Ryan Hoover
@rrhoover · Founder, Product Hunt
@wmorein what's your take Apple's announcement yesterday, specifically the Pencil? Will you continue investing in the FiftyThree Pencil (yes, same name) you launched months ago?
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Bill Morein
@wmorein · Head of Product, FiftyThree
@rrhoover We are really strong believer of the value of pen and touch in the scenarios we care about, and we do believe that the existence of Apple’s Pencil will bring this to prominence for even more people. If you check out their promo page (http://www.apple.com/apple-pencil/) you can see we are featured there. We're excited to see what happens.
Having said that, there are an absolutely huge number people with iPads and iPhones that won’t support it, and we want to let them experience the power of pen and touch. So, we’ll keep investing in and selling Pencil to that audience.
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Greg Barbosa
@gregbarbosa · Founder, Prayer Hands Apparel
@rrhoover This is a great point that I brought up with a few friends yesterday. The Apple Pencil is specifically for the iPad Pro, and not something that the other current iPads seem to support on day one (if ever).
It's arguable that FiftyThree now has an even greater market advantage. There is going to be an entire group of people that are even more interested in styli, but will be disappointed to learn that the Apple Pencil won't work on there current devices. FiftyThree's Pencil can fill that void while also increasing their market share while also promoting their great devices and software.
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Cat Noone
@imcatnoone · Founder & CEO, Iris
@wmorein @rrhoover One thing that can't be argued and that I continually boast about when speaking of FiftyThree and the Pencil is how warm it is. I have the walnut and it feels like a pencil should. The somewhat larger width of the pencil (as opposed to our No.2's from middle school) remind me of much earlier days with big crayons and markers, while still remaining warm to the touch—despite it being a piece of hardware. It's aesthetically pleasing to say the least. And while the Apple Pencil is also beautiful (in its own way), it certainly doesn't have that warmth.
Will I buy the iPad Pro? Absolutely. Will I chuck my FiftyThree Pencil? No. I love it and I'm sure, as with all of your products, you'll continue to iterate on the technology of both the pencil and the app itself. FiftyThree has a lot in common with Apple, in that it's built up such a strong brand with its users, that they stick around even when things aren't at 100%. But it'd be wrong to say that just because Apple launched this, that 53 isn't operating at 100%.
Keep doing what you're doing. Because in the end, it's fun having a competitor and honestly, it's pretty warming knowing your competitor is (one of) the best and most loved on earth. Says something about FiftyThree.
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Amrita Chandra
@amritachandra · Startup Marketer
@wmorein I just bought my first FiftyThree Pencil today - think your theory is spot on :)
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