swilson%thetone@Sun.COM (Scott Wilson) (09/25/88)
In article <28502@think.UUCP> barmar@kulla.think.com.UUCP (Barry Margolin) writes: >In article <870239@hpcilzb.HP.COM> tedj@hpcilzb.HP.COM (Ted Johnson) writes: >>I agree. Most (non-secretarial) people who don't deal with computers >>regularly aren't touch typists. So if they have to type a lot (like >>on an IBM PC) vs. using a mouse, they will probably not be very pleased. > >I always find statements like this surprising. Didn't most people who >have to use computers on a regular basis go to high school, and >probably also college? Didn't they have to turn in term papers and >reports? Am I the only one whose high school teachers required the >papers to be typed? I would have been lost in high school with my >jr.high typing class. I had a typing class in jr. high, then went to high school, then college, and then two years as a software engineer and I still couldn't type! Only recently have I decided to learn touch typing. I found hunt-'n'-peck to be too slow and error prone, so now I know where all the keys are (even ^%$#&) and type faster (although still very error prone). Maybe I'm just slow, but I found it took several weeks of conscious effort to relearn typing. I think somewhere in between mouse/icon interfaces and command line interfaces there lies a very easy efficient input method. What I would really like to see is some way to move a mouse cursor without having to move your hands from the keyboard. I suppose a track ball requires moving your hands less distance from the keyboard than a mouse, but I think we can do better. Someday I'll design a keyboard arrangment with a track ball operated by the thumbs in such a way that your fingers don't have to leave the keys at all. -- Scott Wilson arpa: swilson@sun.com Sun Microsystems uucp: ...!sun!swilson Mt. View, CA
tedj@hpcilzb.HP.COM (Ted Johnson) (09/26/88)
>What I >would really like to see is some way to move a mouse cursor without >having to move your hands from the keyboard. I suppose a track ball >requires moving your hands less distance from the keyboard than a >mouse, but I think we can do better. Someday I'll design a keyboard >arrangment with a track ball operated by the thumbs in such a way In the San Jose Mercury (about 2 months ago) there was a story about a local inventor who did just this. He added a thin rod below the space bar. Supposedly you use it with your thumbs, and can use it to move a cursor around, just like a mouse. -Ted
jmpiazza@sunybcs.uucp (Joseph M. Piazza) (10/01/88)
In article <28502@think.UUCP> barmar@kulla.think.com.UUCP (Barry Margolin) writes: >In article <870239@hpcilzb.HP.COM> tedj@hpcilzb.HP.COM (Ted Johnson) writes: >>I agree. Most (non-secretarial) people who don't deal with computers >>regularly aren't touch typists. So if they have to type a lot (like >>on an IBM PC) vs. using a mouse, they will probably not be very pleased. > >I always find statements like this surprising. Didn't most people who >have to use computers on a regular basis go to high school, and >probably also college? Didn't they have to turn in term papers and >reports? Am I the only one whose high school teachers required the >papers to be typed? I would have been lost in high school with my >jr.high typing class. I'm no speed demon (althought I've gotten much >faster since I started using computer text editors, since I don't >worry so much about accuracy), ... >... I think keyboard interfaces are more >efficient for anyone with at least minimal typing ability. I can type >"rm foobar" much faster than I can reach for the mouse, find the icon, >drag it to the trash, and then get my hand back to home row. Yes, but how long does it take you you to make a directory listing and find the name of the proper file? And then realize you blew away the wrong file because your "accuracy" was lacking? The problem is not simply "Which is faster? Typing a command line or dragging an icon?" We need to compare the method used to perform the entire task. It is much easier for me to seek and "grab" with a mouse then to lookup and a c c u r a t e l y reproduce the file name; not to mention generating the directory listing in the first place. It is not always easy, if not downright impossible, to get the directory list from inside some program in a text only system. >Both have their place, and one of the things I like about the Symbolics >system I use at work is that it provides both styles simultaneously. Exaclty. The Amiga also uses a dual approach. WordPerfect on the Amiga lets you make menu selections using the mouse or the keyboard (the menu items are indexed [a, b, c, ...]) Interestingly, the solution resides in the software -- not the hardware. I believe it i s possible to generate a pseudo-graphic interface in a text only system. Much like how full screen editors replaced line editors. Flip side, joe piazza --- In capitalism, man exploits man. In communism, it's the other way around. CS Dept. SUNY at Buffalo 14260 UUCP: ..!{ames,boulder,decvax,rutgers}!sunybcs!jmpiazza GEnie:jmpiazza BITNET: jmpiazza@sunybcs.BITNET Internet: jmpiazza@cs.Buffalo.edu >Barry Margolin >barmar@think.com >{uunet,harvard}!think!barmar