📺 Stream EntrepreneurTV for Free 📺

Steve Jobs Would Not Have Liked the Apple Pencil Back in 2007, he expressed his dislike for styluses.

By Alex Fitzpatrick

entrepreneur daily

This story originally appeared on Fortune Magazine

Apple

Apple on Wednesday announced the Apple Pencil, a $99 stylus that serves as an accessory to the new jumbo-sized iPad Pro.

"It delivers something extraordinary," Apple design guru Jony Ive said in a product announcement video. Apple marketing exec Phil Schiller called the stylus "amazing."

Steve Jobs might have disagreed. Back in 2007, the Apple co-founder made a point of dissing the stylus, then a popular accessory for PDAs, when he unveiled the first iPhone. "Who wants a stylus?" Jobs asked. "You have to get them and put them away and you lose them. Yuck! Nobody wants a stylus." Instead, Jobs said the iPhone would depend on the "best pointing device in the world," the human finger. Apple's mobile devices have all been built solely around gestures made with fingers ever since—until the iPad Pro.

It's worth noting that the iPad Pro is still primarily geared toward navigation via fingers. The Apple Pencil is an accessory that the company says provides pixel-perfect accuracy for artists and designers who might use the tablet as a drawing tool. At 12.9 inches diagonal, the iPad Pro is also significantly larger than that first diminutive iPhone that Jobs thought would work so poorly with a stylus.

Still, the Apple Pencil is likely to enter the pantheon of things Apple did that Steve Jobs was originally vehemently opposed to. Other examples include starting an e-book store (Jobs had previously dismissed the Kindle because "people don't read anymore") and getting people to buy movies for their mobile devices (Jobs doubted anyone wanted to watch films on a tiny screen).

Alex Fitzpatrick is a writer for Fortune.com.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Business News

James Clear Explains Why the 'Two Minute Rule' Is the Key to Long-Term Habit Building

The hardest step is usually the first one, he says. So make it short.

Business News

A National U.S. News Outlet Is Hiring a Full-Time 'Lauren Sánchez Reporter'

The Daily Beast's new chief content officer, Joanna Coles, revealed the senior reporter opening on Instagram.

Health & Wellness

You Won't Be a Successful Entrepreneur Until You Adopt These 3 Habits

Being an entrepreneur is a marathon, not a sprint!

Starting a Business

He Had a Side Hustle Driving for Uber When a Passenger Gave Him $100,000 — Now His Company Is On Track to Solve a Billion-Dollar Problem

Joshua Britton is the founder and CEO of Debut, a biotechnology company that's doing things differently.

Business Ideas

63 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.

Growing a Business

Control the Way People Think About You Using These Secrets From a Publicity Strategist

Ulyses Osuna discusses PR strategies for shaping personal brands and controlling the narrative.