[geeks] Princeton Surplus Haul...

[Phil Stracchino]

Jonathan C. Patschke wrote:
> On Thu, 16 Nov 2006, Phil Stracchino wrote:
> 
>> In the days of the Mac Plus, I briefly liked the Mac.  On a screen
>> that tiny on a machine and OS that only really ran one app at a time
>> anyway, the idiotic single-fixed-menubar model wasn't really a
>> problem.  On anything with a real screen, it's utterly imbecilic.
> 
> How many menubars do you need to use at once?

Depends how many applications I have open.  ;)

(Well, obviously, I'm only ever using one application *at a time*.)

> If I need to use a command for which I haven't committed the keyboard
> shortcut to memory, I find it easier and faster just to "throw" the
> cursor towards the upper-left of the screen precisely -because- I have
> 3200x1200 pixels of screen real estate.  On Windows, I have to actually
> aim, which takes more[0] time, lest I activate the program behind the
> one I'm currently using.
> 
> 
> [0] Not much more, but if you figure a few seconds here and a few
>      seconds there for each performance of an operation that you do a
>      couple hundred times a day, it begins to accumulate significantly.

I don't find it takes me appreciably longer to "aim" than it does to
move the cursor to any point at the edge of the screen, and certainly
less time than it would take me to transfer my attention to a whole
separate monitor in a multi-monitor setup.  And if I just blindly
"throw" the cursor at the edge of the screen, *blink*, I'm on a
different page of my virtual desktop, which probably isn't what I wanted.


I know that's the official explanation.  I know a lot of people buy into
it.  When screens were 9" diagonal and mice clunky and unresponsive, it
might even have been true.  If it ever was, I don't believe it is now.
At best, it is true for people who are used to working that way.  I have
never found it to be true for me: I want my menubar *where I'm working*,
not possibly almost two feet away.

If the "interface expert" says the Mac model is more efficient for him,
fine, he can use it.  If he says it's more efficient for *me*, I'll tell
him to his face that's bullshit.



-- 
 Same geek, same site, new location
 Phil Stracchino                     Landline: 603-429-0220
 phil.stracchino at speakeasy.net         Mobile: 603-216-7037
 Renaissance Man, Unix generalist, Perl hacker, Free Stater