"So let's not use a stylus. We're going to use the best pointing device in the world. We're going to use a pointing device that we're all born with - born with ten of them. We're going to use our fingers. We're going to touch this with our fingers. And we have invented a new technology called multi-touch, which is phenomenal. It works like magic"
About this Quote
The rhetoric is classic Jobs: simple nouns (“stylus,” “fingers”), childlike counting (“ten of them”), and a deliberate slide from the ordinary to the miraculous. “Born with ten of them” turns a design feature into destiny. It’s a sly move: if the input method is “natural,” then the product feels less like a gadget and more like an extension of the body. That’s how you get people to stop evaluating specs and start imagining identity.
Then comes the bait-and-switch that made Apple’s keynotes so potent: “We’re going to use our fingers” sounds anti-tech, almost homespun. But it tees up “multi-touch,” a highly engineered stack of sensors, software, and gesture language. Jobs calls it “magic” not because he thinks it’s supernatural, but because he understands the market value of invisibility. The best tech, in this worldview, disappears into instinct.
Context matters: this is iPhone-era Apple drawing a line against competitors and skeptics. The subtext is a dare to the industry: if you’re still shipping styluses, you’re designing for machines. Apple is designing for humans.
Quote Details
| Topic | Technology |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Jobs, Steve. (2026, January 18). So let's not use a stylus. We're going to use the best pointing device in the world. We're going to use a pointing device that we're all born with - born with ten of them. We're going to use our fingers. We're going to touch this with our fingers. And we have invented a new technology called multi-touch, which is phenomenal. It works like magic. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/so-lets-not-use-a-stylus-were-going-to-use-the-17688/
Chicago Style
Jobs, Steve. "So let's not use a stylus. We're going to use the best pointing device in the world. We're going to use a pointing device that we're all born with - born with ten of them. We're going to use our fingers. We're going to touch this with our fingers. And we have invented a new technology called multi-touch, which is phenomenal. It works like magic." FixQuotes. January 18, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/so-lets-not-use-a-stylus-were-going-to-use-the-17688/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"So let's not use a stylus. We're going to use the best pointing device in the world. We're going to use a pointing device that we're all born with - born with ten of them. We're going to use our fingers. We're going to touch this with our fingers. And we have invented a new technology called multi-touch, which is phenomenal. It works like magic." FixQuotes, 18 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/so-lets-not-use-a-stylus-were-going-to-use-the-17688/. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.
