Rhiannon Williams, interviewing Sir Jony Ive for The Telegraph:

“We hoped if you are used to spending a lot of time using paintbrushes, pencils and pens, this will feel like a more natural extension of that experience – that it will feel familiar,” he says, carefully. “To achieve that degree of very simple, natural behaviour, was a significant technological challenge.”

And:

Ive joined Apple full time in 1992, and despite being based in San Francisco ever since, retains his British accent. There he worked closely with late chief executive Steve Jobs to hone the pared-back, sleek aesthetic now synonymous with Apple products.

The Pencil is no exception – a delicate white plastic device with a removable rubber sensor-filled tip for detecting the amount of pressure you’re applying to the screen and varying the weight of the line it draws accordingly, including a bold, hard mark when pressing hard on the direct tip, and a faint, fanned effect when brushed on its side, just as a physical pencil would.

Ive hopes those using the Pencil for the first time are surprised by this, as “every other stylus you’ve used is a pretty poor representation of the analogue world”.

And:

“I always like when you start to use something with a little less reverence. You start to use it a little carelessly, and with a little less thought, because then, I think, you’re using it very naturally. What I’ve enjoyed is when I’m just thinking, holding the Pencil as I would my pen with a sketchpad and I just start drawing,” he enthuses.

“When you start to realise you’re doing that without great intent and you’re just using it for the tool that it is, you realise that you’ve crossed over from demoing it and you’re actually starting to use it. As you cross that line, that’s when it actually feels the most powerful.”

This makes me want one.