4 ms·

When the article says: "because for all the multitouch gestures Apple can add, there’s just no beating a good old mouse when it comes to selecting text." I have

When the article says: "because for all the multitouch gestures Apple can add, there’s just no beating a good old mouse when it comes to selecting text." I have to wholeheartedly agree. I am a heavy mouse (and trackpad) user and have been for decades. Editing and refactoring code for me is all about the mouse. The same goes for editing prose, which I also write a significant quantity of. The two-finger, on-glass "trackpad cursor" trick doesn't work well for me--it never has. It looks like the "ghost caret" is in the right place, but at least half the time, when I lift my fingers the cursor appears a character off in either direction. Verrry frustrating. Also, the two-finger trick requires the on screen keyboard and is clumsy to use if you are using an external keyboard. About a year ago I gave up on my personal quest to use the iPad as a heavy writing device. It's just not for me. I picked up a bottom-of-the-line 12" Macbook and have never looked back.

mbel 9y ago
> I am a heavy mouse (and trackpad) user and have been for decades. Editing and refactoring code for me is all about the mouse. It's a very interesting and surprising statement to me. For me the mouse is absolutely nowhere near convince of selecting text with keyboard. When your editor allows you to jump between paragraphs, words, ending and beginning of line (so pretty much every editor) it seems to be relatively easy to rapidly jump to place that one wants to select with couple of key strokes.
- eludwig 9y ago
  I would definitely agree that my mousing is not as efficient as an expert-level keyboard only approach. But it's what I do and what is comfortable to me. Random text selection in big bodies of text is always easier (for me) with a mouse first, trackpad next, keyboard last. Keyboarding, mousing, editing is a very personal thing to folks who have to work at their computer all day. Lot's of different ways to work, lots of approaches to the work. Each person has to find their comfort zone.

mbel 9y ago

> I am a heavy mouse (and trackpad) user and have been for decades. Editing and refactoring code for me is all about the mouse. It's a very interesting and surprising statement to me. For me the mouse is absolutely nowhere near convince of selecting text with keyboard. When your editor allows you to jump between paragraphs, words, ending and beginning of line (so pretty much every editor) it seems to be relatively easy to rapidly jump to place that one wants to select with couple of key strokes.

eludwig 9y ago
I would definitely agree that my mousing is not as efficient as an expert-level keyboard only approach. But it's what I do and what is comfortable to me. Random text selection in big bodies of text is always easier (for me) with a mouse first, trackpad next, keyboard last. Keyboarding, mousing, editing is a very personal thing to folks who have to work at their computer all day. Lot's of different ways to work, lots of approaches to the work. Each person has to find their comfort zone.