If you’ve ever been tempted to whip out your pen and just scribble all over your iPad, first of all, don’t do that, and second, you’ll be happy to know that Apple is developing a stylus for its tablet so you can draw, sketch and jot down notes to your heart’s desire.

Patently Apple says Apple filed a patent in 2008 for a pen that uses an accelerometer to detect movement. This kind of stylus would allow for subtle variations in shading, lines, brush sizes, erasers and other functions to make it more like an actual pencil or pen and paper.

Funny, because as the New York Times points out, Steve Jobs has said in the past that a stylus is a sign of failure in a tablet. He also said that Apple would never create an e-reader, phone or inexpensive computer, so, there’s that.

The NYT quotes a super secret employee of Apple who isn’t supposed to discuss such matters that the reason the stylus is being considered is to reach kids in school.

“It’s one of the barriers for school kids and college students to purchase an iPad where they want the ability to take notes by hand and draw in class,” the individual said.

Apple Takes Huge Steps towards a Graphics Pen for iPad [Patently Apple]

Apple Patents a Stylus to Reach Students [New York Times]

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