I’m paralyzed by ecological concerns.
OP, it’s the same reason people try and put the cereal in the fridge and the milk in the cupboard. Your body is going through a motor process that has become automated through repetition to the point that their brain no longer has to be engaged to do it. But if the brain is not engaged, the chance of making really dumb errors is high.
I’m sorry. I’ll stop picking my nose with them.
You’d still better beware of ass pennies, though.
Must learn not to click on links when in the Pit…
… of Despair.
Ass pennies: proof we aren’t that different than poo-flinging monkeys, really.
You know who it was, right? Why not just hunt him or her down and ask that person directly?
The thread should have ended right there. Comedy gold.
The electronic signature pad that Sears (and some other retailers) used until recently required you to use a regular ballpoint pen. Experience with that probably leads people to assume that either a stylus or a pen would do. It seems a reasonable assumption that devices can be designed for such flexibility.
Another thing that’s good for removing Sharpie from a dry-erase whiteboard: Purell hand sanitizer gel.
Not sure if I’d experiment on a Smart Board, though.
- Phil Hartman as Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer
Or we could exhault in the knowledge that every time we inhale, we take in at least one molecule farted by Julius Caesar
Yes, but this is the device where the receipt was inserted over the pad, so you actually signed the paper while the impression was picked up by the pad, right? So you’re still signing the paper, not directly on the plastic. Unless, a) you mean something different that I’ve never seen before but which would be noticeable by an inch-deep layer of encrusted ink or b) your local Sears associates were too stupid/lazy to slide the receipt over the pad like they were supposed to.
You obviously missed sassyfras’s other rant thread about how everybody is at fault for BP’s fuck up.
Yes, these ones were the slip-the-receipt-in kind, but that doesn’t really give you sufficient information about other devices. As I said, without specific experience with a particular type of device, there’s no reason to assume that it couldn’t handle either kind of input.
In fact, I’m kind of surprised that all touch-screen-type devices aren’t already capable of handling multiple methods of tactile input, whether fingertip, electronic stylus, actual stylus (e.g., wooden stick or metal nib), pen, or pencil. I was disappointed to learn that my Iphone will take only fingertip inputs and not stylus input and that Ipads can’t take handwriting input.
You’re surprised that a surface that’s intended to be used repeatedly for many different things isn’t designed to be used with a pen or pencil?
Seriously?
[quote=“acsenray, post:34, topic:544629”]
I was disappointed to learn that my Iphone will take only fingertip inputs and
There are special styluses that do work. The point was to make it usable with finger input, something that doesn’t work well in most multi-purpose touch screens. But, even if it did, do you want it detecting the input in your pocket, randomly pressing stuff?
It’s not like there’s a cover to keep it safe.
Glad to see you rethought that post, BigT. 
Besides the specially-designed stylus you can use with the iPhone (~$20), there’s apparently some kind of little sausage that works, too, and will only cost you a buck.
Yes, seriously. I don’t see any reason why there couldn’t be a screen that could detect the pressure from the tip of a pen or a pencil but would also be impervious to marks from such pens or pencils.
It shouldn’t do anything until I press the “home” key to activate it and do the slidey bit.
… You don’t see any reason why someone wouldn’t design a screen that physically prevents ink from being released from a pen or lead from being worn off a pencil. Seriously. Wow.
Okay, yes, you could design a screen that ink wouldn’t stain. But then you’d end up with at least some ink still coming out, so now it’s just sliding all over the place and you have to constantly find something to wipe it off with and/or get it all over your hands and fingers. As for pencils, they work pretty much by friction, for lack of a better word. So unless you can make a perfectly smooth surface, the pencil is still going to be marking the screen in some way, which you’ll again have to constantly wipe off.
Or, y’know, people could just NOT USE writing utensils, designed to leave marks on surfaces, on a surface that they don’t want to leave a mark on.
We call 'em “upencils” in my house.
Well, I do.
The cats don’t really say much.