4 ms·

I would expect devs who use macbooks to generally use them the same way as the general population generally uses them. I can't think of a plausible reason to s

I would expect devs who use macbooks to generally use them the same way as the general population generally uses them. I can't think of a plausible reason to suspect that developers specifically might prefer traditional mice. One demographic I would expect traditional mouse usage from would be gamers. When I play a first person game I always use my trusty old intellimouse. Otherwise, I use the trackpad unless I'm simultaneously using my mechanical keyboard, but if my keyboard had an attached trackpad I'd probably be using that. But mousing in general just isn't a very important to my workflows and trackpads work just as well as mice for nearly all tasks. Arguably they work better for some since you don't have to move your hand far from the laptop's keyboard to use the trackpad, while using a dedicated mouse means taking your hand completely off the keyboard.

zeveb 6y ago
> I can't think of a plausible reason to suspect that developers specifically might prefer traditional mice. I imagine that developers would prefer mice if people who use computers intensively and knowledgeably prefer mice, and I suspect people who use computers intensively and knowledgeably do prefer mice, the same way that I believe we prefer good keyboards and good monitors.
- sumtechguy 6y ago
  For my day to day noodling around I use a track-pad. But for dev work I use a mouse. The click drag bits are wildly better with a mouse. For example text highlighting and moving things around in the GUI.
- liability 6y ago
  I prefer good mice and good trackpads to poor mice and poor trackpads. But trackpads vs mice? Your comment insinuates a that a clear good/bad dichotomy exists here but I don't think that's generally the case. My above comment notes one context where I do believe that's true, but in the general case? For standard desktop interactions? I don't think mice are objectively better. If anything the proximity of a trackpad makes it better, but that's certainly debatable.
  - wtallis 6y ago
    I feel like a good touchpad (meaning Apple) is superior to most good mice for general desktop usage. What pushes touchpads clearly ahead is when you make good use of multi-touch gestures. Using third-party tools under macOS, about half of my most commonly used keyboard shortcuts can be replaced by gestures that are quicker and easier than reaching for the keyboard. The handful of apps with native multitouch and support for haptic feedback through the touchpad are also really nice. I still use a mouse for gaming, but I have to replace it every ~3 years because the buttons start to wear out. That has yet to happen to one of my Apple touchpads.
    - liability 6y ago
      I do like and use multi-touch gestures a lot, though I think 'hot corners' and additional mouse buttons could probably fill the same roll for me. My intellimouse (P/N X08-70385) has five buttons and in the past I've mapped those two extras to forward/backward browser commands and it worked pretty well. If you can get your hands on an intellimouse, I highly recommend it; mine is somewhere around 15-20 years old with yellowed plastic but it's still going strong. Best product ever sold by Microsoft imho.
      - wtallis 6y ago
        Forward and back is just the tip of the iceberg. I also have gestures for switching between tabs (sending Ctrl-Tab and Ctrl-Shift-Tab to applications), closing and un-closing tabs, opening a new tab, middle clicking, refreshing a page, scrolling to the top or bottom of the page, maximizing a window. And that's on top of the gestures provided natively by macOS.
bradstewart 6y ago
> I can't think of a plausible reason to suspect that developers specifically might prefer traditional mice. Neither can I, actually. I work with my MacBook plugged into a large monitor with an external keyboard and mouse 99% of the time, and just assumed everyone else did as well without really thinking about it.
im3w1l 6y ago
A thing I've seen is a macbook that spends most of the time hooked up to mouse. keyboard and two external monitors, but occasionally gets unplugged and brought to meetings or around the office in general.
Kwantuum 6y ago
> One demographic I would expect traditional mouse usage from would be gamers. Why would you expect that? What concrete advantage does a mouse have over a trackpad for gaming that doesn't translate to regular use?
- tobyhinloopen 6y ago
  Using mouse buttons (both RMB and LMB) at the same time while also independently moving the cursor. Rarely you want to hold both mouse buttons or hold RMB while also move the cursor. Source: I can play first person perspective games quite decently on my macbook using the trackpad, but holding the mouse buttons while aiming is the hardest. Why would I subject myself to such misery? Playing games in train.
gsich 6y ago
>I can't think of a plausible reason to suspect that developers specifically might prefer traditional mice. Better accuracy and muscle memory. Faster. It's not just for "gamers".

