on 11/15/00 3:41 PM, Kris Feldmann at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> On Mon, 13 Nov 2000, Eric L. Strobel wrote:
>
>> You'll learn that different folks learn & think in vastly different
>> ways. For example, I'm not a kinesthetic learner, so I don't have this
>> "muscle memory" thing that user interface people talk about. I
>> personally find it impossible to understand anyone who would use the
>> keyboard for something they could use the mouse for. For me it is
>> just FAR quicker to use the mouse for almost anything. After all, you
>> have to take your hands from their typing positions to do a command
>> key combo anyway, especially on a Duo (... at the mention of which, I
>> manage to keep this discussion 'on topic', barely...), so why not just
>> move your hand a slight bit more and use the mouse.
>
> Oh, my gosh! You and I think and learn _very_ differently (not that that
> is bad). I use keyboard shortcuts for _everything_, and it takes me _much_
> longer to use the mouse than to use a keyboard shortcut. I can type and
> use shortcuts at the same time without any trouble. I don't even look at
> the keyboard. It boggles my mind that some people find a mouse to be
> _preferable_ for anything. The keyboard is by far the best solution for
> interface issues, and a drawing tablet is the only choice for painting and
> drawing. A mouse is nothing but carpel-tunnel (sp?) waiting to happen.
> Incidentally I find the trackball on the Duo 2xx to be more convienient
> and comfortable than a normal mouse.
>
Interesting. Now, mind you, I don't look at the keyboard either when I type.
But I find that the placement of the command, option and control keys make
it extremely difficult to hit them without physically picking up your hand
and moving it down off the keyboard -- particularly the command key, which
is directly under your palm if you're keeping your hands in the proper
position. (That's in addition to simply being unable to remember all that
mental clutter of command-this and command-that.) As for the mouse, keeping
your hand in the proper position is the key. Actually, using a mouse
extensively should be LESS opportunity for carpal tunnel syndrome as you can
keep your wrist perfectly straight. Unless you're using one of those
batwing keyboards, you have to keep your hands curved to type, which invites
carpal tunnel syndrome.
So, for me, the keyboard only exists for those instances where I absolutely
have to type text. This is probably one reason why I find Windows totally
unusable -- their conventions (if any exist) for how to operate the mouse
are horribly inconsistent. It's almost as if they expect people are using
the keyboard all the time and only using the mouse occasionally.
As for the Duo's trackball... It's OK, but the buttons are ill-placed,
requiring one to curl the thumb under the hand awkwardly to, for example, do
a click&hold to drag an icon. I take a microdock and an Alps Glidepoint
track pad everywhere with my Duo.
Thank goodness, though, that we're using the only operating system available
that lets people at BOTH extremes use their machines effectively.
Cheers.
- Eric.
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