Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!uunet!mcsun!ukc!mucs!liv-cs!ian
From: ian@mva.cs.liv.ac.uk
Newsgroups: comp.cog-eng
Subject: Re: Multi-button mice (Re: Xerox sues Apple!)
Message-ID: <4865.258f9c91@mva.cs.liv.ac.uk>
Date: 20 Dec 89 14:52:01 GMT
References: <172@comcon.UUCP> <7326@ficc.uu.net> <9320@hoptoad.uucp> <1989Dec18.081450.28019@psuvax1.cs.psu.edu>
Organization: Computer Science CSMVAX, Liverpool University
Lines: 30

In article <1989Dec18.081450.28019@psuvax1.cs.psu.edu>, flee@shire.cs.psu.edu (Felix Lee) writes:
> The problem with multi-button mice is confusion of buttons.  My prime
> example is the game "xmille".  You click the left button on a card to
> discard it, the right button to play it.  Or is it the other way
> around?  Each button is used about equally often.  You sometimes have
> to discard cards for a long time, so when you finally get a card you
> can play, you naturally discard it.  An IBM PC version of mille that
> uses the right and left arrows is about as bad.  Poor design.
> 
This is a case of using the mouse when it is not necessary.  A sensible way of
doing this would be to have the `d' and `p' keys from the keyboard.  I feel
that having a mouse available frequently causes the keyboard to be ignored
when it is the more suited to a certain job.  When I use drawing packages on
the Mac, I tend to use a full screen mode.  When I need to change from say a
pencil to a rubber, I have to call up the tools palette, select the rubber and
then hide the palette once more.  A far simpler way to do this would be to
press the `r' key (or `e' key).

> The problem may be just lack of consistency; every application seems
> to want to use the mouse buttons in a different way.  If, say, the
> right button always moved windows around, there may be less confusion.
> 
But the single button on the Mac mouse causes similar problems when you try
and do something with a modifier; now was it command, shift, control or all of
them?

Anyway, how can anyone scroll a window using a one button mouse?  (:-)

Ian
---