23 Jan
2023
23 Jan
'23
10:19 a.m.
On Mon, Jan 23, 2023 at 10:10 AM Paul Koning via cctalk <
cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
Personally, I like trackpads. But my wife doesn't. And clearly there are
lots of opinions. Pick what you like, don't be surprised if others have
different preferences.
I love my Kensington Expert Mouse, which is actually a trackball. It and
a Happy Hacking Pro keyboard fits onto my Humanscale 4G keyboard tray. It
was a conscious effort to limit the amount of arm movement.
Quite a few of my Linux colleagues use no mouse at all, all keyboard
shortcuts. My wife cannot operate the trackball at all but it's all
down to ramp up effort which is why I've never been able to adapt to one of
the ergonomic split keyboards or Emacs :)
Tony
Are large trackballs (with balls the size of a golfball or larger) still
around? I remember a few people around the office that had one. I also
remember seeing all the air traffic controller stations at the local FAA
control center equipped with such trackballs. That made some sense, it
allows the operator to work in a confined space without having to worry
about keeping a clear desk surface. That was before touchpads were
invented, 1990s I think.
I find it interesting watching people using
trackpads. Most don't know
*how* to use them effectively.
The core trick is that you should only move your fingertip for large
pointer movements, and for small precision movement, keep your
fingertip stationary on the trackpad and _roll_. Increase the
finger-to-laptop angle for vertical movement (pointer away from you or
toward you) and rotate your finger along its axis for small left/right
movements.
Few seem to know this. If you don't know what you're doing, and do it
by trial and error, then trackpads kinda sorta work, not great but
acceptably.
Interesting. It doesn't seem to apply to my Mac touchpad. Or maybe only
if I run Linux on that hardware, that seems to have a different sensitivity
setting.
paul