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In my experience, a good work environment let's you go a really long way without even thinking of the mouse (or trackpad). So discussing which pointer device is

by dmos62 5y ago

In my experience, a good work environment let's you go a really long way without even thinking of the mouse (or trackpad). So discussing which pointer device is most comfortable is sort of foreign to me. For context, I use shells and vim in tmux. If I don't need a web browser, I'll often not even start an X server (so no mouse at all).

foldr 5y ago
Obviously it's possible to just use the keyboard if that's how you want to work. The point is that using a good quality trackpad positioned below a keyboard doesn't actually require you to move your wrist much, if at all. With this set up, there is not really any cost associated with switching between the trackpad and the keyboard. Thus, there is really no benefit to using the keyboard for tasks which can also be accomplished efficiently using the trackpad (as you are not paying any significant penalty for switching between the two input methods). For example, I was able to move my mouse cursor to the 'update' button to submit this form faster than I would have been able to use the relevant keyboard shortcut.
- dmos62 5y ago
  I'd say that pointing is inherently slow because it involves checking where the cursor is, where the target is, moving it in that direction, then stopping at the right time. With a typical keyboard-based browser interface clicking the update button would have been a 2 key combination. Two discreet steps without any timing or measurement nuances. I guess which is better for me doesn't have to be so for someone else. Mouse interfaces do have a certain simplicity to them. Check demo animation on Saka Key's readme: https://github.com/lusakasa/saka-key https://github.com/lusakasa/saka-key
  - foldr 5y ago
    You say that you hardly ever use the mouse. If you’re out of practice then you’d probably be slow at it. On a good trackpad you don’t actually need much visual feedback because the response is very predictable. You can make a short movement and click more quickly than you can press a couple of keys. Saka Key looks to be both slower and more complex than navigating using a trackpad (especially once you take scrolling into account).
    - dmos62 5y ago
      With a pointer you treat the screen as a continuous space. With Saka Key's link clicking method (for the lack of a better term) you're selecting out of a discreet set of keys. I'm not sure what the implications are, but I feel like the difference is qualitative.

by dmos62 5y ago

foldr 5y ago

Obviously it's possible to just use the keyboard if that's how you want to work. The point is that using a good quality trackpad positioned below a keyboard doesn't actually require you to move your wrist much, if at all. With this set up, there is not really any cost associated with switching between the trackpad and the keyboard. Thus, there is really no benefit to using the keyboard for tasks which can also be accomplished efficiently using the trackpad (as you are not paying any significant penalty for switching between the two input methods). For example, I was able to move my mouse cursor to the 'update' button to submit this form faster than I would have been able to use the relevant keyboard shortcut.

dmos62 5y ago
I'd say that pointing is inherently slow because it involves checking where the cursor is, where the target is, moving it in that direction, then stopping at the right time. With a typical keyboard-based browser interface clicking the update button would have been a 2 key combination. Two discreet steps without any timing or measurement nuances. I guess which is better for me doesn't have to be so for someone else. Mouse interfaces do have a certain simplicity to them. Check demo animation on Saka Key's readme: https://github.com/lusakasa/saka-key https://github.com/lusakasa/saka-key
- foldr 5y ago
  You say that you hardly ever use the mouse. If you’re out of practice then you’d probably be slow at it. On a good trackpad you don’t actually need much visual feedback because the response is very predictable. You can make a short movement and click more quickly than you can press a couple of keys. Saka Key looks to be both slower and more complex than navigating using a trackpad (especially once you take scrolling into account).
  - dmos62 5y ago
    With a pointer you treat the screen as a continuous space. With Saka Key's link clicking method (for the lack of a better term) you're selecting out of a discreet set of keys. I'm not sure what the implications are, but I feel like the difference is qualitative.