My first reaction to Apple’s WWDC announcement of iOS drag and drop was basically, “Lol welcome to three decades ago.” But after watching a more in-depth technical explanation of the technology at Apple’s follow-up Platforms State of the Union, I’m starting to wonder if Apple has a new “pinch to zoom” on its hands: a technology that doesn’t just allow for multitouch devices to compete with point-and-click desktop experiences, but in a way, it surpasses them.

iOS’s drag and drop from a user’s perspective is fairly simple. You press and hold on an object, and it’s pinned to your finger. Then you drag the item to wherever you want it to go, and release. On an iPhone, your drop destination is limited to elsewhere in the same app, but on the…

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