STEINER@RUTGERS.ARPA (01/07/85)
From: Wayne McGuire <MDC.WAYNE%MIT-OZ@MIT-MC.ARPA>
In Infoworld for November 19 appears an enthusiastic review of a
product called Speed Key, sold by Koala Technologies, which is a
combination mouse and keyboard macro program for the IBM
PC-compatible Koalapad. Speed Key sells for $99, and received an
"excellent" rating in the categories of performance, documentation,
ease of use, and error handling.
Does anyone know of any good reasons why Speed Key-style
interfaces won't replace mice as cursor-moving devices? Here's an
excerpt from the review:
"We couldn't pass up making a comparison between Speed Key and
roll-around mice. Novice and experienced subjects from age 4 to adult
participated in what, by nature, was a very subjective and informal
test. Most thought it more natural to move the cursor across the
screen using the pad rather than slide a mouse across a tabletop. The
touchpad, the size of a stenographer's notebook, requires about half
the desktop space of a typical mouse. You can also operate it on your
lap (or stacked on top of last week's peanut butter sandwich). Many
users preferred to prop the pad against the bottom of the display
like a detached touch screen.
"Compared to menu-generating programs provided with most mice,
Koala's Speed Key customizer won, paws down.
"The conclusion was that a combination of Speed Key and the
Koalapad is an excellent alternative to the mouse as a link between
the user and computer."
-- WayneSTEINER@RUTGERS.ARPA (01/07/85)
From: Damouth.Wbst@XEROX.ARPA I own and occasionally use a Koalapad (on an Apple II), but haven't used the Speed Key software. I've used a mouse daily for many years. The comparison depends on the nature of the task. Software design also has a strong influence on the perceived utility of either device. Some of the positive comments in the Infoworld review are really a comparison of the two software packages, and have nothing to do with the fundamental mouse/Koalapad hardware choice. For freehand artistic drawing, the Koalapad is significantly better than a mouse. The following comments assume that the task to be performed is some flavor of text manipulation, involving a mixture of pointing (to select a textual segment, icon, or menu item) and text entry. a. For touch typists, one hand must frequently move from keyboard to pointing device. It is far faster to drop the hand over a mouse than to pick up and position a stylus, even if the stylus hasn't hidden itself under papers or rolled off the table. Although one can, in principle, use a fingernail instead of a stylus on the Koalapad, it doesn't work very well. b. The comment that the Koalapad "requires about half the desktop space of a typical mouse" is puzzling. I don't know what system they used, but the Xerox mechanical and optical mice, used with a variety of Alto software, require roughly three inches of mouse motion to move the cursor full screen (a bit over 2:1 magnification from mouse motion to cursor motion). This is no bigger, and perhaps smaller, than the Koalapad. The Dandelion, 1108, Dorado, etc. are about the same. I haven't had a chance to check a Mac or Lisa. It's nice to have a larger pad, but not necessary. It is quite possible to teach yourself to work efficiently within a 3" x 3" pad, although your hand needs clearance of an inch or two beyond the pad on both sides. The bulk of the Koalapad makes it feel like it is taking up more space than the ordinary piece of paper on which I run my mouse (this same piece of paper serves for scribbling phone messages, etc.) Among people with crowded desks, it is not unusual to find a mouse living in a cage only a few inches on a side, hemmed in by books, papers and keyboard on three sides. c. Properly used, the several buttons on a mouse allow great efficiency in selecting objects (the one-button Apple mouse is a step backwards from the various multi-button versions, but is a lot better than no mouse). The Koalapad software can presumably emulate a one-button mouse by sensing that contact between stylus and pad has been made or broken, but this is at best a crude emulation. If you have to take your hand off the stylus and touch one of the buttons on the Koala case or perhaps use the other hand to touch special keys on the regular keyboard, you've lost some of the advantage. How does Speed-Key handle this??? d. Infoworld comments favorably on the possibility of using a Koalapad in one's lap. But this is a common mode for mouse users as well. It is, of course, only practical for tasks other than heavy text entry. Fast touch typing, like piano playing, is only possible with proper hand and arm position. It's not unusual to find mechanical mice running around on vinyl loose leaf notebook covers, either on top of a pile of junk or in a lap. The Xerox optical mouse forces slightly more discipline: I take the pad supplied by Xerox to the nearest office copier and make a bunch of ordinary paper copies of the dot pattern. One of these copies is taped to my desk as a combination note pad and mouse pad, and replaced when it gets cluttered or dog-eared. Another is taped to a notebook cover for use as a lap pad. /Dave
STEINER@RUTGERS.ARPA (01/07/85)
From: Christopher A Kent <cak@Purdue.ARPA> I don't know anything about the Speed Key, but I'd like to point out that "the size of a stenographer's pad" is not necessarily less than the area "used by the typical mouse". My desk is extremely cluttered; I've gotten into the habit of using my mouse in an area of about 4 by 5 inches, with lots of pickups. The Mac's mouse is comfortably enough to my hand size that this quickly became second nature. Other arguments -- you are constrained to have the full space required for the pad avaiable, at all times. This is not so for a mouse. Admittedly, having it in your lap might be conceived as nice, but how useful is this for real work? I want to have my hands as close to the keyboard as possible; certainly not in a different horizontal plane. Touchpads will probably command a certain segment of the novice user market, but the mouse will continue to be the choice for doing serious work. Cheers, chris
STEINER@RUTGERS.ARPA (01/07/85)
From: Nick <NNicoll.ES@XEROX.ARPA> As a confirmed mouse user I was intrigued by the "Turbo-Mouse" advertised in the latest MacWorld. For those of you who haven't seen it; it is a trackball mounted on the end, and looking like an extension, of the keyboard. This is the first reasonable alternative to the mouse I have seen and I wonder if anyone has used it and can report on how they perceived its utility. \\ Nick
STEINER@RUTGERS.ARPA (01/07/85)
From: Jerry E. Pournelle <POURNE@MIT-MC>
at the risk of annoying Mr. Coates and those who insist on perfect
typing at 300 baud:
I have seen a WICO keyboard for the PC and PCLONES which has
a builtin track ball and is programmable; it's really very nice.
Nothing for the Mac though. Incidentally at the latest space council
meeting we found that people who never used a computer begfore
drifted to teh macs and before long were using them to write
reports...