Although the Galaxy Note is not Samsung's flagship smartphone, the company has initiated a broader conversation with this product: could the stylus, long considered a relic of a bygone era, miraculously find its way back into everyday usage?

The stylus goes back a long time, having been a staple of Microsoft tablets of the early 90s and a defining accessory for the Palm Pilot and Pocket PC. These devices used resistive touchscreens, which couldn't respond to a fingertip; they required the cold, dead touch of a pointed stylus.

In that regard, the stylus was more a single input instrument than a multi-faceted tool. Handwriting recognition was inaccurate at the time, response time was hit or miss, and there was no real software support from third parties.

When Microsoft introduced Windows for Pen Computing in 1991, tablet-based PCs were being made by a number of manufacturers. But these were big, bulky and prohibitively expensive for the average consumer. That ugly combination of form factor and price didn't really change until Apple launched the iPad two years ago.

Palm Pilots and early smartphones were using the same premise on smaller screens, but the stylus input on those devices was rudimentary: tap and interact with the menus and icons. Note-taking or handwriting was never part of the conversation, especially for Pocket PCs with slide-out keyboards. It couldn't be, because the response time on those resistive screens precluded it.

But that was the state of technology back then. In the tablet era, capacitive touchscreens, an active aftermarket and a litany of app developers have combined to at least change the possibilities for where a stylus or "digital pen" could fit in.

One initial problem with the iPhone and its capacitive screen is that it can't read an input when someone is wearing gloves, because of the lack of heat. It wasn't long before small foam-tipped styluses were brought to market to address that need. The same happened with the iPad, except the iPad's 9.7-inch screen was ideal as a digital canvas. In other words, painting or drawing on it was more than possible.

The late Steve Jobs may have hated the stylus, but there are many people who like to draw on an iPad. The aftermarket filled that void, even if the whole premise is still niche.

While drawing on the tablet is nice, it's unlikely that users will use a stylus with an iPad for much else. iOS was never designed with stylus input in mind, so there are no tricks for double-tapping to bring up a note-taking app, or any other particular features that bring it front and centre.

HTC attempted to do this with its Flyer tablet last year, but the whole thing turned out to be a flop.

Samsung has positioned the Note as a tool that anyone can use, the oversized 5.3-inch screen being the bonus. The whole "S-Pen" experience is going to be pushed further. There is a developer kit for adding S-Pen input into apps; and Galaxy Note users can see which apps have been optimized for the pen on the Note itself.

The way Samsung has implemented the stylus is fairly unique. But it's premature to assume that consumers will latch onto it. Most users likely have no reason to jot down notes with a stylus, when they can just type them in. Even fewer have a reason to draw. It's impressive to be able to capture a still of a video, map, photo or screenshot, and then doodle or write over it; but it's hard to say whether that will be enough to win converts.

After all, it's unlikely Samsung will incorporate the technology into its other major smartphones, unless the Galaxy Note vastly exceeds sales expectations. The Super Bowl commercial for the Note created awareness, and clever marketing is seeing the phone launch in a month that is otherwise a dead zone for handset releases.

But for those who use a stylus for any reason, the Note offers the first glimmer of hope that it will have a place in the ever-evolving world of mobile devices.

Article Tags:  Kritsonis, stylus, Samsung, Galaxy Note, Palm Pilot, Pocket PC, tablet, touchscreen, handwriting, S-pen