Re: Mice Buttons [Re: Apple ]['s on the big screen]

[nathan@visi.com (Nathan Mates)]

In article <339E0ABE.3B13@swbell.net>, Rubywand  <rubywand@swbell.net> wrote:
>Nathan Mates writes ...
>>    Pfft. If mice were supposed to be x-y pointing devices with one
>> button, they'd have been designed for the elbow. 

>     In general, however, Apple is right about the single-button mouse. 
>More than one button is, very seldom, required and software designed 
>around the one-button mouse is much easier to learn to use. Also, a 
>single-button mouse does not penalize left-handed users.

   On my PC at work, I have a perfectly L/R symmetrical 3-button mouse
("White Mouse" I think), and Windoze 95 lets you swap the 'handedness'
of the mouse to fit whatever taste you have in primary/secondary
buttons. Thus, there's no problem adapting to lefties, even though I'm
righthanded.

   And if you're laboring under the impression that >1 button software
is rare and hard to use, you've never used such stuff. Instead of a
single button big enough to hold a large postit note dispensor, the
button you designate is the primary button. I always used my index
finger on the GS's mouse, and that same finger still hits the primary
buttons. From Photoshop to X-Windows under Unix, extra mouse buttons
have and can be used to great effect, but if your idea of a computer
is like an expensive household appliance like microwave, you're not
going to be running any quality software that uses mouse buttons or
your mind. 

   If you're spastic enough to mash all the buttons anytime you try
and do something, or can't remember what things do, stick with an
etch-a-sketch.

>     The best PC mouse is Microsoft's Ergo Mouse. 

   Blech. Designed to fit someone else's hand and not mine. Annoying,
breakable, and looks like an overgrown comma. Logitechs fit much
better.

>     Possibly, the best solution is to have a one-button mouse for 
>most applications and a fancy mega-button mouse for special applications.

   Once again, if you're having problems not hitting the extra buttons
inadvertantly, take off the mittens or learn some fine motor
control. Anyone who can type, where there is a strictly defined area
to hit for each specific key should be able to take a multibutton
mouse and only use one button.

Nathan Mates
--
<*> Nathan Mates http://www.visi.com/~nathan/      <*>
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