](http://www.penny-
arcade.com/comic/2009/3/9/)

~~~
JetSpiegel
Wait, this is a real product?

------
baumgarn
"Pencil is the most natural and expressive tool for getting ideas on Paper"

I thought this would be some kind of parody at first...

~~~
davexunit
I thought this was making fun of all of the useless products that are marketed
with these flashy web pages.

Then I realized that they were actually serious.

~~~
hrktb
I might have hit the wrong arrow, not sure but sorry if I did.

And yes, I also had a hard time telling if they capitalized Pencil and Paper
just to parody apps and products overriding common words, or if there really
was something behind.

I am on a phone so I skipped the video, and it would have really helped to
have a big 'this is a bluetooth accessory for your phone/tablet/computer'.
Because I am genuinly intersted in the product, it's really something I've
been waiting for a long time, but the 'parody' feeling hasn't quite faded yet.

------
hippee-lee
I'm a paper user. Here are my pros and cons:

Pros: \- easy to get started or back into drawing \- easy to sketch UI
concepts and send them around \- easy for my daughter to play with

Cons: \- fixed canvas size; you can scale an are a tiny bit but not much \- no
layers \- customer support has shown an indifference to existing technogy
(with pressure and palm detection) even for the styli they support. \-
customer support seems to have a (IMO) arrogance in how they respond to things
on the forums. \- including the upgrades makes Paper 2x as expensive vs
Procreate which has more drawing fools and the abity to customize and save my
own tools.

It was a good app to have and my daughter still uses it. But for my own
doodling or quick UI concepts at work I switched to procreate. The wacom
creative
([http://intuoscreativestylus.wacom.com/en/](http://intuoscreativestylus.wacom.com/en/))
stylus was on my Xmas list u until I saw the adobe tool mentioned. I'll be
checking that out.

~~~
jwr
I wonder why so few people complain about the speed.

I tried to use Paper and while I love the results I can get (nice-looking
drawings even if you are not artistically inclined), I can't stand the
slowness, and the fact that I can't properly dot my i's.

I switched to Upad for all my tech drawings. It works great, and is very
responsive. No, my drawings do not look as cool, but at least they get drawn.

~~~
eridius
I hadn't heard of Upad before. The screenshots look nice, especially if it
really does work well for handwriting. Just yesterday I tried doing some
mathematical note-taking in another app (already forget which one) and it was
pretty bad.

Sadly, the support links leave me with little confidence in the product. The
"PockeySoft Web Site" link is actually a youtube video, and "UPAD Support"
takes me to a 404
([http://www.pockeysoft.com/upad](http://www.pockeysoft.com/upad)). If I
remove the path on that URL, most of the images on the resulting site are
broken. If their site is that broken, and the app hasn't been updated in 11
months, it sure gives the impression that the app has been abandoned.

~~~
jwr
Perhaps it has — but for the moment it works great, and for the amount of
money that you have to pay for it, who cares if it will work a year from now?

~~~
eridius
I use apps like this only rarely. I don't want to have to hunt for a new app
every time I decide I need this functionality.

------
jedberg
Whoever directed that video needs to go back to film school.

I understand that you're trying to "highlight the product", but causing nausea
in your customer isn't the best way to do that.

~~~
300bps
I've been in every kind of car, on large boats, small boats, in helicopters,
in 2-seater planes and every other type of plane and never once I have ever
gotten motion-sickness.

Watching that 72 second video right after lunch made me feel queasy. And I
still have no idea what the product does other than draw things on a table.

~~~
jamiemill
The difference between 'motion sickness' (which I don't suffer from) and
'simulation sickness'[1] (which I do).

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_sickness#Simulation_sick...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_sickness#Simulation_sickness)

------
a3_nm
Did anyone else read this at first as a very well executed parody website
explaining all the benefits of using traditional paper and pencil? I sniggered
when I read "Our adaptive palm rejection instantly knows whether it’s your
hand or Pencil touching the page." It took me some time to realize that this
was a real product...

~~~
pbhjpbhj
Yup, I'm using my status indication adaptation to uniquely and fluidly
demonstrate a situation of synchronistic agreement has been established
between your cognisization and mine. With it's motile upper sections and
manipulable terminal section it's the perfect vehicle to deliver not only
indications of agreement but many other natural gestures drawing you in to an
incalculable world of novel experiences.

