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Apple does studies for these things. They studied multi-button mice and found it slowed people down. The reason is that they clicked on the wrong button some
by nirvana 15y ago
Apple does studies for these things. They studied multi-button mice and found it slowed people down. The reason is that they clicked on the wrong button some percentage of the time.
What throws people off is, when you make a mistake with a gui, you correct it and forget about it. You don't account for your time because your mind is focused on the task. But and independant observer, who observes you doing the same task in both situations will have a stopwatch and recognize objectively which takes longer.
In some cases-- such as people's preferences for keyboards over mousing-- they perceive that they are faster accomplishing tasks with the keyboard than the mouse. They think this because they press keys faster and the brain accounts for each key press as a bit of an accomplishment... but the stopwatch shows differently.
Its the same thing with the second button mouse.
Trackpads have changed the situation, as a more direct form of control, 2, 3 finger gestures take less cognition. And of course, millions of people prefer 2 button mice, and don't care if they lose a minute or two each day as a result.
So, while there is a reason for the choices Apple makes, those reasons can be less significant over time.
But my point was, there is always a reason, and you shouldn't try to cut new ground unless you understand the reason for the original method.
- Androsynth 15y agoI agree that finger gestures make up for whatever I have lost from multiple buttons. But I still lose a lot of time every day trying to use the right-click on my mouse. Opening new tabs is a pain and opening new instances of an application is a pain when i go to right click the dock (yes i know you can cmd-click or cmd-N, but thats not always an option). edit: one last point before this thread ends, trackpads are awesome, computer interaction without one has become much more difficult for me. However they are much too modal, it's fine to make them simple for beginning users who misclick a bunch, but throw a bone to the experienced users who want some power in their interface.
- galadriel 15y agoOn my Windows laptop, I have configured 1+1 click to act as middle click. It is quite convenient as I move around pointer by touching on finger, and when I want to open the link, I just tap another one, making workflow quite pleasing. Perhaps you can set the same gesture on Mac ?