So, as you were probably aware, Apple introduced a 'pencil' for its iPad Pro. At $99 dollars the Pencil (according to Apple's page for it) is virtually lag-free, pressure-sensitive to allow it to create lines of different weight, capable of shading and texture, and able to recharge extremely fast.
The tech press did its usual salivating over a new Apple product ("The Apple Pencil costs $99+ because you probably don't need it, and that's a good thing" says TechGeek), but there was a different reaction among the social media proletariat: They were making fun of it. It was as if the collective snark of the internet rose up and said, "A hundred bucks for a stylus? Apple can't get away with THAT."
Ikea Singapore had the most visible salvo with a cheeky mock-ad on its Facebook page. But this wasn't the only snickering from the internet's infinite supply of sarcasm:
2014: bigger phones! 2015: apple pencil 2016: apple fax machine 2017: apple pager 2018: apple abacus https://t.co/LLJe2QWSWv
- arit john (@aritbenie) September 9, 2015
Apple Pencil me like one of your French girls pic.twitter.com/7A19PnN2nC
- Amber Gordon (@missambear) September 9, 2015
Looking forward to the second-generation Apple Pencil, the No. 2 Pencil.
- ᴠᴀɴᴄᴇ ʟᴜᴄᴀꜱ (@vlucas) September 9, 2015
Android fans remain unimpressed:
#Android users watching the #AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/dSkKRdENaq
- Furry Shinobi (@Ichi_Bear) September 10, 2015
Other brands also got in on the action:
introducing denny's toothpick. your teeth, performing at full potential. pic.twitter.com/a8uxWmAwXF
- Denny's (@DennysDiner) September 9, 2015
Others noted that behind the snark was the more serious fact that investors might not be too big on the whole pencil thing:
See if you can pick out the exact moment the Apple Pencil was introduced. pic.twitter.com/BpJQjwqz47
- southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) September 9, 2015
Charlotte Banks at Geeksnack thinks that introducing something like the Pencil, in a package with an iPad Pro and Smart Keyboard in a package that costs over $1000, is arrogant, especially when you can get better functionality through a Wacom tablet combo for about $200.
My problem with the Apple Pencil is the same problem I have with a lot of Apple products. The company is acting like this is the second coming of writing on a screen, but anyone who works in digital media has probably been working with a stylus for years. It's Apple's usual routine of recycling already functional products into the Apple style of white plastic and clean lines, and then presenting it as if it where somehow an 'innovation.'
Guess what? You can get a better stylus elsewhere from companies with much more experience and technical know-how, and for cheaper than what Apple wants for its dumbed-down version of it. Sure, it won't be an Apple product, but maybe in this case that's a good thing.