creat 1220

The Palm uses a stylus, which you might think is rat-like as it can be used for pointing, but it is actually used for a sort of gestural language that you might even like, quite unlike typically Windozey or even Macish mouse-language.

The aptly named WinCE (and its successors), on the other hand... ratty all the way down.

Pocket-sized text-messaging gadgets (including recent wireless phones) seem to be operated mostly with the thumbs, if I understand what the youngsters are up to with them. (I'm not a devotee myself. From where I sit it seems to resemble nothing so much as e-mail deliberately done wrong in a bid to divert more of users' hard-earned cash into the telco coffers.)

You also have to catch up with thirty-and-more-year-old research and accept that pointing is more efficient and faster than typing for MANY tasks -- even when the user doesn't perceive it as being faster. (IMHO the main problem with current mouse-based interfaces, aside from the absurd cluttery and badly laid out buttortment of on-secreen widgets) is that the mouse is separated from the home row of the keyboard by a couple of mostly useless clusters of non-touch-typable special-purpose keys inherited from old data-entry equipment. The original Mac keyboard had the right idea.)

-- Roland HutchinsonÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊWillÊplayÊviolaÊdaÊgambaÊforÊfood.

NB mail to my.spamtrap at verizon.net is heavily filtered to remove spam.ÊÊIfÊyourÊmessageÊlooksÊlikeÊspamÊIÊmayÊnotÊseeÊit.