Comment by astine | Hacker News Reader

Comment by astine | Hacker News Reader

I'm doubtful that mouse usage is really faster than keyboard shortcuts for experienced users, but supposing it is, there are at least two reason that I prefer to have keyboard shortcuts available.

The first is that keyboard input is much easier to reliably repeat. Keyboard macros are much less simple with a mouse and even when keyboard macros aren't an option, I often find it easier when making repetitive inputs to convert the inputs to key presses and repeat them.

Furthermore, I find mouse usage interrupts my flow. Using the mouse is a very different mode of input than keyboarding. I have the disadvantage that my dexterity is worse than many people's and so when I have to switch to the mouse, I have to be very careful to click the right thing. I don't usually make the same mistakes with keyboard shortcuts that I use regularly. Even if the mouse is technically faster, that interruption is very unpleasant.

It's true that the mouse is bad at macros. That's not somehow inherent to mousing, though! Operating system designers simply don't seem to care about this. Why can't I type control-U 10 and then select a menu item with the mouse, and have it execute 10 times? That works in Emacs. Or record a macro which consists of a combination of keyboard and mouse actions. This shouldn't be hard.

(Automator has some "record" functionality but it's so naïve as to be useless. It records the mouse by where on the screen you move it. If you take several seconds to decide which menu item to select, it pauses during playback, too. If you bump the mouse during playback, it will select the wrong menu item.)

There seems to be at least one person at Apple who understands the importance, because macOS does support Emacs-style control-U repeats for text editing.

The mouse forces one to stare at the screen and precisely move the cursor from position to position. While this is useful in some scenarios it becomes taxing for a repetitive workflow. To me it is like noise added to my train of thought, I do use the mouse some, it's hard not to these days but the keyboard helps me stay more productive and more relaxed too

My personal experience is that an experienced user with a keyboard and a mouse easily beats an experienced user with just a keyboard.

> I have the disadvantage that my dexterity is worse than many people's

This, though, is a very valid point that is too rarely taken into consideration by software makers.

At what, exactly? For text editing, using Vim-like text objects and movements, I think it's very unlikely that the mouse will consistently add speed.

Also: wrist strain

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