[pbhjpbhj raised his hand.]

------
omegote
Yet another product that expects EVERYONE to own an iPad. W-T-F? Try this.
Control + F, search for "ipad". Nothing. Search for "apple", nothing. Search
for "android". NO-THING. What's wrong? Is the iPad the definitive standard and
everyone is now born with one?

Sick.

~~~
sp332
It says "Paper" all over it, and Paper already requires an iPad. Requiring an
iPad would be redundant. Edit: Also at the bottom they actually mention Apple
once, in tiny print in an image lol

~~~
anonymouz
When I was reading that page I wasn't sure whether they just misspell paper,
misspell it on purpose to make a parody of these marketing websites, or
whether that should be something else. Only the HN thread told me that
apparently it's an iPad App (for sketching I purpose). Especially when the app
has such a common word as a name at least a link or something wouldn't hurt...

------
jeena
Honestly, I read the whole page and I have still no idea what this is. It says
it is a Pencil which works with Paper, both pencil and paper with uppercase
letters which seem to indicate that they mean something else then a carpender
pencil and a peace of paper to write on, so does the price and that you can
load some battery and connect to something unspecified with bluetooth.

Could someone tell me what this is for and why they have a beautiful website
which doesn't tell me what the product is for?

~~~
InclinedPlane
It's a bluetooth smart stylus for iOS devices, especially tablets, which
integrates with their existing graphic design app "paper".

The reason it's non-trivial and potentially interesting is because it doesn't
just rely on the limited resolution of the capacitive touch screens of
iDevices, it has its own sensor which improves on that. If it were just an
ordinary capacitive stylus it wouldn't have the precision to be very useful
for drawing or even hand writing.

~~~
jeena
> It's a bluetooth smart stylus for iOS devices, especially tablets, which
> integrates with their existing graphic design app "paper".

Such a simple and short explenation! I wonder why they don't mention iOS
devices, the word stylus or the word app on their website.

------
deltaqueue
Can any artists on HN comment on how useful styli are with tips this thick? I
suspect the added thickness is required for capacitive touch screens, but I
always thought my fingertip was far too thick for accurately initiating thin
lines or dots (e.g. in games like Draw Something). Something like this seems
like it would require far less erasing:

[http://www.wacom.com/en/us/everyday/bamboo-stylus-feel-
samsu...](http://www.wacom.com/en/us/everyday/bamboo-stylus-feel-samsung-
galaxy-note)

*edited for clarity

~~~
eridius
The added thickness is to compensate for the fact that the iPad touch screen
has a reasonable distance between sensors. You _cannot_ get pixel-perfect
accuracy on the iPad touch screen, and a pointed stylus would make that
extremely apparent. So instead the trend is for larger tips, to encourage
users to bump up their line thicknesses and to obscure the lack of pixel-
perfect accuracy. Think marker, not pen.

~~~
falcolas
It's my understanding that the inaccuracy is not due to the distance between
sensors - but rather that Apple/etc have configured the sensors to only
respond to contact points over a certain size (to reduce interference from
power supplies and other imperfections)

Consumption device, not a creative device.

~~~
eridius
It's certainly plausible that touches that are small enough are ignored,
although I don't know if that's actually true. But even if it is, that doesn't
change what I said.

> _Consumption device, not a creative device._

Do you honestly believe that? Are you just burying your head in the sand, or
do you actually think that all of the people out there happily creating things
on their iPads don't count for some reason?

~~~
falcolas
> Do you honestly believe that? Are you just burying your head in the sand, or
> do you actually think that all of the people out there happily creating
> things on their iPads don't count for some reason?

People working around the significant restrictions preventing content creation
are the exceptions that prove the rule, in my opinion. I'm glad they're able
to do it, but the iPad certainly wasn't designed to enable it.

~~~
eridius
> _but the iPad certainly wasn 't designed to enable it._

That is the biggest load of bullshit I've heard all day.

------
ruswick
Pencil seems like an fairly interesting idea, but it's priced in a really odd
way. The $50 price point puts it well out of reach consumer and hobbyist
users. Despite this, Pencil and Paper are not as robust as, nor ate they
priced comparably to, professional digital drawing tools like Wacom's system.

Pencil precludes the casual demographic who just wants to doodle in their free
time or take notes with its high price, but does not cater to the group of
elite professionals who would be willing to cough up a substantial amount of
money for drawing tools.

I just don't understand who this is for.

