Bob and I were working through some code design issues within OneNote yesterday on the iMac–Yes iMac–when it hit us.
The iMac would be a great system to have a built in digitizer within the display. Why? The display is nice and large and swivels about comfortably on a nice stand, all making it very comfortable to use for brainstorming within Microsoft Journal, MindManager, or OneNote.
The iMac doesn’t have a built-in digitizer, of couse, so we were using an external Wacom pad. A Cintiq might be an even better match–although a bit costly.
I do find it quite awkward to draw or write on a digitizing tablet rather than writing on the screen with a built-in digitizer, but it is better than nothing. I wish, though, there was a way to “upgrade” displays to include a digitizer. I think if there was a technology like this, more people would migrate to digitizer-capable displays. It’s too natural not to.
Note to Apple: You have InkWell already, why not add a display digitzer as an upgrade option to your wonderful iMac display? You know, I would have paid a $500 premium in the iMac for this feature.
Someone’s thought of this 😉 http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2006/3/29/3376
A touch digitizer is a step in the right direction, but an active digitizer would be even better. For this reason, I’d choose a Wacom Cintiq connected to the iMac over a built-in touch digitizer.
Why? Active digitizers are excellent at palm rejection. You don’t have to worry about your hand resting on the display while you write. Also, I like being able to see where the cursor is before I make contact with the display. And, in most cases, I’d rather not touch the display with my fingers to write or draw. However, it would be nice to have a touch sensitive digitzer as a selectable mode.