Exterminate your desk: How to remove your mouse
nickbusey.com
nickbusey.com
Are you sure? I mean have you done a real test with an independent observer using a stopwatch? Back in the 1980s Apple did run those tests and were able to setup many situations where an experience keyboard user was still faster with a mouse - but they all claimed to be faster with the keyboard. Now to some extent they were gaming the tests (not all situations where realistic), but enough were that we can confidently say that the mouse often is faster even when it feels slower.
Feeling faster means closer to a flow state, and so more productive. Actually faster does not automatically translate to increased productivity.
In the end, I think the best method is the method that the individual is most comfortable with.
Windows or macOS? It isn't going to compete with a twiddled Linux distro.
Use mouse-heavy programs like DAWs, Photoshop et al? You're going to have a bad time in those mouse-heavy programs if all your cursor usage is with arrow keys, getting further and further away from the speed-of-thought.
If all someone does is lurk the CLI and their IDE, great for them, they'll probably love it. For the average schmoe or digital creative, not so much.
Equally though, I do a good chunk of my computer usage with just a keyboard, but the right tool for the task is required for anything else, e.g., MIDI controllers, mouse, graphics tablet, touchscreen, TrackPoint, trackball etc. They're just options. Pros and cons to all of them.
The "extermination" mentality is an extreme view, and inherently very niche. That's without even getting into gaming, or users who do game dev.
I replied to a comment and didn't leave a top-level comment for a reason.
IME, having actually worked on replacing an old mouse-less DOS package for a company in the past, it was 100% faster for the employees to use keyboard shortcuts for everything. In fact, it was their main complaint about the new package they were trying to substitute for it -- it slowed their workflow down dramatically. Some of that was down to unfamiliarity with mice but most experienced users of a given bespoke system that need to do quick data entry can mentally map out how many tabs it is to any given field, and I'd bet even money they can get where they need on any given data entry form faster than a person using a mouse.
In this era of web based UIs though, we've lost complete use of keys that can provide specialized functionality with one button press (what the F1-12 keys were designed for). Software just isn't designed to be keyboard-first for the most part these days.
I would like to see the results of much better testing, though.
Citation needed.
When I had RSI the doctor noted that it was only in my non-mouse left hand. They said the moving of my hand between mouse and keyboard provided a relief for my hand, and recommended I move my non-mouse hand away from the keyboard more often.
I also think the issue could be the mushy MacBook Pro keys. Not sure how to articulate this, or whether this is a known issue, but these mushy keys over time seem “painful” to use. However my problem with switching to non mushy mech kbs was that I had to always reach for a mouse or trackpad. The convenience (and ergonomics?) of the trackpad under the thumbs is great and normal mech kbs loose that.
So I am now going to try the UHK V2 split keyboard with a trackball module.
For shoulder/rotator cuff related injuries resting your forearm without weight bearing will provide relief, so repeatedly alternating mouse and keyboard will probably cause strain in those tissues.
Unfortunately the term RSI is a huge bag to say some non recovering 'chronic inflammation' which is not particularly helpful in these discussions.
* Get separate mouse and keyboard wrist rests.
* Use more than one type of mousing device and switch up from time to time (e.g. trackball, trackpoint, touchpad, graphic tablet).
* Use a vertical mouse with a handshake-style grip as opposed to standard palm-down mouse, which can put stress on your forearm and elbow.
* Look up RSI forearm stretches and take breaks to stretch your arms and hands for a few moments at least every few hours. I'm also a big fan of gyro ball exercisers.
* An ergonomic chair with movable armrests can keep your arms at around the same height as the desk your working at, which also helps.
* Scroll long pages by clicking the scroll wheel and mousing down rather than using the scroll wheel the traditional way.
You might be able to address this through the WM, which would be a fantastic accesibility feature.
It’s about the way software is designed around having a mouse, even when it doesn’t make sense.
And today's developers are also less computer savvy.
Why when there is only one (1) input field in an application this does not get keyboard focus ? (Firefox, Teams)
Whether you want to use a mouse or a keyboard depends on the task you want to perform and its temporal proximity to other tasks. For example, when reading code, you tend to use a mouse wheel and visually scan and select references. A mouse would likely be faster. When typing, however, your hands are already on the keyboard, so VimMotion is faster. Finally, I love hybrid operations such as initiating a screenshot using the keyboard and selecting the region with the mouse.
Whether interfaces should be designed for keyboards or mice also depends on factors such as discoverability, frequency of use, and the amount of available operations. Command palettes are amazing, but they are less discoverable and restricted in their layout. Interestingly, Raycast, the discoverable keyboard-centric app, has a mouse-centric settings interface.
Of course, most of us already intuitively know this, but it's tempting to drink the keyboard cool-aid. I had a phase where I aggressively prioritized the keyboard and was frustrated by MacOS's lackluster support for it. My biggest annoyance with the mouse was the distance my hands had to travel when switching from the keyboard. Removing the numpad helped with this.
The mouse key layer includes scrolling keys, and I do actually have a scroll wheel on the left module which I use a decent bit while reading. Best of both worlds IMO.
Of course, to each their own!
I do this, too, but very consciously. It helps me to focus.
It's also why I tend to hate applications and websites that do things in response to merely moving the cursor to a magic spot.
Really, why would you use a hard wooden wrist rest? what a mess.
I had trouble with my palms years ago, and a soft wrist rest was the solution.
Your palms don't have high pressure points, the weight is spread out. This means the system of strings and pulleys from your muscles in your arms that control your fingers can function well, and long-term.
The skin slides across soft material.
Your wrists are warm.
and of course they are elevated and positioned well.
many people don't have a problem with the material hardness of the rest, they just need elevation. also fabric can get disgusting after a while.
I can type for hours and hours this way. It also makes a nice elbow rest (although you also shouldn't lean on your elbows for hours, can affect your bursa)
This is a bad thing in the summer.
Oh, that's sweet. Anyone know of a version that would work in a Linux-based system?
Hundred percent agree with the rest of your comment too. 'Vary it up' is the key to avoiding RSI. Almost a tautological point.
So for example, you might have a mechanical keyboard which may have a longer vertical travel, but if you depress the keys through the usage of the weight of the arm and let gravity do some of the work, you might be able to ameliorate some of the potential causes of RSI.
Source: studied ergonomics including the Alexander technique and Taubman for piano, some of which applies to computer keyboards.
So I’m sceptical whether this approach of spending ages on this really is that productive, cost-benefit-wise. Usually it doesn’t stop there, but this optimization becomes obsessive and conpulsive too often. Especially if they then also feel like they need to advertise for it in blog posts. Just the fact that the author thinks a mouse clutters up his desk seems to me like such a first world problem and a sign of lack of resilliency for real life. And before you know it your entire diet consists of vanilla ice cream, you pee in milk bottles that you collect, and you run strings through your house to erect borders for germ-free zones.
Besides it decreases compatibility and flexibility. “Oh, I need to do some Magic SysRQ shortcut. Oh, my keyboard doesn’t have the SysRQ key!” … “Oh, I need to ssh to a box to fix something. Oh, I’m so used to my heavily optimized nvim that I can’t operate the normal vi anymore!” … “Oh, I need to do some image manipulation. Oh, I have to spend 3 days learning and troubleshooting some GIMP keyboard shortcuts!” … “Oh, I need to connect to some completely out of date Java Applet based IPMI tool. Oh, to attach an iso image to it I need an obscure shortcut which I can’t do with my keyboard!”
I mean if none of these things ever happen, and one’s computer life is in such a narrow bubble that one can survive an entire year without it, then good for them, but I think for 99% of IT professionals it is either not worth it or impossible, and therefore irrelevant.
Interestingly enough, I ditched the touchpoint add-on too, as it really wasn't getting any use.
I'd really recommend the UHK to people who don't mind the price and want the benefits of custom keyboards without having to build on from scratch. I'm a hardware guy but have all sorts of other things I'd rather do than assemble a keyboard over a weekend. Delivery was hella slow though...
I can just rest my wrist on my table and move my fingers, it's also (IMO, YMMV) easier to find with my hand without looking.
With a mouse, the movement comes all the way from my shoulder and elbow, it's not practical to move it just with your wrist -> neck pain (again, for me, YMMV).
I do have a mouse I connect for gaming and 3D work, those are a huge pain for touchpads, mostly because they often require right-clicking + panning, which isn't really something a touchpad can do. A trackball might work, though?
Really? I'm trying it. I have my wrist planted on the table and just moving the mouse. Over the span of about an inch, it goes from one end of the 1920 pixel desktop to the other.
Tweak the mouse parameters, maybe?
I have a tiny Logitech M187 mouse. I sometimes work in tight places on the go; tiny desks in recreation centres and such.
I often do screenshot edits where I'm doing a rectangular select with pixel precision. It's not easy to click without it moving off by a pixel, but I manage.
The mouse itself is a factor! There is a difference!
I didn't pay attention to this this before, but I'm doing a direct A/B comparison. I plugged an old Dell wired mouse into the laptop, using it side-by-side with the tiny Logi M187.
The M187 covers the entire width of the desktop in about 1/3rd of the physical movement compared to the old Dell wired mouse. I don't even have to rotate the palm of the hand; if I just move it left and right with movements of the thumb and ring finger, it covers the desktop.
However, I can still cover the desktop on the Dell without lifting my wrist. The movement is larger; I hate it. :)
The mouse settings in effect must be the same for both; there are no independent mouse settings per device.
https://tex.com.tw/products/shura-diy-type?variant=428450353...
https://github.com/qmk/qmk_firmware/blob/master/docs/feature...
Quite nice, especially with the right configuration (the default is a bit lacking for my taste).
However, I wouldn't want to eliminate the mouse completely, even though I do much of my work in a terminal like in the article.
It was really nice, however the pen was a bust for me. It ended up being a really large multi-touch/gesture surface and the pen got lost somewhere along the way. Never replaced it and never looked back, other than being a bit bothered that I don't know where it went.
This seems relevant. https://xkcd.com/1205/
If you invest time learning IntelliJ, they'll release an update and move everything around. Now you'll be searching frantically and clicking randomly until you find where things are.
It's fine if you can dictate your tools are only vim/i3/cli. I haven't had that luxury.
I've been a professional programmer for nearly four decades. But when I'm not programming, I just want the computer to do things for me. If I can solve a problem by clicking a mouse (or pushing a touch screen) rather than remembering syntax, I'm all for it.
I'm happy to have a crutch. I suppose I could limp along on my broken leg instead, but why would I?
I wonder if I would get used to using a single key for each app versus Alt-tabbing. I believe this is the main cause of my left wrist pain.
I use that kind of setup (kinda) in i3, it is great. It's not one app per key, but one keybind per virtual desktop but I have i3 set up that apps autostart and gets placed always on same desktop
So going to IDE is always caps+4 (I rebounded caps to act as modifier), mail client is caps+F2 etc.
Then few keybinds to move stuff around for those 2% of cases where I need apps on different desktops than usual.
Btw have you tried the trackball? When they introduced the modules I was vacillating between that and the trackpoint, but ended up with the trackball (of which I'm very happy), but I would be curious of alternative points of view.
That said...
> I often wonder if rotary encoders and sliders might be more intuitive than scroll bars and arrow keys for most uses.
I use a macro pad that includes a couple of rotary encoders along with the keys. I find them extremely useful, especially for scrolling. You should give one a try!
Microsoft Word is not a crutched version of VIM.
No, but Notepad is.
Word is a word processor. Vim is a text editor. They're not the same thing, and they're not interchangeable.