~~~
cmicali
I don't think a $49 price point is "well out of reach" for consumer and
hobbyist users.

~~~
ruswick
I would argue that it is. What portion of iPad owners have ever spent any
money on software or peripheral devices? Probably less than half. Now, what
portion of them would be willing to shell out $50 for a stylus? I just can't
imagine that a non-negligible proportion of iPad owners would be willing to
spend that much on an accessory.

Also keep in mind that the current price point is "introductory" and will
increase in the future.

~~~
pietro
Artist equipment is very expensive, and $50 is less than you'll pay for a
decent water color brush. The last one I got was about twice that expensive,
and I don't even use it anymore. I use Paper. If it works as advertised,
Pencil is a steal.

~~~
phaus
The gigantic tip and the lack of pressure sensitivity guarantees that this
stylus won't work any better than the ones you can buy from amazon for a
dollar.

It sure looks like its well made, but take a look at the end of it and explain
to me how writing/drawing with it isn't going to be a horrible experience?

------
devindotcom
I will never understand the stylus-on-capacitive-screen thing. The lag, the
limited accuracy, the interpolation of your movements, it's all very opposite
to the idea of a stylus as an input. I'm glad others find it useful, but every
stylus I've ever used on a capacitive screen has immediately struck me as, to
me, worthless.

------
epaga
Seems like this company should be an insta-cquire for Apple any day now. They
display Apple's core values more than any other company I know (outside of
Apple).

Since it's Bluetooth it seems to be a great way to get probably close to 100%
accurate palm detection which has always been the most annoying part of stylus
usage on iPad for me. Genius.

~~~
srik
Isnt't it ironic that the cofounders actually came out of Microsoft R&D. They
were among the Courier team, for those who don't know. Courier was a pre-iPad
tablet device with amazing untapped potential.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlpftPSuXe4](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlpftPSuXe4)

~~~
CmonDev
Sigh, and now it's one of select demo apps in every Apple store. It alone
almost made me buy an iPad. Way to go Bill Gates shutting down Courier, well
done.

~~~
lifeisstillgood
Sorry, are you saying that had billg not shut down Courier, Microsoft would
have made the iPad?

Its rather like the Winklevoss twins - if Microsoft could have invented the
iPad, they would have invented the iPad.

~~~
fidotron
The Courier looked far more like it would've found an actual market than
Surface RT.

The question is really how much of what leaked was functional versus what they
hoped it was going to do.

~~~
Touche
If you look just at the journal parts of the video, the parts Paper can
duplicate, most of them are not in Paper at all. Paper is just a special type
of drawing app.

------
abbot2
The web site misses one obvious sentence: "Pencil is a ...". I spent 60
seconds on the web site, did not understand what the heck is this thing, and
closed the web site. Will never open again I guess.

~~~
warrenmiller
watch the video

~~~
abbot2
Watched 40 seconds. Don't have sound. Understood nothing.

~~~
danellis
How hard is it to understand? It's an iPad stylus.

------
toddmorey
Does pencil provide any additional drawing resolution or pressure sensitivity?
Genuinely curious. Didn't see any mention of those on the site, but I saw a
battery required and wondered if that did more than power the eraser.

------
xiaoma
As someone who has done a decent amount of digital art, this is a far inferior
solution to existing Wacom products. Not only are there issues with using such
a large "pencil", but the iPad simply doesn't have the ability to
differentiate between different levels of pressure like the Intuos or even the
much cheaper Bamboo tablets.

------
beloch
Is there anyone who has used one of these who can comment on the amount of
lag? The website makes a lot of claims about almost everything _except_ lag.
High accuracy (claimed) is nice and all, but it really throws you off if
you're drawing a curve and what's showing up on the screen is precisely half a
second behind your hand!

Low latency is _crucial_ for a stylus. Absolutely crucial. It's what separates
tools from toys.

------
celerity
I like the whole idea of well-crafted products, but in the end this is nothing
but a crappy, laggy, low fidelity finger-simulator/crayon. Writing any text
with it is probably clumsy, and certainly impossible to do as well as with any
other pencil on paper.

Pass. Apple needs to get out something with a proper active digitizer so that
all these satellite companies start making nice pens that also _work_ well.

------
davb
Tell me it's not Apple-only. Tell me it's not Apple-only...

 _crosses fingers_

Oh, bugger. It's Apple-only.

