Nick Statt, THE VERGE
SAN FRANCISCO (TheVerge.com) — 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. On the surface, it was because it played into the stereotype that Apple lays claim to everyday inspirations. 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. You lose them. 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.
Still, the online snark was immediate. “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.”
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.
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