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From: STEINER@RUTGERS.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.works
Subject: Re: Speed Key vs. Mice
Message-ID: <167@topaz.ARPA>
Date: Mon, 7-Jan-85 02:47:38 EST
Article-I.D.: topaz.167
Posted: Mon Jan  7 02:47:38 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 9-Jan-85 02:22:19 EST
Sender: daemon@topaz.ARPA
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.
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From: Damouth.Wbst@XEROX.ARPA

I own and occasionally use a Koalapad (on an Apple II), but haven't
used the Speed Key software.  I've used a mouse daily for many years.

The comparison depends on the nature of the task.  Software design
also has a strong influence on the perceived utility of either
device.  Some of the positive comments in the Infoworld review are
really a comparison of the two software packages, and have nothing to
do with the fundamental mouse/Koalapad hardware choice.

For freehand artistic drawing, the Koalapad is significantly better
than a mouse.

The following comments assume that the task to be performed is some
flavor of text manipulation, involving a mixture of pointing (to
select a textual segment, icon, or menu item) and text entry.

a.  For touch typists, one hand must frequently move from keyboard to
pointing device.  It is far faster to drop the hand over a mouse than
to pick up and position a stylus, even if the stylus hasn't hidden
itself under papers or rolled off the table.  Although one can, in
principle, use a fingernail instead of a stylus on the Koalapad, it
doesn't work very well.

b.  The comment that the Koalapad "requires about half the desktop
space of a typical mouse" is puzzling.  I don't know what system they
used, but the Xerox mechanical and optical mice, used with a variety
of Alto software, require roughly three inches of mouse motion to
move the cursor full screen (a bit over 2:1 magnification from mouse
motion to cursor motion).  This is no bigger, and perhaps smaller,
than the Koalapad.  The Dandelion, 1108, Dorado, etc. are about the
same.  I haven't had a chance to check a Mac or Lisa.  It's nice to
have a larger pad, but not necessary.  It is quite possible to teach
yourself to work efficiently within a 3" x 3" pad, although your hand
needs clearance of an inch or two beyond the pad on both sides.  The
bulk of the Koalapad makes it feel like it is taking up more space
than the ordinary piece of paper on which I run my mouse (this same
piece of paper serves for scribbling phone messages, etc.)  Among
people with crowded desks, it is not unusual to find a mouse living
in a cage only a few inches on a side, hemmed in by books, papers and
keyboard on three sides.

c.  Properly used, the several buttons on a mouse allow great
efficiency in selecting objects (the one-button Apple mouse is a step
backwards from the various multi-button versions, but is a lot better
than no mouse).  The Koalapad software can presumably emulate a
one-button mouse by sensing that contact between stylus and pad has
been made or broken, but this is at best a crude emulation.  If you
have to take your hand off the stylus and touch one of the buttons on
the Koala case or perhaps use the other hand to touch special keys on
the regular keyboard, you've lost some of the advantage.  How does
Speed-Key handle this???

d.  Infoworld comments favorably on the possibility of using a
Koalapad in one's lap.  But this is a common mode for mouse users as
well.  It is, of course, only practical for tasks other than heavy
text entry.  Fast touch typing, like piano playing, is only possible
with proper hand and arm position.  It's not unusual to find
mechanical mice running around on vinyl loose leaf notebook covers,
either on top of a pile of junk or in a lap.  The Xerox optical mouse
forces slightly more discipline: I take the pad supplied by Xerox to
the nearest office copier and make a bunch of ordinary paper copies
of the dot pattern.  One of these copies is taped to my desk as a
combination note pad and mouse pad, and replaced when it gets
cluttered or dog-eared.  Another is taped to a notebook cover for use
as a lap pad.

/Dave