~~~
slantyyz
Why's that a big deal?

If you really care about a stylus on a tablet, a tablet with a real digitizer
seems to be a much better choice -- and there are some good, reasonably priced
non-Apple options out there like Samsung's Note series of products, the
Surface Pro, Thinkpad Tablet 2, etc.

~~~
hadem
It's a big deal because they are interested in the product and it requires you
to have an iPad...

------
liminal
So apparently this is a device to be used with iPads. Would have been nice if
the company put that somewhere on the product's webpage.

------
bbx
Paper is the only "entertainment" app I actually installed on my iPad. (I
don't have games, news or social media apps.) On its own, Paper is already a
very interesting experience. The content is simple but provides tons of
possibilities.

I also own a Wacom stylus that I never use. Pencil seems to solve the main
issues of a stylus: being able to rest your palm, to erase easily, and to keep
it close at hand (by snapping it to the iPad cover).

It's a perfect example of software / hardware synergy.

------
CmonDev
We asked for Android support and this is what we get instead?

[http://support.fiftythree.com/customer/portal/questions/8218...](http://support.fiftythree.com/customer/portal/questions/821857-is-
there-an-android-equivalent-)

~~~
wriq
It is that surprising? When you have limited dev resources it's smart to focus
on the platform that would garner the most attention and profit.

~~~
eloisant
The thing is the Android market is much bigger. Maybe history will repeat
itself?

* Company makes a great innovative product on iOS * Competitor gets to Android first, embracing the platform * Company finally releases an half-assed Android port with iOS look and useless back buttons while Competitor is already established on Android

=> After the Android launch failure, Company publishes numbers comparing iOS
and Android sales and claim "See, no profit to be done on Android!"

~~~
gress
The number of android devices is much bigger but because most of those devices
are at the extreme low end, especially in tablets, the market for Android
software and accessories is _much_ smaller.

------
blackdogie
That video made me a little dizzy. it was a fun effect, highlighting the
pencil in the middle of the shot, but I had to turn it off.

"Pencil is the most natural and expressive tool for getting ideas on Paper"

iPad + Pencil + App = most expensive expression tool I know too !

------
archagon
To me, latency is by far the most important issue here, and I don't see any
mention of it on the page. Compared to my Wacom tablet, touch input is just
too laggy to use in anything but the most basic drawing and note-taking tasks;
is Bluetooth better or worse? (Judging by my existing BT devices, I'm gonna
have to guess "worse".)

------
sudont
Explains why they prevaricated on other Bluetooth styluses:
[http://support.fiftythree.com/customer/portal/questions/1461...](http://support.fiftythree.com/customer/portal/questions/1461965-wacom-
intuos-creative-stylus?b_id=167)

Safe to say this is the only one that will be supported.

------
applecore
Awesome scrolling effect on the Pencil in the _Crafted For Creativity_
section.

~~~
gulbrandr
The script for the scrolling effet:
[http://www.fiftythree.com/js/pencil.js](http://www.fiftythree.com/js/pencil.js)

------
acron0
Gutted it's only for Retina & Mini (i.e. not the iPad 2) [1] devices as well
:( This would have been an amazing Christmas present for my wife.

[1] [http://shop.fiftythree.com/](http://shop.fiftythree.com/) (System
Requirements at the bottom)

~~~
jakebellacera
The iPad 2 does not support Bluetooth 4.0, unfortunately.

------
darkstalker
It probably has a noticeable latency, like most touchscreen inputs. The video
just shows silly camera/pen movements and no actual drawing scenes.

------
lukeschlather
What really struck me about Pencil here is that they're marketing Pencil as a
durable good.

The idea that someone's marketing a computing device without hoping I'll throw
it away in 12-18 months is really inspiring.

On the other hand, it only works properly with a single brand of tablet.

------
charlieflowers
I wonder how well something like this would work for doing _math_.

Say, for example, a word problem, or a proof. You often need more than one
sheet of paper for a problem, but if you're using a notebook, it becomes
painful to try to concentrate on what you're doing while also flipping back to
the previous page to look at something you need.

If you work the problems on separate detached sheets, you have more
flexibility, but you end up with separate detached sheets :).

A computerized tablet interface could solve all these problems and
automatically organize the finished work for you. But it would have to not
SCREW UP all the symbols you'd be writing.

