Dan Ingalls <Dan at SqueakLand.org> wrote:

> Hehe, a classic subject line ;-)
> 
> Tim Rowledge <tim at sumeru.stanford.edu>  wrote:
> ...
> >I should mention that the current Squeak idiom (idiocy!) of using the
> >select button to open a menu when on the main display is really stupid
> >and can only be explained by the initial connection to Mac single
> >button mice. Which is another dim idea.
> 
> You may think that a 1-button mouse is a bad idea (or can "dim" mean brilliant in Britain?),
Not so far as I know, but I've been away so long that I can hardly
understand people when I do visit. What the hell does 'pants' mean,
for example? 

> but it looks a lot more sensible if your other machine is a pen
> computer.  I know you know this, Tim, but I just wouldn't want it
> omitted from this thread.
But a pen is completely and utterly different to a single button mouse!
You use completely different actions, different muscle combinations...
everything. With a pen you can sensibly use  flick-gestures that could
never work on any mouse I've seen. Pen based systems generally use
quite small screens so having buttons across the top or a side is
reasonable, a gesture can be used to get a menu, drag and drop can be
done sensibly.

If anyone cares to offer suitable money I can happily return to UI
research and write much more on the issues. Ghu knows there's been
little enough progress in the two decades since I was at IBM UK. 

tim
--
Tim Rowledge, tim at sumeru.stanford.edu, http://sumeru.stanford.edu/tim
Useful random insult:- Lights are on but nobody's home.