Comments on David Alison's Blog: Keyboard vs. Mouse

I've been a part of a number of studies on keyboar...

2008-07-13T10:51:00.000-04:00

I've been a part of a number of studies on keyboard vs mouse, and whenever the mouse "wins", it did not win because it's a mouse: It won due to familiarity, or due to laziness as the test subject would not even try to learn a keystroke; even the underlined menus were glossed over.

When a person makes an attempt to embrace the keyboard, his or her speed shoots way up. Period.

TallDwarfOne killer app for me regarding mouse usa...

2008-07-11T23:41:00.000-04:00

TallDwarf

One killer app for me regarding mouse usage is xgestures. You may have used some gestures as a firefox plugin but this is system wide for any application and it only costs $5.

I am constantly adding apps to its list whenever I find I am repeating the same command.
example in safari:
up = increase font size
left = back
right = foward
up,right = next tab
etc

everywhere
left,down,right (like a letter "c") brings up my clipboard manager (currently shadowclipboard) so I can multiple copy items in one app and then easily paste them in another app.

to use 1password is gesture/draw a "p" (up, right,down, left)

many more uses. I suggest checking out the demo.

Take care and great site. I am a longtime apple user (family had a apple IIc back when I was a kid) but I enjoy reading your articles and sending off links to friends I have helped switch.

You can also drag and drop that picture directly o...

2008-07-11T22:16:00.000-04:00

You can also drag and drop that picture directly onto the Preview.app icon in the Dock.

@Robert/David - yes, certain applications in Windo...

2008-07-11T20:57:00.000-04:00

@Robert/David - yes, certain applications in Windows support drag and drop. I think the point made by David and as a long time Windows and Mac user I can confirm, use of Drag and Drop on the Mac is ubiquitous. It is missing on the Mac as often as it seems to be present in Windows. It was implemented (for development) in a very different way, and therefore is really everywhere, and between apps to a much larger degree...

Keyboard...How quaint.First, David, I would refer ...

2008-07-10T13:54:00.000-04:00

Keyboard...How quaint.

First, David, I would refer you to Bruce Tognazzini's articles on keyboards versus mice.

I'm a long time Mac user (My first Mac was a "Macintosh") and Macintosh developer. I'd point out a few things about using the mouse on a Mac.

Your description, "In the time it takes to move your hand over to the mouse, position the mouse pointer on the screen and perform an action you can often do the same task more quickly by using the correct keyboard commands." I'll refer you to this follow up article by Tog.

That said, I believe the greatest efficiencies come from combining the two. For example, using the mouse to select a line with one hand while pressing the delete key with the other.

@AlphaGeek: My technique with NNW is to have the s...

2008-07-10T11:22:00.000-04:00

@AlphaGeek: My technique with NNW is to have the stories open in the background. I scan through the list and double click on a line that looks interesting. Once I've queued up the stories I'll be reading I then start scrolling through each in the right pane, with my left hand crouched over the Command-W sequence to quickly close it when I'm done.

The big advantages for me doing this is that the scroll wheel (or trackpad) on my mouse scrolls really well and I'm always in a position to open links on the page that I'm reading.

@Ast: I knew the first, not the second; thanks man!

@SimpleLife: Great comments and links, thanks!

@Robert: 17 years of Windows and you'd think I would have figured that out. Doh! Thanks man.

"Indeed, Macs take better advantage of the mouse t...

2008-07-10T10:43:00.000-04:00

"Indeed, Macs take better advantage of the mouse than most other operating systems do, especially in the drag and drop department. See an image in a web page that you want to grab? Perhaps an image of Scotty speaking into the mouse in Star Trek IV? Just drag it out of the browser and on to your desktop."
This is actually just a feature of the browser you're using. I'm using firefox on XP and can do the same thing.

Hi David,Love everything about the blog. I'm a rec...

2008-07-10T09:55:00.000-04:00

Hi David,

Love everything about the blog. I'm a recent switcher too. Please continue the sharing of experiences.

The following is not an advertisement, but a recommendation that I give to all OS X users.

To reduce keyboarding and mousing per this blog entry check out TextExpander and/or TypeIt4Me. They are excellent.

It dramatically reduces typing. Most major OS X gurus use it. I learned about it from MacWorld, Merlin Mann, Leo Laporte, MacApper, and numerous other sites.

They support AppleScripts so you can use the keyboard as a launcher, macro, and AppleScript trigger to automate OS X.

I prefer TextExpander because it does not register backspaces as TypeIt4Me does with AppleScripts. It really is amazing in combination with AppleScript. Here is a link for everyone:

http://www.applematters.com/article/use-textexpander-to-launch-applications-and-more/

Here is a link to a video of TextExpander with Leo Laporte and Merlin Mann:

http://twit.tv/mb63

I have not attempted to use QuickSilver as it seems it's not being supported anymore. Using TextExpander along with AppleScript is very fast. Not as nearly as fast as voice recognition, but definitely more consistent.

TextExpander's main function is not AppleScripts but as a time-saver for typing using abbreviations that expand out to Snippets.

Here is the link:

http://www.smileonmymac.com/TextExpander/

No Mac user should be without TextExpander. To type the long word " TextExpander" I just type "tee;" and then it expands automatically.

Check out the links above. Highly recommended.

I use it in so many ways. Works for programmers too. They have an HTML plugin.

Here is a link for a video review / how to:

http://macapper.com/2007/12/19/textexpander-video-review-and-giveaway/

More videos from the developer's site:
http://www.smileonmymac.com/TextExpander/screencast/index.html

Keep up the blogging, David. It's one of my favorites. I waiting for my MacBook Pro today, and will get a Mac Pro soon. Your blog was a definite help.

I'll try to participate in comments as I can for everyone's benefit. The posters here are super helpful and friendly too. A really nice community and following here that you have.

Cheers.

A few tips you may not be aware of:1. Click two an...

2008-07-10T09:47:00.000-04:00

A few tips you may not be aware of:

1. Click two and a half times (double-click and hold the mouse button down after the second click) so select by the word, rather than by the character.

2. In many apps (TextEdit, for instance) try selecting text while holding down the Command key (to select non-continuous portions) or the Option key (to select text under the mouse; try making a small rectangle with the pointer over a paragraph) or the combination thereof.

alphageek@infrageeks.com:Interesting - especially ...

2008-07-10T08:45:00.000-04:00

alphageek@infrageeks.com:

Interesting - especially that you use NetNewsWire more with the mouse. It's actually one of the best applications for driving via the keyboard. I skim the new articles with up/down arrows, and tapping the right arrow opens the article in the column on the right. If I want to read the article immediately, I follow up with a Command-Shift-Left/Right arrow to cycle through the opened articles and the main list.

Adding the Function key on the MacBook Pro keyboard lets me navigate up and down in the article contents.

Of course the classic Command-W logically closes the current article and not the entire window

So I can do all of my newsreading at very high speed and my fingers never leave my second home row on either side of the space bar.