The future of the iPad could be its new “Scribble” interface

A paper like device

I have long dreamt of a device which would be like paper, but more. A kind of paper plus device. the device would have all the advantages of paper: the tactile input, the requirement to slow down when your hand cannot follow your own speed of thinking, anchoring what you are thinking about in your memory.

It would have all the advantages of a moden computer system as well; cloud storage, use on multiple devices, synchronization and ease of retrieval independent of what devices you are on. It would be the best of both worlds.

Scribble as a step forward

By launching the new “scribble” feature in iPadOS 14, Apple may have taken this a significant step forward. The feature was shown and mentioned but not over-hyped. But it may well turn out to be a hidden game-changer.

After all, most input you want to give to your device, you can now write. Combine this with some of the powerful gestures already present in the iPadOS system and add some automations and we are looking at an entirely new and yet so familiar way of interacting with the device. Like putting pen to paper.

This artide, for example, was entirely written by hand on the iPadOS 14 public beta. Yes, there is room for improvement, especially in my own hand writing, but the flexibility of writing this in the standard notes app is amazing. Ever for highlights I use markdown syntax which I export to my wordpress app.

So I’m really looking forward to where Apple is going to bring this new feature. As always, it will be interesting.

We are of course assuming that in a couple of months we will still have electricity and will not have become the victim of a civilisation destroying infectious disease such as, say, a corona virus of some kind. But that is another story.