Could the MacBook Air's trackpad support pen input?

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Capactance is not the same touch

Touch sensitive and capacitance sensitive are two completely different things. Touch means pressure and the laptop trackpads are typically not pressure sensitive.

Capacitance detection requires something called a dielectric which our finger is perfect for because of the high moisture content. The electric field is affected by the presence of the dielectric and that's how it is detected.

A stylus with its hard plastic is far harder to detect because a sharp, thin tip affects the electic field far less unless a suitable, large value dielectric is in the tip. The patent may describe how it has been acheived, but if it doesn't work with existing trackpads it won't do us any good.

I believe Apple already patented pen entry on a track pad as a concept, but financially it may be too expensive to implement. Apple patents a lot of stuff they never use.

Posted by: Eriamjh   Posted on: 02/01/08 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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