Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site topaz.ARPA Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!bellcore!decvax!genrad!mit-eddie!godot!harvard!seismo!topaz!STEINER@RUTGERS.ARPA 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. Lines: 69 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