Re: [OT] Mouse buttons (was Re: troubling article)
Re: [OT] Mouse buttons (was Re: troubling article)
- Subject: Re: [OT] Mouse buttons (was Re: troubling article)
- From: Michael George <email@hidden>
- Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2003 07:35:01 -0400
On Thursday, June 12, 2003, at 03:51 AM, Jeff Harrell wrote:
On Thursday, June 12, 2003, at 02:14 AM, Dix Lorenz wrote:
Oh great. Using a 23" touch screen all day long and every time I want
to move the cursor from one end to the other I need to move my whole
arm instead of just a flick with the wrist. Thanks, but no thanks...
You're missing the bigger picture here: no more cursor. I'll say it
again. No. More. Cursor.
You want to select a file on your desktop? Touch it. Tap it to open
it. Drag it around to... well, drag it around. You want to place the
cursor for editing? Touch. You want to select some text? Drag with
your finger, or possibly a stylus depending on how you prefer to work.
Want to select a different tool from a palette? Touch it. Want to
activate a hyperlink? Touch it. Pull down a menu? Touch it.
Cursor, or not, I don't want to have to lift my whole arm and touch the
screen. Esp, when I keep my monitor an arm's length away.
There is a company that makes a device that you wear like glasses that
will position the cursor simply by "looking" at it (essentially, moving
your heat to point at where you want the cursor).
Reaching for something is the first skill we learn. (The old saying
goes that there are only three instincts in the human brain: the
ability to grasp with the hand, the ability to suckle, and the ability
to criticize human user interface design.) Translating that most basic
of all skills into human-computer interaction is a no-brainer. The
"how" is challenging, of course, but the "why" is blindingly obvious.
But when your whole work-life is to reach for and touch such things,
then you want to minimize your movements to work faster and with less
fatigue. My keyboard and trackball (4btn, btw) does that well. If you
are a (very) casual user, maybe a touch screen is nice, but I wouldn't
put too much money on it...
Touch screens have been out a while, and mice are still the most
popular pointing device. Trackballs seem to be getting more popular,
but I'm sure someone has investigated a touchscreen as standard on a
home computer and ruled it out.
The PBJ factor alone would be a concern! (P'nut Butter and Jelly on
those little pointing fingers :) And it drives me up the wall when
someone touches my screen and puts a smudge on it! Just think if my
whole day were to smudge my screen and clean it at the end... :-)
-Michael
_______________________________________________
cocoa-dev mailing list | email@hidden
Help/Unsubscribe/Archives:
http://www.lists.apple.com/mailman/listinfo/cocoa-dev
Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored.