寻找最好的iPad电容笔

    用这支笔写字时，我明显能感到自己是在用一款数码工具在写字。因此我关注的不是我在写什么，而是一直把注意力放在我的书写工具上。我一直在想自己应该用什么姿势使用这支笔，因为接触点的软质材料容易在书写时变形。我的字迹会出现不必要的模糊，就像医生开处方的草书一样，有时候很难识别。Pencil笔可能是一支很好的画画工具，但是作为书写工具仍稍嫌不足。

    Studio Neat公司推出的Cosmonaut笔（售价25美元）是一位读者给我推荐的。这支笔的粗细跟Pencil差不多，但它是圆柱型的，使用时感觉像是一支白板笔。Cosmonaut要比其它电容笔简单多了，因为它没有复杂的内部结构和专用软件，而是依靠设备的电容屏进行交互。它的橡胶笔尖较硬，而且与iPad屏幕的接触点比较一致。尽管这支笔还是比较粗，但我觉得我对字迹的控制要好于Pencil——至少我能看懂自己写了些什么。可惜它的好处也就止于此处，由于这支笔缺乏自有软件，它既没有压力探测功能，也没有迅速删除功能。

    对于电容笔来说，是否简单才是更好的？我在百思买（Best Buy）买了一支Targus公司生产的一支较修长的电容笔（售价9美元）。这支笔有一个较软的橡胶笔尖，形状和大小都像传统铅笔的笔尖。像Cosmonaut一样，它也没有内部元件或专用软件。不同之处在于（这一点跟Pencil比较像），它在使用的时候非常容易让人分心。它很快使我意识到，这支笔比较适合应急，比如选择图标或者按钮什么的，而不是自由书写。

    再说说高端产品。卖价120美元的Adonit Jot Touch是目前为止我测试过的最贵的一支电容笔。另外和大多数我测试的其它产品一样，它的“三围”也比较丰满，有点像一支大号的Sharpie牌签字笔，它有两个按钮，你可以把拇指方在上面。像Pencil一样，这支笔通过软件来促进与iPad的交互。根据你的偏好，这两个按钮可以进行指定的操作。在我的评测过程中，我把下面那个按钮设置为“撤消”功能，把上面那个按钮设置为“恢复”功能（没办法，我写作时爱犹豫）。虽然这支电容笔比传统钢笔要粗上一圈，但它的“像素点”端却没那么粗，而且我发现它很适合长时间写作。

    电容笔已经成了一个大得惊人的产业，而且我也绝不敢声称我把市面上的每一种规格、型号、外观的电容笔都测试了。（光是在百思买超市里，就有四英尺长的一排货架是卖电容笔的。）我根据读者的建议和个人的搜索评测了上述几款产品，搭配的书写应用软件是Noteshelf。（务必要指出的是，它对Pencil和Jot Touch支持得特别好。）

    我连续看了一个星期我那令人尴尬的书法，好几次苦笑着承认一个事实：在这个以键盘为主的世界，我们的字只会写得越来越难看。在这之后，我得出了一个明显的结论：Jot Touch电容笔在NoteShelf软件的配合下，可以说是在iPad上模拟传统纸笔体验最出色的电容笔。

    但模拟得再像，毕竟也不是真的。如果你想要一种放松的、创造性的甚至是有格调的书写体验——你知道该怎么做。让思想游荡，让笔尖在白纸上涂鸦。有些时候我们必须追求效率，但是写作不能这样。（财富中文网）

    译者：朴成奎

    Writing with Pencil, it was apparent that I was using a digital tool. Instead of concentrating on what I was writing, I constantly found myself focusing on what I was writing with. How I positioned the tip of the stylus was a persistent thought because its soft material made the contact point change in shape as I wrote with it. My letters would blend together unnecessarily, not unlike the stereotype of a physician’s freehand, leaving me to decipher my own transcribed thoughts. Pencil makes for a superb sketching tool, but as a writing implement it left me wanting.

    The Cosmonaut by Studio Neat ($25) was recommended to me by a reader. This stylus was thick like the Pencil but was cylindrical, designed to replicate the feel of a dry erase marker. The Cosmonaut is far simpler than its peers because it lacks internal electronics and dedicated software, instead relying on a device’s capacitive screen for interaction. The rubber tip of the stylus is firm and made for a consistent contact point on the iPad’s screen. Despite the tool’s girth, I felt like I had more control over my handwriting than the Pencil—I could indeed read my own handwriting. Unfortunately, it stops there: because the stylus lacks its own software, it offers little in the way of pressure detection or quick-erase smarts.

    Is simple better for a stylus? I walked out of a Best Buy with a slim model made by Targus ($9) to find out. The implement has a soft rubber nib on one end and most closely resembles the shape and size of a traditional pen. Like the Cosmonaut, the Targus stylus lacks internal components or accompanying software. Unlike the Cosmonaut (but quite like the Pencil), it was a complete distraction during use. It quickly became clear to me that this stylus was better suited to acute tasks, such as selecting icons or buttons in an interface, rather than free-form writing.

    To the other end of the price spectrum, then. The Adonit Jot Touch ($120) was by far the most expensive stylus I tested, and like most of the models I used, it had a thicker profile, akin to a full-size Sharpie (but with two buttons where your thumb might rest). Like the Pencil, the Jot Touch uses software to facilitate interaction with an iPad. The two buttons can be assigned actions, depending on your composition app of preference; during my testing, I set the bottom one as an “Undo” action and the top one as a “Redo.” (What can I say, I’m an indecisive writer.) Though the Jot Touch’s body is thicker than a traditional pen, its “Pixelpoint” tip isn’t, and I found it suitable for writing at length.

    The world of styluses is surprisingly large, and I in no way claim to have tested every size, shape, or type available on the market. (In Best Buy alone, there was a four-foot section of them.) I evaluated the implements above on the advice of readers and personal research, using the Noteshelf app as my digital paper of choice. (Which, I should note, explicitly supports the Pencil and Jot Touch.)

    After a week of staring at my embarrassing penmanship—at times laughing at the fact that it could actually get worse than what’s already become of it in this keyboard-first world we live in—I came to an obvious conclusion. The Jot Touch, with help from Noteshelf, is the iPad stylus that best replicates the pen and paper experience so many covet.

    But a facsimile is not the real thing. If you’re looking for an intimate, creative, even romantic way to put pen to paper—well, you know what to do. Let the mind wander. Doodle in the margins. There’s a time to be efficient. This isn’t it.