Applications in next Ubuntu

[Eric Dunbar]

> [xposted to -sounder, please followup there]
> 
> Will Backman wrote in gmane.linux.ubuntu.user
>  about: Re: Applications in next Ubuntu
> 
> > While I also dislike the one button mouse, it was a well-researched
> > design decision by Apple.  Most users are confused by multiple mouse
> > buttons.
> 
> For beginners, this is probably true. But as you learn more you soon
> start to feel hampered by the restrictions that entails - having to hold
> down extra keys (bleh, bleh!) or flick up to the menubar when you want
> to use additional features.

It isn't probably true, it is true based on Apple's (extensive)
research! As has been observed by many users on these forums
(including some Windows-origin users) "normal" (the bulk of) users do
not use the right-click and either find it intimidating or irritating.
Right-click, and especially middle-click require a level of dexterity
that older users often don't have and have never had to develop. Also,
people who don't grow up on computers often don't have to develop
those particular fine-motor skills.

> > Also, developers must design with a single mouse button in
> > mind.  Rather than hiding functions in context menus, which are less
> > "discoverable", functions must exist in menus.
> 
> It's a shame nobody (bar the MagicMenu hack for the Amiga) implemented
> the idea of having *all* menus pop-up under the mouse for ease of use.

Which is probably why Amiga died a quick death ;-).

Seriously though, the first paragraph in this section is key -- one
button mice force software designers to actually _THINK_ their
software through from a _USER'S_ POV, rather than be lazy and hack
contextual menus after-the-fact.

> And the lack of scrollwheels is a *major* pain (I know you can get
> replacement mice for Macs, though).

For you & me it is, but I've seen experienced Mac users who have 15 or
20 years of computing experience in a real environment who have no use
for multi-button mice (CLUI isn't a real environment since you can't
get a whole lot of work done on a CLUI... other than text editing,
some forms of data manipulation and that's about it... try designing a
complex spread sheet (simple SS are Ok on the CLUI) quickly or
photoshop document ;-).

I have always had the manual dexterity needed to use multi-button mice
and scrolly wheels but in the early years of such items in GUIs
(mid-late 90s) I didn't find them useful because the software (on Mac
and Windows) simply wasn't well enough implemented to add to the
computing experience.

PS Right-click is a lot less useful than scrollywheel.

Eric.