Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!pyrdc!netsys!ames!think!barmar
From: barmar@think.COM (Barry Margolin)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Apple Gets Greedier (Read it and Weep!)
Message-ID: <28502@think.UUCP>
Date: 24 Sep 88 10:20:04 GMT
References: <1018@lakesys.UUCP> <870239@hpcilzb.HP.COM>
Sender: news@think.UUCP
Reply-To: barmar@kulla.think.com.UUCP (Barry Margolin)
Organization: Thinking Machines Corporation, Cambridge, MA
Lines: 41

In article <870239@hpcilzb.HP.COM> tedj@hpcilzb.HP.COM (Ted Johnson) writes:
>I agree.  Most (non-secretarial) people who don't deal with computers 
>regularly aren't touch typists.  So if they have to type a lot (like
>on an IBM PC) vs. using a mouse, they will probably not be very pleased.

I always find statements like this surprising.  Didn't most people who
have to use computers on a regular basis go to high school, and
probably also college?  Didn't they have to turn in term papers and
reports?  Am I the only one whose high school teachers required the
papers to be typed?  I would have been lost in high school with my
jr.high typing class.  I'm no speed demon (althought I've gotten much
faster since I started using computer text editors, since I don't
worry so much about accuracy), and I don't think I use all the right
fingers for all the keys, but I know where home row is, and I can type
with my eyes shut and feel whether I've made a mistake.

And even if you use an icon-based interface, you still have to do
quite a bit of typing, don't you?  If you're filling in a spreadsheet
or database you have to enter all the data.  If you're using a word
processor you have to type the words to be processed.  I admit that
there are plenty of non-textual applications (CAD/CAM, draw/paint,
page layout), but it seems to me that most applications do require
some typing.  Of course, if you're an executive you might have a
secretary or clerk do all the data entry, and you just do simple
queries, which require a minimal amount of input.

That all said, I do agree that mouse/icon/menu-based interfaces are
easier to learn than keyboard-based interfaces.  But once you become
proficient with a system, I think keyboard interfaces are more
efficient for anyone with at least minimal typing ability.  I can type
"rm foobar" much faster than I can reach for the mouse, find the icon,
drag it to the trash, and then get my hand back to home row.  Both
have their place, and one of the things I like about the Symbolics
system I use at work is that it provides both styles simultaneously.


Barry Margolin
Thinking Machines Corp.

barmar@think.com
{uunet,harvard}!think!barmar