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

[Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>]

Nathan Mates writes ...
> 
> .... 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.
>

     We reviewed one or two 3-button PC mice at Computist. From then on, 
companies were requested to send their 2-button models. The problem is that, 
unless the user has an oddly shaped hand, a 3-button mouse is just a 
so-so compromise. Too often, the mouse finger ends up hitting the crease 
between a side and middle button.
  

 
>    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. ....
>

     Modern PC wares often assign some function-- e.g. showing a mini-menu-- 
to the second button. Practically always, the function could, just as well, 
have been implemented by changing on-screen options.


> 
> >     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.
>

     Our Microsoft Ergo Mouse has given years of smooth, high-comfort, 
trouble-free performance. Naturally, we try not to bounce it off the floor 
very often. Still, children and other users with small hands and stubby 
fingers might well have difficulty with Ergo Mouse. It is okay to prefer a 
different mouse and Logitech is a good brand. 

 
> >     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.
>

     One can envision any number of mega-button designs, including a few 
which make perfectly good sense for specific applications. And, if one 
enjoys a mouse which presents a challenge, fine. (The software, perhaps a 
telecom utility, could award points for the number of correct clicks!)  As 
an earlier post observes, such needs as well as handedness could easily be 
addressed by facilitating no-hassle mouse-swapping.

     Regarding a general-purpose mouse, the idea, as Apple does its best to 
explain to reading-age users, is to have a natural-feeling, nearly 
transparent selection interface.


Rubywand