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The multiple-button mouse predates the one-button Apple mouse by 2 decades. The one-button mouse paired to a GUI was an innovative solution: Xerox couldn’t fin

The multiple-button mouse predates the one-button Apple mouse by 2 decades. The one-button mouse paired to a GUI was an innovative solution: Xerox couldn’t find a way to make a GUI work with one button only, as per their design 1983 article on designing the Alto UI. They tried, did a lot of HMI research but were trap in local maxima in terms of GUI. Jeff Raskin and others from PARC who moved to Apple (Tesler if I recall well) had seen how three buttons brought confusion even amongst the people who were themselves designing the UI! So Raskin insisted that with one button, every user would always click the right button every time. He invented drag diagonally to select items, and all the other small interactions we still use. Atkinson then created the ruffling drop down menus, a perfect fit for a one-button mouse. They designed all the interface elements you know today around and for the one-button mouse. That’s why you can still use a PC or Mac without using the ‘context’ command attached to the secondary button.

kurthr 2y ago
Yeah, the Alto had a mouse. The Chipmunk had a scrollwheel. LG Prada phone had a touchscreen. Few remember them though.
m463 2y ago
I think that's all purist nonsense. It's like tesla removing the turn signal and drive selector stalks from their cars, or people that use super-minimalist keyboards. Sometimes dedicated buttons for certain functions are GOOD. People playing FPS games use two buttons to great effect. Maybe one button for aim, another for fire. People with MMOs can use as many buttons as the mouse allows. Creative types in tune with their environment can assign buttons to frequently used functions and flow through their tasks. Yes, there are ways to double up functions and use less hardware. In macos you can use control + single mouse button for a context menu. And I understand that poorly designed products use buttons willy-nilly and create a mess. Many remote controls are rows and columns of identical dedicated buttons that are lazy designs. But why extra-minimal? I think it is a kind of designer-induced technical poverty.

kurthr 2y ago

Yeah, the Alto had a mouse. The Chipmunk had a scrollwheel. LG Prada phone had a touchscreen. Few remember them though.

m463 2y ago

I think that's all purist nonsense. It's like tesla removing the turn signal and drive selector stalks from their cars, or people that use super-minimalist keyboards. Sometimes dedicated buttons for certain functions are GOOD. People playing FPS games use two buttons to great effect. Maybe one button for aim, another for fire. People with MMOs can use as many buttons as the mouse allows. Creative types in tune with their environment can assign buttons to frequently used functions and flow through their tasks. Yes, there are ways to double up functions and use less hardware. In macos you can use control + single mouse button for a context menu. And I understand that poorly designed products use buttons willy-nilly and create a mess. Many remote controls are rows and columns of identical dedicated buttons that are lazy designs. But why extra-minimal? I think it is a kind of designer-induced technical poverty.