[Air-L] pens, pencils, styli?

[Charles M. Ess]

Dear AoIRists,

It has gradually come to my lagging attention that pens, pencils, and/or 
styli seem to be making a bit of comeback?
Roughly: Microsoft introduced a Surface Pen in 2012, which interacts 
with various capabilities in the 8.1 and the most recent 10 OS; Apple 
introduced its Pencil for the iPad in 2015 - one that works with 
Microsoft apps as well as Adobe and others; Microsoft; and Lenovo offers 
a pen technology (either in Android or Windows OS) with one of its 
recent devices -
<http://www3.lenovo.com/us/en/tablets/android-tablets/yoga-book-series/Lenovo-Yoga-Book/p/ZZITZTOYB1F>
(Thanks to Rich Ling for the last tip.)

I'm also aware of a growing body of research on handwriting vis-a-vis 
keyboarding that appears to show that engaging the body via hand and 
pen, in contrast with solely using a keyboard, entails greater brain 
activity and thereby greater cognitive benefits, including greater 
ability to discern and articulate complex conceptual relationships, 
along with greater recall.
(E.g.: A. van der Meer, F.R. van der Weel, Only Three Fingers Write, but 
the Whole Brain Works: A High-Density EEG Study Showing Advantages of 
Drawing Over Typing for Learning.
Front. Psychol., 09 May 2017. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00706)

My resulting questions:
1) are you aware of any additional research along these lines, i.e., 
attending to the affordances and potentials of both handwriting and 
keyboarding vis-a-vis cognitive benefits - especially with a view 
towards pedagogy, i.e., how we should teach writing, most especially 
writing for research and publication?
2) Any ideas of what research and/or other interests, etc. might have 
led Apple, Microsoft, and Lenovo to re-introduce pens and styli - apart 
from the death of Steve Jobs, who notoriously hated these? (I mean this 
respectfully.)

Please reply off-list.  I'll happily compile a bibliography and resource 
list for distribution to the list in turn.

Many thanks in advance,
- charles
-- 
Professor in Media Studies
Department of Media and Communication
University of Oslo
<http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/people/aca/charlees/index.html>

Editor, The Journal of Media Innovations
<https://www.journals.uio.no/index.php/TJMI/>

Postboks 1093
Blindern 0317
Oslo, Norway
c.m.ess at media.uio.no