On Sun, Feb 12, 2012 at 06:26:34PM -0800, Michael Dexter wrote:
> Could anyone with a three mouse button laptop please comment on its
> comfort, for lack of a better term? The ThinkPad third button appears to
> be above, rather than below the trackpad, leading me to question its
> usefulness.
I disable the trackpad, and use the trackpoint ("eraser tip")
only. The upper three mouse buttons work with that.
The trackpoint is easier on my back. I don't need to turn my
upper body into a rigid platform to keep my hand still for a
trackpad or mouse. I usually leave my palms in one place on
the palm rest, moving the trackpoint with whatever index
finger is free, and mostly use thumbs on the mouse buttons
for point and click. For precise work (such as selecting
a row of text or drawing a box) I use the other index
finger on on the buttons - thumbs aren't as agile.
For the small subset of you getting older: my hands are still
quite steady, but I know folks in their late forties and early
fifties that are developing some tremor in their hands. That,
combined with back pain, makes a trackpad hard to use. And if
Don Knuth (xkcd/163) is sitting next to you at a conference, and
wants to borrow your laptop to check email, the trackpoint helps.
If you get a laptop with a trackpoint, use the "mushroom cap"
top, and have a spare around. They polish and lose friction
over a year or so. The bigger cap won't dimple your finger,
and because there is more surface the friction is better with
a lighter touch.
Trackpads, trackpoints, and mice are kludges. Someday,
somebody will invent a better way to manipulate the pointer.
Something that allows your back to roam. Perhaps a tongue
mouse. Then /nobody/ will ask to borrow your laptop. :-)
Keith
--
Keith Lofstrom [email protected] Voice (503)-520-1993
KLIC --- Keith Lofstrom Integrated Circuits --- "Your Ideas in Silicon"
Design Contracting in Bipolar and CMOS - Analog, Digital, and Scan ICs
_______________________________________________
PLUG mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