Has anyone here successfully used Pencil or any other stylus/tablet
combination for doing math?

~~~
notphilip
Surface Pro (or any windows tablet with a wacom-like stylus) with Onenote
addresses all of these issues.

Especially since you can easily screengrab portions of the screen (e.g., a
relevant theorem from a pdf) and 'print' anything to any onenote page, it's
really clean and easy to get all relevant content in one place. It also makes
your handwriting and printouts searchable. I also really like using the webcam
to take pictures of whiteboards/lecture slides to annotate on top of (really
helpful for 'old school' classes or Professors that don't share their slides).

------
nat
I actually laughed out loud when I scrolled past the exploded view of its
innards. Best use of parallax scrolling I've ever seen.

~~~
chrismonsanto
This is the only example of parallax scrolling I have ever liked.

------
mey
Some suggestions for pressure sensitive tablets

[http://cintiqcompanion.wacom.com/en/?country=us&language=en](http://cintiqcompanion.wacom.com/en/?country=us&language=en)

Microsoft Surface's use Wacom digitizers as well, see [http://www.penny-
arcade.com/2013/09/26/the-surface-2](http://www.penny-
arcade.com/2013/09/26/the-surface-2)

Samsung's Note series also has a good digitizer
[http://www.samsung.com/us/topic/galaxy-
note-10-1-2014-editio...](http://www.samsung.com/us/topic/galaxy-
note-10-1-2014-edition)

------
bitwize
Wait, so this is a thing?

It's not some sort of tongue-in-cheek joke about our reliance on technology?

Geez, Poe's law even applies to marketing...

------
gbog
Looks interesting. I must have missed the part where they explain with which
tablets and apps this pencil is compatible.

~~~
girvo
It's compatible with Paper, the iOS app. I didn't get it at first either, but
then it clicked.

~~~
brettz
Took me awhile. Not having an iPad, I had no clue what "Paper" was until 5
minutes ago.

------
asadotzler
After using a Surface Pro for a year with a real stylus and its excellent
digitizer, I wonder how so many people can be so happy with something so
inferior. iPads are a joke for input.

------
WalterBright
I watched the video, and although it is pretty cool, I have a couple of issues
with it:

1\. It's a bit fat, not skinny like a pencil. I generally don't like fat pens.

2\. The point is pretty large and blunt. This suggests it is hard to locate it
precisely. I've done professional drafting work in the past, and having a nice
sharp tip to control exactly where the mark goes is important.

~~~
robflynn
iPads do not play nicely with fine tips.

------
chris-at
> Our adaptive palm rejection instantly knows whether it’s your hand or Pencil
> touching the page. Rest your hand on the screen, write from any angle. No
> calibration or setup. You’ll forget you’re creating on a tablet.

Does anyone know if this works with iPad gestures enabled?

All of the other apps promising palm detection/rejection (like Penultimate)
require you to turn off iPad gestures.

------
jlebrech
My pencil is paper compatible also.

------
nilsbunger
Am I the only one who at first thought this was a joke, i.e. making fun of our
crazy hyperbole by marketing a real pencil?

~~~
alan_cx
No, I thought that too. In fact, I was disappointed. I thought it might go on
about how useful a pencil still is. Some sort of comparison thing.

Personally, in my IT capacity, I still love going to meetings, seeing all the
non tech people with their various electronic toys, and I get out a pencil and
a pad of note paper...

Weakly amusing, true, but it also makes a semi-serious point. Im a tech guy
who will not waste money on technology for the sake of it. I like to see real
benefit for the money spent. On top of that, during such meetings, Im never
the one who holds up proceedings taking notes. Kind of help ram the point
home.

------
elacey
This has to be my favorite HN comment ever... bravo 53, for this gold alone:

"Pencil isn't designed to only work with Paper. Anyone who is interested in an
SDK for Pencil should let us know..."

Oh my, we've come full circle. I look forward to next learning about
Bookmark's SDK and it's integration with Bound Book

------
sly010
Only 30 times more expensive than this:
[http://www.cableandcase.com/products/stylus-touch-screen-
iph...](http://www.cableandcase.com/products/stylus-touch-screen-iphone-ipad-
stylus-pen?gclid=CN3TlJHW8boCFct9OgodGwYAiA) Is it 30 times better though?

