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Stylus
A stylus (plural: styli)
is a writing
instrument. It ususally refers to a narrow, elongated staff,
similar to a modern ball-point pen. Many styli are slightly
curved to be held more easily.
Etymology
The
word was borrowed from Latin stilus, that was taken
from an Etruscan
word that has its origin in Greek
stulos (pillar).
Function
Styli are used either for ink
work, or used to engrave into metal
or clay.
In the times of the Romans, stili were often used to engrave wax
plates.
"Stylus" is also the term usually used by those in the
sound
recording industry for what is more commonly called a phonograph
or gramophone "needle", used to play back sound on
analogue
disc records, as well as to record the sound indentations on
the master record.
Today, the term "stylus" often refers to an input
method usually used in PDAs
and Digitizing
Tablets. In this method, a stylus that secretes no ink
touches a touch
screen instead of a finger to avoid getting the natural oil
from one's hands on the screen, or produces brushstrokes in a
computer screen, respectively.
See also digital
ink.
This
content from Wikipedia
is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License.
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