Most iPad owners I know, including me, feel like first time parents; we want to buy it every gizmo and accessary made to keep it happy. Getting a stylus for an iPad, though, seemed a little like holding hands with a loved one wearing gloves. Doesn't it break the magic and tactile interaction the iPod is designed to produce? Well, yes and no. All that dragging and touching and typing happens much faster by simply using a finger tip or two. For resizing things and gestures you have to use your fingers. So why spend your $20 dollars?
There are times when I'm typing a letter or a message and I want to go back to change a word or correct something. So I touch the spot/word and the cursor seems to lob itself into the general area but rarely goes exactly where it's needed. I usually just give up and wind up erasing a whole section and retyping it. The tip of the stylus, I found, places the curser exactly where it's needed and saves time and frustration. Reason 2: using the stylus doesn't leave my screen looking like the glass stove top after making french fries. Reason 3: maybe I need to start moisturizing more, but occasionally the screen ignores my finger tip. It always responds to the stylus. When I play, say, Scrabble, the letter blocks seem to love to cling to the wrong spot or refuse to dislodge when I want to move one. Not so using a stylus. Reason 4: During some tasks I wind up touching the screen with a stray palm or pinky and wind up traveling to another web page or hyperlink unexpectedly. A stylus keeps unintended appendages away from the screen. Of course, if you use a drawing or note taking app using your finger, you'll probably get imprecise and cartoonish results. A stylus makes things more precise and understandable here also. Will a stylus replace using your fingers entirely. Of course not. But for certain things having one, or three, just makes the job go more smoothly and precisely.