Web Designers – Tablets Are Underrated
We cheer when we see posts championing underdog technology, like this one on Why Designers Should Ditch The Mouse And Use A Tablet. Now, true, tablets aren’t exactly “underdog,” but they could stand to gain more mind share than they have, particularly with designers who started out in the ’90s.
The difference with a tablet has to be experienced; you can’t describe it. With a tablet, you’ve forgotten about the interface in minutes, and then you’re drawing naturally just like you would with a pen.
A good one to recommend is the Wacom Bamboo. It retails for around $40 USD – fancier tablets really aren’t that much of an improvement, and in fact your hand will be more comfortable on a small surface. These can be programmed so that different functions will happen depending on which end of the pen you’re using – so you can draw with one end and smudge, erase, or whatever you want with the other. Added buttons and dials on the board itself make it a very customizable interface.