The Mouse Trap How to Use Your Computer More Efficiently: Stay on the Keyboard
By Jeremy Wagstaff Wall Street Journal July 21, 2006 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115341179629512505.html?mod=technology_featured_stories_hs A couple of years ago, I interviewed Jef Raskin, co-father of the interface most of our computers now use, as well as of the Apple Mac and all the clicking and dragging that we do with a mouse. Sadly, Mr. Raskin died in 2005. In his last years, he was somewhat disillusioned with the way we interact with our computers: The mouse, he felt, was overused, while the alternative -- using a keyboard -- was worse: "Using the rather arbitrary keystroke combinations now available is a finger-twisting exercise that is frustrated by the inconsistent way they are used in different applications," he wrote in an email. "Often there are no keyboard methods for some tasks. The present ad hoc keystroke combinations are pathetic." His conclusion: "Users should demand better software; there is no way to use the present interfaces well." Not a lot has changed. I've written about a few efforts to create new interfaces, most of which are based loosely around the ideas of maps, in either two or three dimensions. But how about if we just want to use the interface we've got now -- but use it better? Here's what I've learned from nearly 20 years of sitting at a computer: Don't get off the keyboard unless you really, really have to. Any move away from the keyboard for your fingers interrupts the flow of your concentration, whether you're writing the sequel to "War and Peace" or a groveling email to your boss. After all, for most of us the computer is a glorified typewriter, and we touch-typists were taught to hover our fingers over the keys even when we weren't typing anything. And the fact is that most things you do with a mouse, whether it's to select text or access a function in a menu, can be done via your keyboard, which means you don't have to move your hands. These are done by keystrokes -- combinations of keys, such as Control and Z, for example, to undo the last thing you did. Mr. Raskin was right, however: Keystrokes are confusing and aren't standard, so Control and Z will undo something in one program, but either won't do anything in another program, or will do something scary like turn off all the lights. The obvious answer here is to learn all the keystrokes that matter, and, in the old days of DOS software such as WordStar, an early word-processing program, that was what we did. (If you are now a Microsoft Word user and remember all those WordStar keystroke combinations, you can download a plug-in from Microsoft's Web site that makes all of them work in Word. Converting a $200 state-of-the-art program into a 20-year throwback is what passes for progress.) Remembering 100 or so keystroke combinations may not be the solution. But some obvious keystrokes that work in all Windows programs are worth mastering, if you haven't done so already. (Macs are a bit different, though replacing the Control key with the Mac's Command key in the examples below will sometimes work.) Control and Shift, for example, works with the arrow keys to select text by word (if you're going sideways) or line (if you're going up or down). Some keys are intuitive and standard: With Control, B emboldens text, I italicizes it, U underlines it, S saves, O opens a file, A selects all of it, C copies text and F finds it in a document; less intuitively, Z, as noted, undoes what you just did, Y sometimes redoes it (great for repeating a command), X cuts text and V pastes it. I have no idea why V, X, Y and Z are assigned to those functions, except that the more obvious U, R, C and P were already taken. Still, memorizing those keystrokes will save you a lot of bother. Some combinations of keys, known as global shortcuts or keystrokes, take this universality of function a step further. Rather than just always doing the same thing within the program you're currently using, they can operate or activate other programs that are either not in focus (behind your main program, or minimized) or not even running. So, for example, if you have the Google Deskbar installed on your computer (desktop.google.com), just hit Control, Alt and G and the cursor will move to the Google search box, whatever program you're in. That's not all. In the days before the mouse, computer users would have to do everything with the keyboard and, as Mr. Raskin pointed out, a lot of what we do with the mouse is time wasting. The mouse is great if you're a graphic designer, or playing games, or doing anything visual, but why do we have to use it to open programs, move between windows, or look something up when we're typing? Programs such as ActiveWords ($50 from www.activewords.com; as with all programs mentioned here, a free trial version is available) have tackled this conundrum by allowing you to assign words to tasks. Say you're typing away in Microsoft Word and you want to launch a spreadsheet. Type "excel" in the document you're working on and hit the space bar twice; ActiveWords is alerted by the double space that the preceding word is a command, not just a word, and it launches Microsoft Excel. These commands can be tweaked and customized, so loading specific files, searching for words on Google, and more or less anything else you do on your computer can be automated via a brief command. Without reaching for the mouse. It's remarkable how doing this can save time and minimize disruption of the Muse. (It's also great on airplanes if you're physically constrained from using a mouse or the touchpad by the inevitable sumo wrestler parked next to you.) ActiveWords is the most versatile of this kind of tool out there, but 1st TurboRun ($20 from www.turborun.com) is also worth a look, as is PC-Com (free, or Pro version $10, from www.boletrice.com). All are unobtrusive, but will save you oodles of time hunting around for programs and files you use a lot. Lastly, don't be fooled by my advice. I use all of these tools, but I don't pretend to use them as efficiently or as often as I could. If you can, study yourself using your computer and see if there's a simpler, faster way of doing it. There usually is -- with all fingers still on the keyboard. ================================ George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 antunes at uh dot edu Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
