hen@bu-cs.UUCP (Bill Henneman) (10/28/85)
One of the great attractions of the ST environment for me is, that it possible to go beyond beginner mode into knowledgable user mode. This is in stark contrast to the Mac, where I am either forced to relentlessly click dialog box after dialog box to get at some effect I should have been able to express from the keyboard in a couple of strokes. In a lot of the ST application software, you don't have to click a quit item in a menu if you don't want to, Control C works too. Unless I've been royally ripped off, I'll only be a beginner on the machine for a little while: I'll be a wizard for years to come. Everyone I know who uses mouse-based computers or workstations, whether they be LISP machines, graphics work stations, or home computers, quickly home in on the "California" mode of use: left hand hovering over the keyboard, right hand on the mouse. Since I bought the Atari ST in July, people (programmers, really) have been trooping through my house playing with it, and I have been struck by the uniformity of response. Everyone who works with Xerox 1108s or Sun workstations think the keyboard is very well designed: everyone who works with vt220s or 3270s grump about the slanted PF keys. I think this is another instance in which Atari made the correct choice: the slanting is only annoying for a short break-in period, and a great convenience after that. Ergonomically yours, Bill Henneman