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I disagree a bit with this assessment of Apple's intentions. It wasn't that they didn't want a second mouse button because they didn't want to hide functionali

I disagree a bit with this assessment of Apple's intentions. It wasn't that they didn't want a second mouse button because they didn't want to hide functionality because you could always hold down the Control key and click to access those functions, even on a single button mouse. The issue (and where I think the design is really thoughtful) is that it's never required to use that second mouse button (or Control) but that it's there for people who are comfortable using it. Apple is and has always been about a tiered learning curve for their devices and I think your point about the mouse is a great example. If you put 2 buttons on a mouse, it complicates every interface element by two-fold. Every item that can be clicked can now also be clicked with a 2nd button. For a brand new user, keeping 1 button basically forces them to look at what's on the screen and assess what they're doing rather than needlessly right click everywhere searching for a context menu. People who tend to right click on things (when they understand what a right click does and intentionally perform the action know what they expect to be behind that right click. I feel like iOS is the same way, and intentionally so. A novice user can get by doing all of the basic commands with swipes, pinches, and taps. A more advanced user can do rotations, shakes, and multi-touch swipes. An expert user can access every feature of every application.

jasonlotito 11y ago
You forgot about the alt button. You have Left Click, Right/Ctrl Click, and Alt Click. Without Alt Click, you end up missing out on features you need.
Eric_WVGG 11y ago
> you could always hold down the Control key and click maybe this is showing my age, but that came relatively late in the history of Mac OS But I otherwise agree and do like the approach of basic/necessary UI as simple as possible, optional/advanced UI gracefully hidden
spronkey 11y ago
Problem is the novice-expert transition in Apple devices is nonexistant. To become an expert you basically have to read a manual, or do things that a) have no affordance, b) have no clear feedforward, c) have an unknown effect and may be destructive, with no clear undo. It's very poor design.
- spacehome 11y ago
  > read a manual Quelle horror!
  - spronkey 11y ago
    Heh, I should qualify that to become an expert some manual-reading is required. But the interface should at least help you with the transition.
- iSnow 11y ago
  >It's very poor design. No, it's Windows/Linux-bias on your part. In the old time, every (and I mean every) medium-level Mac user knew that you can unlock a lot of additional functionality with the option-key. People today just seem to assume the Mac UI is built on the absolute same principles as the Windows UI, which is not true.

jasonlotito 11y ago

You forgot about the alt button. You have Left Click, Right/Ctrl Click, and Alt Click. Without Alt Click, you end up missing out on features you need.

Eric_WVGG 11y ago

> you could always hold down the Control key and click maybe this is showing my age, but that came relatively late in the history of Mac OS But I otherwise agree and do like the approach of basic/necessary UI as simple as possible, optional/advanced UI gracefully hidden

spronkey 11y ago

Problem is the novice-expert transition in Apple devices is nonexistant. To become an expert you basically have to read a manual, or do things that a) have no affordance, b) have no clear feedforward, c) have an unknown effect and may be destructive, with no clear undo. It's very poor design.

spacehome 11y ago
> read a manual Quelle horror!
- spronkey 11y ago
  Heh, I should qualify that to become an expert some manual-reading is required. But the interface should at least help you with the transition.
iSnow 11y ago
>It's very poor design. No, it's Windows/Linux-bias on your part. In the old time, every (and I mean every) medium-level Mac user knew that you can unlock a lot of additional functionality with the option-key. People today just seem to assume the Mac UI is built on the absolute same principles as the Windows UI, which is not true.