Big deal, every product gets it's-not-for-me-so-it-must-be-stupid comments.

The 'Pencil' product is a good example of the points made in the article. It's a souped-up stylus with some nice features and pretty hardware. But for it to be a sellable and desirable product at $75, it has to tie in well with software. Its app seems to be nice and well-received. They also have a printing service and incorporate social aspects where people share their creations.

It's not uncommon to buy hardware, that on the face of it is very nice, and /would/ be good to use, but getting it to work with your software is just an annoyance. Any company that can convince you going in that the software will be nice to use, is going to have an advantage.

I have no idea. I would never use a capacitive stylus for writing and drawing (quick notes or not). Also, the price is ridiculous.

Interesting. I remember thinking it was probably nice to use, but 1) not worth the money (to me), and 2) possibly awkward to carry in some circumstances. I'm probably not the set that would stereotypically care about it, but I am somewhat particular about my interfaces (though in a radically different way than most people seem to be...).