Robert Aldwinckle said:
I'm amazed that so many people apparently use their mouse
for something which is much easier to do with the keyboard.
I do a lot of pulling up multiple links from the same page. Goes
something like this:
[mouse to link][right click][open in new window][alt-tab to first
window]
[mouse to link][right click][open in new window][alt-tab to first
window]
....
[alt-tab to 2nd window][maximize][read][scroll page][read][scroll a
few lines to get full graphic on screen][read][scroll page]...
[alt-tab to 3rd window][maximize][read][scroll page][read][scroll a
few lines to get full graphic on screen][read][scroll page]...
[alt-tab to 2nd window again][read][scroll page][read][scroll a few
lines to get full graphic on screen][read][scroll page]...
I *used* to be able to keep the mouse on the "down arrow" region of
the vertical scrollbar on the right, and with *very* little mouse
movement, click on the arrow itself or in the blank scroll space above
it and move by a few lines or a whole page, without even looking at
where the mouse was pointing. In this way I could take in info from
multiple sources very quickly. For me this was way more efficient than
moving from mouse to keyboard and back when switching from selecting
to scrolling operational modes.
All the while my left hand could be planted at prime "alt-tab"
position. But if I wanted, I could easily stay off the keys altogether
by selecting windows from the taskbar, and each window (once
maximized) was "downscrollable" from the same region of a few pixels
square. I could lean back in my chair and relax a bit.
Now, to accomplish the same thing, I have to either
1- look up at mouse pointer to see where I need to click to move by a
page, which takes my focus away from the content;
2- move right hand to keyboard and scroll with arrow/page keys which
require more real finger movement than the mouse method did;
3- move left thumb from alt key to spacebar to scroll by page, right
hand clicks mouse on arrow to scroll by line, which won't work with
one hand.
When I'm inputting text, I keep both hands on the keys and happily use
the home/end, page and arrow keys (with the left hand working the ctrl
key) to move by single characters, lines, words, paragraphs, pages,
and the whole document without once resorting to the mouse. I learned
word processing on WordStar 3.3 for CP/M (no mouse) and it is all
quite automatic. Text entry/editing is different from surfing a web
page in several ways. It is a matter of creating rather than
comprehending. Your attention is focused on one part of the document,
and even while you are generating the sequence of finger movements to
get the cursor there, you are parallel processing to generate the
correct sequence of words that will flow from your fingers once the
cursor arrives. The latter receives the attention while the former is
automatic. When surfing, the time spent on the mechanics of navigation
detracts from the time available to comprehend. At least it does for
me.
%mod%
