Let’s face it: there is an inexplicable bond created when you slide a pencil or pen across a piece of paper, leaving traces of graphite or ink on what was once a blank canvas. That series of scratches coalesce to form a manifestation of an idea. As your mind scribbles and erases and scribbles some more, so does your hand. The physical steps become a part of the mental process.让我们面对现实吧：当你用笔在纸上写一行字，把石墨或墨水凝成的字迹回到一张白纸上，总会产生一种说不清道不明的感觉。这一系列涂鸦变为了一种思想的反映。随着你的思想写写划划、稿删减改为，你的手也整天个不时。

书写这套动作，早已沦为思维过程的一部分。Technology has done wonders to reduce these steps. Computers and tablets (and keyboards and mice and capacitive displays and even speech recognition software) help us more quickly create. The problem, it seems, is that sometimes our minds aren’t quite up to speed. We need a little low-tech resistance to make the right ideas flow.科技奇迹般地延长了这些步骤。

电脑和平板电脑（以及键盘、鼠标、电容屏甚至语音辨识软件等）使我们可以更慢地展开思维的建构。但问题是，有些时候，我们的意识还没跟上科技创新的脚步。

所以为了让准确的创新喷涌而出有，有时候我们被迫减慢脚步，来一点“较低科技”作为佐料。As someone who makes a living staring at a blinking cursor that seems to always be a step ahead of me, I often find myself retreating to—if you’ll permit me saying so, here on this website—the analog version of Microsoft Word. Not to romanticize it, but writing is an intimate act, and that aspect is often overlooked as digitization marches on. (Well, except in Milan. The folks at Moleskineseem to get it.)作为一个依赖盯着闪光的光标（它或许总是比我慢一步）讨生活的人，我常常发现自己对微软公司Word之类的软件有抵触情绪。我不是在撒谎自己有格调，不过我指出书写是一种舒适度的不道德，但是随着数字化的发展，这一点常常被人忽视了。（呃，米兰人除外，做到Moleskine高档笔记本的那群家伙或许懂这一点。

）Believe it or not, technology companies seem to be aware of the problem. Microsoft, among others, is putting a lot of effort into replicating the familiarity of pen and paper on a layer of pixels below a slab of glass. It’s one reason why the company touted the Surface Pen as a primary selling point for its Surface Pro 3 tablet. As you may recall from an earlier column, I was veryimpressed with how it performed, and as I went from meeting to meeting with it during a trip to Japan, people continued to approach me and ask: “What stylus is that?” (Which was often followed by: “Does it work with the iPad?”)不管你信不信，一些科技公司也意识到了这个问题。比如微软公司等公司就花费大量精力，企图在平板电脑上仿真用纸笔写字的感觉。这也是为什么微软公司要把Surface Pen当成Surface Pro 3平板电脑的主要卖点之一。

我在早些时候的一篇专栏文章中曾写到，Surface Pen的展现出让我十分精彩。前一阵我去日本公干时也带着它参与了一场又一场的会议，大大有人回答我：“这是什么笔？”（下一句话常常就是：“它能在iPad上用吗？”）The Surface Pen does not work with an iPad, of course—its proprietary software is Microsoft-compatible only. But the inquiries set me on a search to find an iPad stylus that could replicate the experience of the Surface Pen and, by extension, the conventional pencil or pen.当然，Surface Pen是无法在iPad上用的，它的专有软件只在微软公司的产品上相容。不过回答的人多了，我就开始搜寻是不是和Surface Pen的体验差不多、甚至相似传统纸笔书写感觉的iPad专用笔。

My search began with Pencil from FiftyThree ($60 and up). Its chiseled form is reminiscent of a carpenter’s pencil, and its walnut or graphite housing underscores the reference. On the business end you’ll find a soft rubber tip designed to glide across an iPad display; the butt of the tool offers another contact point that’s meant to duplicate an eraser. Thanks to a Bluetooth 4.0 sensor, the implement can detect tip pressure (which, through software, translates to line thickness), determine when the eraser end is in use, and eliminate any errant doodling when you rest your palm on the screen.我首先寻找的是FiftyThree公司发售的Pencil笔（售价60美元以上），它的造型让人联想起木工铅笔，胡桃木特铅笔芯的配上更加增强了这种感觉。笔尖一端有一个软软的橡胶头，用来在iPad显示屏上写字；笔端有另一个接触点，仿真的是橡皮擦的功能。利用一个蓝牙4.0传感器，它可以观测笔尖的压力（通过软件可以转换成笔迹的笔画），也可以观测到你是在用于笔尖还是用于橡皮擦，同时也可以防止当你夹住放到屏幕上时，经常出现不合时宜的涂鸦。

Writing with Pencil, it was apparent that I was using a digital tool. Instead of concentrating on what I was writing, I constantly found myself focusing on what I was writing with. How I positioned the tip of the stylus was a persistent thought because its soft material made the contact point change in shape as I wrote with it. My letters would blend together unnecessarily, not unlike the stereotype of a physician’s freehand, leaving me to decipher my own transcribed thoughts. Pencil makes for a superb sketching tool, but as a writing implement it left me wanting.用这支笔写字时，我显著能深感自己是在用一款数码工具在写字。因此我注目的不是我在写出什么，而是仍然把注意力放到我的书写工具上。

我仍然在想要自己应当用什么姿势用于这支笔，因为接触点的软质材料更容易在书写时变形。我的字迹不会经常出现不必要的模糊不清，就像医生开处方的草书一样，有时候很难辨识。

