[OT] Pigs Fly

[Judy Perry]

I knowe you and others doubtless believe this.  So, a uni-button mouse
scores higher on 2 out of 3.  Not bad.  As for 3, productivity, that's
something that comes later, as an advanced skill, much as does a 3 button
mouse or an 8-chord transcription device.

As I'm guessing that the purpose of the right-click is to offer a
short-hand access to a software's commands, it could be argued that
keystroke-accelerator-comands are about as fast (slower, to be certain,
unless you can tab to select items).

Every day there are people who are new to computers who are learning to
use them.  I once had a retired cardiac surgeon take the 'how to turn it
on' class.  It happened to be on the PC platform.  He got so confused over
the two buttons that he ended up dropping the class.

Clearly, he was not a stupid man.  And then there's children still
learning their left from their right.  And then there's the elderly, with
perhaps diminishing fine motor control (this was one of several issues at
play with respect to the surgeon).

I suppose a 2 (or 3, or ...) button mouse scores higher on productivity
similar to how some people absolutely swear by an automatic transmission
(predictably, I'm swearing _at_ it).

Another issue I have with the right-clicking is that it sometimes
seriously violates Schneiderman's articulation of the direct manipulation
paradigm in that the user can sometimes right-click on nothing in the
middle of nowhere.

So, I'm happy to hear of another uni-button Apple mouse.  People
preferring a 2 (or 3 or...) button mouse can already buy them.
(Kensington's trackball has up to 4 programmable buttons as you doubtless
are aware). I wonder how well they sell?  Doubtless, Kensington's not
losing money, but still I wonder.

And, for what it's worth, whenever we discuss this issue in class, only
the unix geeks are (consistently) comfortable with a 3 button mouse.

Judy


 On Tue, 2
Aug 2005, Richard Gaskin wrote:

> Three factors come into play, with error-reduction being one of them.
> The other is productivity, and a third being learnability.