------
lignuist
"If you see a stylus, they blew it"

\- Steve Jobs

~~~
alexobenauer
While relevant, to be fair he meant as the primary method of interacting with
and navigating a handheld device, as in needing a stylus to scroll through
your email, make calls, etc. This 'pencil' is simply for painting and drawing
on a tablet, arguably a different scenario.

~~~
lignuist
I Agree. I just could not resist posting this quote. :)

Actually Pencil looks nice and I always wondered why Apple did not release
such a device itself.

~~~
sbuk
Refer to the quote that you posted earlier.

~~~
lignuist
Probably that was the reason why Apple did not have the courage to do so, but
it is obvious that it creates additional value for some people. Especially
designers and illustrators, I think.

~~~
samelliot
Also relevant to any student that does math and has to write equations (every
person in the 1st world.)

Also relevant to every student who needs to read a book and highlight passages
and annotate (every person in the 1st world).

Also relevant to every person who wishes to draw a diagram to communicate
their idea (every person in the world).

------
colinramsay
Is this pressure sensitive?

~~~
TruthSHIFT
No, it does not seem to be. But, I'm not sure why it's not pressure sensitive.
It seems like that is something that they could have added using the bluetooth
connection. I'm guessing that functionality would have made it too expensive
or fragile.

~~~
tenfingers
Then, there is no point in buying this particular pen at all.

~~~
Pxtl
That's my reaction too. Without pressure-sensitivity, how is it different from
any other capacitive stylus? The palm-detection and the eraser? That's kinda
weak.

It's unfortunate that Apple is so devoted to purely-consumer hardware and that
other companies lack Apple's dedication to quality. The Galaxy Note's hardware
makes this kind of system look like a children's toy... but then you're stuck
with Samsung software.

~~~
jonknee
Palm detection is pretty big for drawing.

~~~
Pxtl
Does it require a dedicated piece of hardware, though? Can't any multi-touch
system do palm-detection or does the capacitive touchscreen get too
overwhelmed by the whole palm to detect the little point of the stylus?

------
mekoka
Saw the upvotes, opened the link, watched the video, came back to HN comments,
saw many people confused and criticizing.

I have to ask, why so many upvotes then?

Could it be that people here upvote even before opening links? Or just because
everybody else seem to think it's a good idea to upvote?

~~~
encoderer
Or that there are many more people upvoting than commenting? And that
generally the impression is favorable?

------
lnanek2
There are already pressure sensitive pens that are supported in multiple apps,
not just Paper, like the Pogo Connect. Seems actually bad for the ecosystem to
have another separate pen with yet another SDK. Some apps will support one,
some others.

------
sgt
I feel silly about this, but did anyone else also get seasick from watching
that video?

------
leoc
For most of the way through this, reading about Pencil and its compatibility
with Paper, the palm-rejection technology and the super-handy eraser on the
rear, I thought I was reading a parody advertisement.

------
marban
If you don't need the eraser and battery worries, I recommend
[http://www.studioneat.com/products/cosmonaut](http://www.studioneat.com/products/cosmonaut)

------
hashtree
The cost of purchasing moleskine notebooks each month has gotten out-of-hand
($16+ per). As a previously die-hard paper/pen guy, I've attempted to make the
move over to iPad based note taking only to find its abilities completely
lacking. There are great apps and stylus hardware, but even when tightly
coupled to overcome the iPad's lack of hardware support.. it leaves much to be
desired.

You see companies like Jot and 53 having to invent far too much in attempts to
solve this problem. A shame for otherwise great tablets.

------
taude
I have mixed feelings about this.

I wish Apple would just get it on with having some form of integrated active
digitizer builtin to the iPad. After playing with MSFT Surface Pro and even
Samsung S-Pen, it's obvious to me that these are superior solutions to all
these third-party workarounds for iOS. And this is really a locked-in third
party solution...

Anyway, I think iOS eco system is ripe for more accurate artist/drawing tools
and it seems they should be able to support both types of input (touch &
pen)...

------
metaphorical
Bluetooth but no pressure sensitivity? Pressure sensitive stylus is the
closest thing that emulates drawing on "paper".

It's a beautiful stylus, but not a very practical one.

------
mikeg8
Pencil looks really cool!! but that video made my stomach turn a bit. As
someone who used to edit videos, I can't image working on that, I would have
puked for sure.

------
freshchilled
I really had to come into the comments to see if this was satire or not.
Paper, Pencil, Book. I swore this was a joke, even after I saw there was an
actual price tag!

------
Lerc
/r/SomebodyMakeThis works!

[http://www.reddit.com/r/SomebodyMakeThis/comments/cgkoz/smt_...](http://www.reddit.com/r/SomebodyMakeThis/comments/cgkoz/smt_an_active_stylus_for_capacitive_touchscreens/)

I made this pic several years ago trying to express what I thought styluses
could be. [http://i.imgur.com/yLuh8.png](http://i.imgur.com/yLuh8.png)

------
xs
Although it looks cool... for my tablet... It doesn't bring the collaboration
I still seek. I often work remote and do screen sharing of my laptop. I have a
wacom tablet that allows me to draw on my computer screen which is then being
shared to my team. It would be great if I could use my existing iPad and
something cool like pencil to do my drawing and have it display on my computer
so my remote team can see it.

------
smrtinsert
These product vids are ripe for a funnyordie parody.

