Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!caen!spool.mu.edu!uunet!mcsun!ukc!acorn!agodwin From: agodwin@acorn.co.uk (Adrian Godwin) Newsgroups: comp.human-factors Subject: Re: trackballs (&mice & pens) Message-ID: <8113@acorn.co.uk> Date: 28 Jun 91 17:03:45 GMT Article-I.D.: acorn.8113 References: <91176.152002LPARKER@auvm.american.edu> Organization: Acorn Computers Ltd, Cambridge, UK Lines: 38 In article wdr@wang.com (William Ricker) writes: >LPARKER@auvm.american.edu (lloyd parker jr.) writes: > >> A person will not be able to type and use the mouse >>at the sametime, nor would they a trackball, regardless of the location. >>So I don't think it matters where the location is. > 1. See above; I should be able to. 2. Even if both hands are emulating >mice buttons while draggin -- and 102 buttons is a nice number to have on a >mouse, if I need more than one -- having my fingers near/on the home keys >rather than far away is good for this touch typist, as well as lower on >energy expenditure. (Remember why light pens died.) > Are there any MicroWriter users here ? (For those who aren't familiar with the MicroWriter / Agenda, it's a 5 or 6 key chord keyboard with mnemonic chord shapes). It seems to me that such a keyboard might be integrated with a mouse or trackball to make an single input device that both points and types. The microwriter interface might lose some of it's simplicity by requiring a shift between pointer buttons and chord keyboard. Any thoughts ? On trackballs : I prefer the idea of a trackball (I also have trouble finding a sufficiently clear, flat area for a mouse to work on) but I have great trouble with the shift-drag operation that most GUIs require. Consequently, I'm staying with the mouse for now. Are there trackballs available with a more convenient button layout that overcome this problem ? I've seen one with buttons to the left of the ball rather than above it - is that a better arrangement ? Or the trackballs with locking buttons ? -adrian -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adrian Godwin (agodwin@acorn.co.uk)