turners,
a capacitance tip is key which is a special rubber made just for interacting with touch screen glass panels...touch phones, ipod touch, ipad etc
the pen doesnt have to conduct electricity but the rubber needs to simulate the touch of a finger tip which is critical which is why plastic palm pilot type styluses dont work.
i have seen some hacks on the internet using the foam they wrap electronics with wired to a pen tube etc....scary to think somebody has a $600 ipad and they are dragging a home made $2 pen across the screen? just does not make sense.
the best capacitance ipad styluses on the market all cost $15 to $20 a piece because of that special little rubber tip.
i have made a hand full of prototypes over the past year in (wood and resin) using the rubber tips from an expensive $20 stylus. my son has sold all of them to his friends
which are the rave of the school in particular the crazy looking resin casts. they work excellent because i used the $20 stylus's tip but its hard to pitch a $30 ipad stylus to a jr. high school kid.
in regards to that ebay stylus i have tried it and it does work but not very well with scrolling which requires the tip to be dragged across the screen and also it does not work well with drawing or signatures. for an ipod toch it would be ok but on an ipad you are left short. yes the clip does pop off and it fits in a 3/8" dia hole and the kids do not like the clip on it
go figure.
the challenge i have faced is getting the parts at a price point which i can sell a kit or make a bunch of them at a low cost to sell them at a high price point. again this saga has been going on for over a year.
i have had an order in to hong kong for over a month....waiting again for the 'one'...this one does sound promising though but it was suppose to have had arrived last week. if this sample works out i plan on offering a kit
we shall see....so stay tuned.
blessings!
craig