~~~
kepano
[http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6905817/every-tech-
commerc...](http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6905817/every-tech-commercial)

------
Mithaldu
Wow, another website featuring a product that is Apple-only and almost
actively hides the fact that it only works on a single platform.

------
julianz
I watched the video and scrolled to the bottom of the page. I don't know what
they're selling - is it just the stylus thing? Does it work with every app, or
just their one? Is it only for ipads, or can I use it on an Android? Then I
noticed they spelt "ginkgo biloba" wrong on the sketch underneath the video.
Twice. And then I closed the tab.

------
skrebbel
I _knew_ the "Buy Now" button would link to a Kickstarter page. Kudos to the
FiftyThree folks for proving me wrong. This looks like a great product.

I'll buy one as soon as they port it to Windows (because seriously, doing real
work on a device that doesn't even expose a filesystem? I'm clearly old-
fashioned).

------
tieTYT
Is that software that it works with (apparently called "Paper") going to stay
free? I see it's free as of today: [https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/paper-by-
fiftythree/id506003...](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/paper-by-
fiftythree/id506003812)

~~~
cytzol
It's free, but you have to buy the individual tools with in-app purchases: see
the list on the left of the iTunes link.

~~~
gorner
It's not super clear from their website but if you buy Pencil, apparently you
get the tools for free while you have the stylus connected.

------
desireco42
Awwww, I got Evernote's Jot pen that takes them forever to ship (still didn't
arrive). This is really tempting, but how many styluses a man really can use.
I really love what they did here.

On the other hand, Samsung Note and Surface are places if you really need to
use stylus. I thin Surface is especially strong there.

------
lasermike026
Someone kill me.

------
ajmarsh
Ok so I'm going to end up buying this. However I feel like I'm due a refund on
the Bamboo stylus I bought from Studio 53 when I originally started using the
Paper app. The Bamboo stylus was so laggy it was unusable. Hopefully the
Bluetooth stylus will work as advertised.

------
sosuke
The tip still gets me. I just have a hard time with the thick tip where I
can't see my connection to the 'paper'. I keep wanting to try out the Adonit
Jot [http://adonit.net/jot/touch/](http://adonit.net/jot/touch/)

------
adultSwim
It's not clear to me which benefits are from the new stylus and which are
built into Paper.

For instance I don't see how the smudge with finger is actually a Pencil
feature.

