Hotclicks

What? Was he paid to promote this mouse? If I didn't know any better (which I don't) I'd think so. The one big problem with his logic is that he makes his argument seemingly based on the assumption that we only use one hand at a time when not typing.

Correct me if I'm in the minority here but when I'm at my computer (desktop or laptop) I've got my left hand at the keyboard and my right hand in the mouse. It's pretty trivial for me to type a keyboard shortcut and hang on to my mouse at the same time.

Keyboard shortcuts will always be superior for one reason: consistency. Every computer you will ever sit down at will have a keyboard with the same buttons in the same places and a 2 - 3 button mouse. Because I've learned the shortcuts for Windows and Mac I'll be productive no matter what you set me down in front of.

Now imagine I set myself up with a Brand X super duper mouse, invested a lot of time in configuring my shortcuts on both keyboard and mouse then I work there for an extended period and get real used to it. Now for whatever reason I end up somewhere where I don't have my awesome personalized configuration and Ultimate Mouse (TM). At this point I lose all $6,000 worth of those "productivity gains" either reconfiguring the system or retraining myself to remember the defaults. The way I see it, there's a fine line between just enough customization and overkill for the sake of productivity. I'm always for learning the defaults plus a few tweaks if needed that way your "productivity" is always portable.

Maybe I'm out of line though. It just strikes me as odd that someone would write about their mouse and mention a very specific one at that. This just came off to me like product placement under the guise of productivity tips. If I'm wrong then I'm sorry. Sorry that I made the implication, not that it came off that way to me.

The author forgot to mention mouse gestures. The reason I still use Opera over Chrome is because of its excellent support for mouse gestures (the various mouse gesture extensions just aren't that responsive and smooth as Opera's native ones are). To switch tabs I just hold the right mouse button and turn the scroll wheel. To open up a new tab I hold the right mouse button and move the mouse a few pixels down, it doesn't even have to be that precise. For moving back and forward in browser history, I do right button + left mouse button and left mouse button + right mouse button respectively. I wish OS's had native support for mouse gestures system-wide, I think they're widely under-utilized.

  Most people do one of two things: (1) move the mouse up to the new tab, click it,
  and then move it back down to the main page or (2) momentarily shift their mouse
  hand over to the keyboard and press a shortcut that moves browser tabs.

Or (3): use your left hand to perform the shortcut. That's why it's sometimes convenient to have passwords that only require your left hand (though only for unimportant websites).

Having mouse shortcuts is not a bad idea per se, but having tried some of these mouses, I always end up clicking accidentally random buttons, especially the small sensitive ones located under the thumb.

I've got a mouse with two extra buttons on the side: one pointing into the screen, and one pointing away. I mapped them to Lower Window and Raise Window. In other words, pushing one while the mouse cursor is over a window moves the window in that 3-D direction.

I love it and I can't live without it now.

I thought about getting a mouse once, but...

Apple's trackpads are badass, and you get multitouch gestures, so there's no need for superfluous buttons.

It's all fun and games until you find yourself buying this: http://www.amazon.com/Mad-Catz-R-A-T-7-Gaming-Mouse/dp/B003C...

Good thing I have aquired "some sort of hyper-zen keyboard/human symbiosis". Working with a tiling wm (wmii in my case) and some sort of web-browser with keyboard shortcuts - Pentadactyl, UZBL, vimperator or vimium - works fine enough. Better than a mouse with extra buttons for sure.

The author forgot to mention the awesome 3d mice on the market :) 3Dconnexion SpaceMouse Pro is an amazing mouse not just because of the buttons but because you can use the extra axes (you can yaw/pitch/roll).