zeveb 6y ago

> I can't think of a plausible reason to suspect that developers specifically might prefer traditional mice. I imagine that developers would prefer mice if people who use computers intensively and knowledgeably prefer mice, and I suspect people who use computers intensively and knowledgeably do prefer mice, the same way that I believe we prefer good keyboards and good monitors.

sumtechguy 6y ago
For my day to day noodling around I use a track-pad. But for dev work I use a mouse. The click drag bits are wildly better with a mouse. For example text highlighting and moving things around in the GUI.
liability 6y ago
I prefer good mice and good trackpads to poor mice and poor trackpads. But trackpads vs mice? Your comment insinuates a that a clear good/bad dichotomy exists here but I don't think that's generally the case. My above comment notes one context where I do believe that's true, but in the general case? For standard desktop interactions? I don't think mice are objectively better. If anything the proximity of a trackpad makes it better, but that's certainly debatable.
- wtallis 6y ago
  I feel like a good touchpad (meaning Apple) is superior to most good mice for general desktop usage. What pushes touchpads clearly ahead is when you make good use of multi-touch gestures. Using third-party tools under macOS, about half of my most commonly used keyboard shortcuts can be replaced by gestures that are quicker and easier than reaching for the keyboard. The handful of apps with native multitouch and support for haptic feedback through the touchpad are also really nice. I still use a mouse for gaming, but I have to replace it every ~3 years because the buttons start to wear out. That has yet to happen to one of my Apple touchpads.
  - liability 6y ago
    I do like and use multi-touch gestures a lot, though I think 'hot corners' and additional mouse buttons could probably fill the same roll for me. My intellimouse (P/N X08-70385) has five buttons and in the past I've mapped those two extras to forward/backward browser commands and it worked pretty well. If you can get your hands on an intellimouse, I highly recommend it; mine is somewhere around 15-20 years old with yellowed plastic but it's still going strong. Best product ever sold by Microsoft imho.
    - wtallis 6y ago
      Forward and back is just the tip of the iceberg. I also have gestures for switching between tabs (sending Ctrl-Tab and Ctrl-Shift-Tab to applications), closing and un-closing tabs, opening a new tab, middle clicking, refreshing a page, scrolling to the top or bottom of the page, maximizing a window. And that's on top of the gestures provided natively by macOS.

bradstewart 6y ago

> I can't think of a plausible reason to suspect that developers specifically might prefer traditional mice. Neither can I, actually. I work with my MacBook plugged into a large monitor with an external keyboard and mouse 99% of the time, and just assumed everyone else did as well without really thinking about it.

im3w1l 6y ago

A thing I've seen is a macbook that spends most of the time hooked up to mouse. keyboard and two external monitors, but occasionally gets unplugged and brought to meetings or around the office in general.

Kwantuum 6y ago

> One demographic I would expect traditional mouse usage from would be gamers. Why would you expect that? What concrete advantage does a mouse have over a trackpad for gaming that doesn't translate to regular use?

tobyhinloopen 6y ago
Using mouse buttons (both RMB and LMB) at the same time while also independently moving the cursor. Rarely you want to hold both mouse buttons or hold RMB while also move the cursor. Source: I can play first person perspective games quite decently on my macbook using the trackpad, but holding the mouse buttons while aiming is the hardest. Why would I subject myself to such misery? Playing games in train.

gsich 6y ago

>I can't think of a plausible reason to suspect that developers specifically might prefer traditional mice. Better accuracy and muscle memory. Faster. It's not just for "gamers".