Path: utzoo!yunexus!geac!syntron!jtsv16!uunet!peregrine!elroy!ames!mailrus!cwjcc!ukma!rutgers!uwvax!geowhiz!scott From: scott@geowhiz.UUCP (Scott Kempf) Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple Subject: Mouse vs. Keyboard control. (was: Re: AppleLink--PE + mouse-ahead) Summary: Just someone complaining about mice. Not of real significance (unless you plan on selling good sofware). Message-ID: <915@geowhiz.UUCP> Date: 26 Oct 88 14:40:16 GMT Article-I.D.: geowhiz.915 References: <8810251607.aa27323@SMOKE.BRL.MIL> Reply-To: scott@geowhiz.UUCP (Scott Kempf) Organization: University of Wisconsin, Department of Geology and Geophysics Lines: 71 In article <8810251607.aa27323@SMOKE.BRL.MIL> AWCTTYPA@UIAMVS.BITNET ("David A. Lyons") writes: >>Date: Mon, 24 Oct 88 21:11:31 GMT >>From: Scott Kempf >>Scott Kempf I've got type-ahead. I'll use this mouse when I can mouse-ahead. > >Hmmm...I suppose you have a //e or //c. On the Mac and the IIgs >(when running IIgs software rather than //e software), you *can* >mouse-ahead. Assuming you know where an icon is about to appear, or >where the menu item you want is located, or where a button in a >dialog is going to appear, or whatever. The Event Manager sees >things like keypresses and mouse clicks and stores them, along with >the mouse position and the time in the "event queue" for the >application to process when it's good and ready. If this is true then the software we have for the our Mac II's either clears the event queue or shuts of the interupts to the event manager. Our SUNs computers have queue mouse commands, but the file system is not mouse driven, so you really do not need the mouse very often. What I want to know is why didn't Apple include a mouse with the //e to //gs upgrade? I bought an upgrade instead of a new gs (a bad move) and I have yet to buy a mouse (I have been waiting for an optical ADB mouse). Software the forces you to use a mouse is really a pain. I recently bought a RAM card and it came with some nice cashe software, but when I when installed the cashe I discovered that the only way I could configure it was with a mouse. They could have saved time and money if they had designed a simple keyboard interface rather that a complex mouse only version. I also bought WordPerfect //gs. The first version (ported from the //e) had no mouse control and did not take advantage of many features. The new version is better. Full pull down menus and (for people like me) you can assign any function to an Apple-key or Option-key. Only one problem: You need a mouse to assign them. Mice are great if you don't know how to use a program, however if you use a program regularly, mice get in the way. If you touch type reaching over and using the mouce can be a pain. I can type Apple-U to start underlining without slowing down. Sure the first few times I may have to look and see what key to press to get underlining, but I takes quite a while to grab the mouse, pull down a menu, find underlining, and return to the keyboard. Learning curves: Keyboard (commandline): Mouse only: ^ | | | | __/ | P | __/ | _________ o | __/ | ____/ w | __/ |___/ e | __/ | r |/_______________ |__________________ Time -> Time -> The best solution is to provide _both_. Assign a key to all common menu options. Most Mac software tries to do this, but I still keep running into programs that do not even bother to assign Option-Q to quit. >--David A. Lyons bitnet: awcttypa@uiamvs > DAL Systems CompuServe: 72177,3233 > P.O. Box 287 GEnie mail: D.LYONS2 > North Liberty, IA 52317 AppleLinkPE: Dave Lyons _______________________________________________________________________________ Scott Kempf (not Verney Green or and other color of Verney) It was long ago and it was far away and it was so much better than it is today. MAIL: 1302 Rutledge St., Madison, WI 53703 PHONE: (608) 255-6205 (home) UUCP: {seismo, topaz, harvard, ihnp4}!uwvax!geowhiz!scott ARPA: scott%geowhiz.UUCP@spool.cs.wisc.edu PHONE: (608) 262-6154 (work)