What are the differences compared to just using a regular/dumb stylus?

~~~
TruthSHIFT
What makes it interesting is that they are able to distinguish between the 3
different types of input. Most apps can't tell the difference between a finger
and a stylus. This one can.

In addition, this stylus knows which end you are using. I suspect that this is
accomplished using an accelerometer and the orientation data is transmitted to
the tablet via bluetooth.

------
decasteve
Reminds me of a prototype I had seen a few years ago, Conté, after the artists
crayon:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDqT_oKM7j8](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDqT_oKM7j8)

------
alexobenauer
This is probably the first time I've ever thought that a scrolling-aware
content page has actually added meaningful functionality to the page without
being in the way and annoying. Really nice work there.

------
linux_devil
Paper is one of my favorite app on ipad. Pencil looks innovative and promising
. But I was using the app effectively with stylus, also palm detection is
something which can be done at application level.

------
guiomie
Just bought one for Christmas. Not for me, but my dad who is addicted to his
ipad (hes got the TV turned on in the background by habit, but he is actually
consuming content on his ipad on his couch).

------
hellyeasa
Why do all websites have the same design? It's boring and lifeless?

------
pagekicker
Microsoft addressed most of the issues addressed in this thread twelve years
ago when it launched XP for Tablet PC with "ink as a first class citizen" data
type in the OS.

------
etler
I've never heard anyone using finger input to do smudging. That's so obvious
but so smart. I don't know how I haven't heard of that before.

------
brickmort
I don't understand all the negativity in this post. This product is a work of
art. This layout/presentation is making Apple stop and take notes.

------
NikolaTesla
All I want is a tablet that has the line fidelity of a pen or pencil, not a
crayon. If I can record my writing/drawing with voice-over, even better.

------
protomyth
I wonder how many types of "tools" we will get that work with tablets. I'm
still hoping someone comes up with a electronic airbrush.

------
spenrose
Dangerous. Fifty-three employees will use them 6 hours/day, only a fraction of
Paper customers will ever try one once. Anti-dogfooding.

------
crorella
Nice idea and execution. The video makes me dizzy :P

------
CSDude
The shaking on the video is so disturbing that I had urge to close the video.
It does not how to shake for all the video duration.

------
xerophtye
Am i the only one who thinks its too damn THICK? Aren't pencils and styli
supposed to be slim and easy to hold in your hand?

------
MattBearman
This looks really cool, but what really blew me away was the way the pencil
dismantles as you scroll the page down.

Absolutely beautifully done.

------
yk
I am confused, is this a parody of the current "Not as cool as a pencil" iPad
ad, or is this a real product?

------
nilliams
Paper is the only app I've ever used that makes me wish I had a bigger tablet
than my iPad 2 (because I love it).

------
egeozcan
It doesn't ship to Germany. I was ready to buy an ipad just to give this a go
for my note taking needs though.

------
EGreg
So this is basically a stylus that feels like it's made of wood? Or it is made
of wood? That's about it?

------
oddshocks
Anyone know of some open hardware that does this same sort of thing and works
with existing software?

~~~
CatsoCatsoCatso
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pencil](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pencil)
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper)

They're both super cheap and open. With the right skill and a few plugins [0]
you can create stunning pieces of content [1].

[0] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paint](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paint)
(Not to be confused with MS Paint) [1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Triumph_of_Death](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Triumph_of_Death)

[I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself.]

------
DonGateley
Cool if you like writing with a log.

------
parthoghosh86
This is so wonderful and amazing....

------
jroseattle
Makes me wonder what the Rembrandts and Picassos would have thought of such a
device and whether it encourages or prohibits artistic expression. I can
imagine it certainly does on the tablet medium, but in general I wonder if
there is any aspect of artistic creativity gained or lost when moving away
from traditional mediums.

~~~
malrase
David Hockney has certainly embraced it as a medium.

[http://www.wired.com/design/2013/11/hockney/](http://www.wired.com/design/2013/11/hockney/)

------
jotm
So, uh, it's a stylus, right? Cause I can't tell for sure from that page...

------
jdalgetty
wow that camera was annoying.

~~~
millerm
Yes, yes it was. I was feeling a bit woozy near the end and had to just stop
watching. Big monitor here, didn't like the movement.

------
typon
Wait how is this better than Surface Pro? Seems like it has the same features.

~~~
curyous
It is far worse than the Surface Pro, not even in the same league, but hardly
anyone uses a Surface Pro.

------
airencracken
"Capacitve screens are so great, you don't need a stylus anymore"

Sigh.

------
ep103
Did anyone else notice that this site somehow causes IE to crash?

------
0xdeadbeefbabe
A pencil you can use to shake the world and play violins, nice.

------
beefsack
I still can't figure out if that page is satirical or not.

------
trumbitta2
I was ready to buy it.

But no. I'm in Italy so screw me :-/

------
joelle
I absolutely LOVE the paper app. This is so cool.

------
borismus
Still too thick.

~~~
xerophtye
thank you! Good to see i am not the only one

------
serge2k
this looks amazing.

Too bad I'll never buy one.

Enjoy your ipad toys, I'll go continue not having pencil on my nexus. :(

------
twodayslate
No pressure sensitivity?

------
boristhespider
The Russians used a...

------
matponta
It's just lovely

------
kitwalker12
would've loved some iPad 2 love

------
caiob
Satires please. hehe

------
beauzero
meh

