Ever since I first used an S60 3rd Edition device, I looked at it and wondered what that “pen” button was supposed to do. Day after day, I discovered a new use for it. I could select one item or better multiple items, I could copy text and paste it somewhere else, I could also select the writing language and toggle predictive text on and off. To me, the pen was a revelation in S60, because all those hard to reach options seemed to be just one click away.
Then came NStarter, followed by a couple of other quick-access applications. They all made use of a combination of the pen and another number button to launch a certain software. The pen was once again the star for me, it allowed me to reach my favorite applications in a second, no matter what I was doing on my device. In my opinion, if there is one button that shouldn’t be removed from any S60 handset, it’s the pen, because it is one concrete symbol of the great features and versatility the platform offers.
Apparently, the device designers in the Finnish company didn’t quite agree with me, and the pen was removed. The reason was that many users didn’t know about its functionality and it was one of the least used buttons on the devices. I quite agree with the fact that not many users knew what that pen really did, I also agree with the fact that improvements should be done in order to improve the use experience and easily show people what their device can do. But I never agreed with the way things were handled with the pen key. Nokia said they mapped the function to the # and * keys. Although this is true, here are the problems I see with this new layout and theory:
- I agree that the pen was the least used key by device owners, because most of them ignore its functionality, but take a look at those who know what it does and see how frequently they press that button
- The copy/paste functionality was mapped to the Options menu, and yes that made it more visible, but that also made it impossible to copy a text from the software in which Nokia didn’t integrate the Options>Copy and Options>Paste possibilities, and that includes native and 3rd party software. One example is renaming files, I usually rename some of my photos with batch names, like “Room 1″, “Room 2″, “Room x”. Instead of typing “Room” every time, I copy it, and paste it in each file name, then add the number next to it. Now I can’t do that, can I?
- The multiple selection option was mapped to the # key. Now that is one of the biggest mistakes I have ever seen being made. I had the N81 for a while, and I experienced first hand what problems that modification generated.
- First, 3rd party software still rely on the pen key for multiple selection and wouldn’t recognize the # (eg: X-Plore). I reckon that most of these will eventually change this, but for now it is still extremely awkward.
- Second, normally the # key switches between Shift/Capslock/Numlock modes, in a very recognizable pattern: I had the N81 for 2 weeks and I can assure you that I never figured out the new pattern used, I kept on pressing # until the option I wanted popped on the screen.
- Third, the language/predictive text options were switched to the * key. Not a very smart move because inserting a symbol needs now a lot more presses than it used to. But yes, putting the most used symbols on the top of the menu that pops when the * is pressed did make up for it.
- Forth and foremost, the main problem with the pen was that users didn’t know the functionality, do you think hiding a function on a button will make the user more aware of it? I mean come on! At least before, they had a pen button in front of them, and could have had the curiosity to see what it does. Now there’s nothing! Real life example: a friend of mine got a 6120 a while ago. A few days later, I asked her to send me a couple of pics over bluetooth. Sitting next to her, I watched her agonize while going through Options>Mark/Unmark>Mark. After 2 pictures, I couldn’t take it anymore, took the device out of her hands and showed her the multiple selections using the # key. Guess what she answered me “yes, I’ve seen you do it with that pen on your phone, I looked for the button on mine, didn’t find it”. True, very true.
So yes, I am still a firm believer that the pen key shouldn’t have gone anyway. They could have just added Options>Copy & Paste in order to make this more viewable and hence more usable, but they could have kept the pen and all of its functionality, especially if your the other changes they made aren’t real solutions to the original “the functionality isn’t visible to the average user” problem.
We have grown to use the pen and moving around things isn’t something we do like, nor does the average Joe. You smashed his # key by providing a different pattern than the one he got used to ever since your monochrome screen handsets. You smashed his * key by giving him more steps to do to go insert a symbol, a feature he also got used to ever since the monochrome era. You simply can’t change in one day the habits of 10 years of texting.
So, readers, what are your thoughts about this, especially those of you who now have an N81, N82 or 6120? Do you miss the pen button? Did you face any of the problems that I had with it being forgotten? If so, did you grow accustomed to the lack of the pen or do you still struggle each day to make it work without it?