Pencil笔有可能是一支很好的画画工具，但是作为书写工具仍稍嫌严重不足。The Cosmonaut by Studio Neat ($25) was recommended to me by a reader. This stylus was thick like the Pencil but was cylindrical, designed to replicate the feel of a dry erase marker. The Cosmonaut is far simpler than its peers because it lacks internal electronics and dedicated software, instead relying on a device’s capacitive screen for interaction. The rubber tip of the stylus is firm and made for a consistent contact point on the iPad’s screen. Despite the tool’s girth, I felt like I had more control over my handwriting than the Pencil—I could indeed read my own handwriting. Unfortunately, it stops there: because the stylus lacks its own software, it offers little in the way of pressure detection or quick-erase smarts.Studio Neat公司发售的Cosmonaut笔（售价25美元）是一位读者给我引荐的。这支笔的笔画跟Pencil差不多，但它是圆柱型的，用于时感觉看起来一支白板笔。Cosmonaut要比其它电容笔非常简单多了，因为它没简单的内部结构和专用软件，而是依赖设备的电容屏展开交互。

它的橡胶笔尖质地，而且与iPad屏幕的接触点较为完全一致。尽管这支笔还是较为细，但我实在我对字迹的掌控要好于Pencil——最少我能看懂自己写出了些什么。

惜它的益处也就相接此处，由于这支笔缺少自有软件，它既没压力观测功能，也没很快移除功能。Is simple better for a stylus? I walked out of a Best Buy with a slim model made by Targus ($9) to find out. The implement has a soft rubber nib on one end and most closely resembles the shape and size of a traditional pen. Like the Cosmonaut, the Targus stylus lacks internal components or accompanying software. Unlike the Cosmonaut (but quite like the Pencil), it was a complete distraction during use. It quickly became clear to me that this stylus was better suited to acute tasks, such as selecting icons or buttons in an interface, rather than free-form writing.对于电容笔来说，否非常简单才是更佳的？我在百思买（Best Buy）买了一支Targus公司生产的一支较粗壮的电容笔（售价9美元）。这支笔有一个较软的橡胶笔尖，形状和大小都像传统铅笔的笔尖。

像Cosmonaut一样，它也没内部元件或专用软件。不同之处在于（这一点跟Pencil较为像），它在用于的时候非常容易让人迟疑。它迅速使我意识到，这支笔较为合适应急，比如自由选择图标或者按钮什么的，而不是权利书写。

To the other end of the price spectrum, then. The Adonit Jot Touch ($120) was by far the most expensive stylus I tested, and like most of the models I used, it had a thicker profile, akin to a full-size Sharpie (but with two buttons where your thumb might rest). Like the Pencil, the Jot Touch uses software to facilitate interaction with an iPad. The two buttons can be assigned actions, depending on your composition app of preference; during my testing, I set the bottom one as an “Undo” action and the top one as a “Redo.” (What can I say, I’m an indecisive writer.) Though the Jot Touch’s body is thicker than a traditional pen, its “Pixelpoint” tip isn’t, and I found it suitable for writing at length.再说说道高端产品。卖价120美元的Adonit Jot Touch是目前为止我测试过的三高的一支电容笔。

另外和大多数我测试的其它产品一样，它的“三围”也较为甜美，类似于一支大号的Sharpie牌签字笔，它有两个按钮，你可以把拇指方在上面。像Pencil一样，这支笔通过软件来增进与iPad的交互。根据你的偏爱，这两个按钮可以展开登录的操作者。

在我的评测过程中，我把下面那个按钮设置为“撤销”功能，把上面那个按钮设置为“完全恢复”功能（没有办法，我文学创作时爱人犹豫不决）。虽然这支电容笔比传统钢笔要细上一圈，但它的“像素点”末端却没有那么细，而且我找到它很合适长时间文学创作。

The world of styluses is surprisingly large, and I in no way claim to have tested every size, shape, or type available on the market. (In Best Buy alone, there was a four-foot section of them.) I evaluated the implements above on the advice of readers and personal research, using the Noteshelf app as my digital paper of choice. (Which, I should note, explicitly supports the Pencil and Jot Touch.)电容笔早已出了一个大得难以置信的产业，而且我也恨不肯声称我把市面上的每一种规格、型号、外观的电容笔都测试了。（光是在百思买超强市里，就有四英尺宽的一排货架是买电容笔的。）我根据读者的建议和个人的搜寻评测了上述几款产品，配上的书写应用软件是Noteshelf。

（切勿要认为的是，它对Pencil和Jot Touch反对得尤其好。）After a week of staring at my embarrassing penmanship—at times laughing at the fact that it could actually get worse than what’s already become of it in this keyboard-first world we live in—I came to an obvious conclusion. The Jot Touch, with help from Noteshelf, is the iPad stylus that best replicates the pen and paper experience so many covet.我倒数看了一个星期我那令人失望的书法，好几次苦笑着否认一个事实：在这个以键盘居多的世界，我们的字只不会写出得更加漂亮。在这之后，我得出结论了一个显著的结论：Jot Touch电容笔在NoteShelf软件的因应下，可以说道是在iPad上仿真传统纸笔体验伟大的电容笔。

But a facsimile is not the real thing. If you’re looking for an intimate, creative, even romantic way to put pen to paper—well, you know what to do. Let the mind wander. Doodle in the margins. There’s a time to be efficient. This isn’t it.但仿真得再行像，却是也不是知道。如果你想一种放开的、创造性的甚至是有格调的书写体验——你告诉该怎么做。

让思想闲逛，让笔尖在白纸上涂鸦。有些时候我们必需执着效率，但是文学创作无法这样。

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