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From: dorner@pequod.cso.uiuc.edu (Steve Dorner)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system
Subject: Re: The Mouse -- What is its History?
Message-ID: <1990Oct11.174840.21598@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>
Date: 11 Oct 90 17:48:40 GMT
References: <21056@dime.cs.umass.edu> <1123@helens.Stanford.EDU> <9028@jarthur.Claremont.EDU>
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Reply-To: dorner@pequod.cso.uiuc.edu (Steve Dorner)
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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In article <9028@jarthur.Claremont.EDU> wilkins@jarthur.Claremont.EDU (Mark Wilkins) writes:
>  Here's my suggestion for a  standard mouse interface.  It includes 1 button, 
>sometimes accompanied by a modifier key press.  In contrast with your
>suggestions, there's no learning curve for existing Mac users, it provides
>all the capabilities a Mac user needs, the hardware upgrade is free and
>thousands of products already use the new standard, although their
>developers didn't know it at the time.  Perfect, don't you think?

Using modifier keys is not much better, worse, or different than having
multiple buttons on the mouse, if done properly.  "Properly" I would define
as pretty much what an earlier poster said:

Left button, click
Right button, shift-click

I would add that you should be able to reverse the buttons or make them
both just clicks, via the control panel.

There is also no learning curve, because the interface has not changed for
users who do not choose for it to change.

It provides all the capabilities a mac user needs, and more capabilities
than a one-handed mac user currently has (I'm not suggesting that amputees
drive designs, so don't tell me how few there are).

The hardware upgrade is free to everyone who is not interested in it; those
who are would have to pay.

Thousands of products would already use the new standard, although their
developers didn't know it at the time.

Finally, the Mac user community would be protected from zilly-uns of hardware
and software developers who think that extra mouse buttons should be used
for Bolden-and-Italicize-the-Object-Immediately-Above-and-to-the-Right-Of-
the-Second-to-Last-Mouse-Click, unless the moon was full or it was Tuesday.
Simplicity and elegance come as much from discipline and consistency as they
do from creativity and freedom.

Perfect, don't you think?  :-)
--
Steve Dorner, U of Illinois Computing Services Office
Internet: s-dorner@uiuc.edu  UUCP: uunet!uiucuxc!uiuc.edu!s-dorner