Mo' screens = mo' happiness

[Michael Rudolph]

On Tuesday 13 May 2008 21:38:32 Aaron J. Seigo wrote:
> On Tuesday 13 May 2008, Michael Rudolph wrote:
> > the rich information these interactions provide, I don't really
> > like that particular example. Because when I'm having dual
> > multi-touch input devices, I'll hopefully not need a mouse ever
> > again.
>
> the point is that when it's done in software it can adapt. and yes,
> when i plug a mouse in, the trackpad ought to get out of my way
> because i probably want to use the mouse, not the trackpad. if i
> never need a mouse, i'll likely never plug one in.

Hi Aaron,

sorry for not clearly communicating the fact, that indeed I have 
understood what your point was. And sorry also for not clearly 
communicating, what my point was.

I wanted to raise awareness for the fact, that people often miss 
the "big picture" when discussing new features. Perhaps the most 
striking example of this, are the "advancements" in window management. 
Although many things changed in the recent past, nothing really 
improved for the user. They have a lot of eye candy on their desktops 
now, but not in the good sense you described at akademy last year.
Developers failed to ask themselves, what the goal was, that they 
actually needed to achieve.

And the same is true for laptops with touchscreens or dual touchscreens. 
Why would anyone want to scratch a little virtual touchpad, when 
instead they could actually just touch their content right there in 
front of them? The whole act of moving a mouse pointer across the 
screen is flawed in a multi-touch environment. When we have 
touchscreens, we also need software, that allows us to appropriately 
interact with our content. Mice (or touchpads) and touchscreens just 
don't make a lot of sense together, since both require software with 
different interaction patterns.

So your idea of adaptation is really great, but the example you used is 
not. And my whole point was to simple point out the reasons why I think 
it was not a really great example. And I didn't do it, to 
unquestionably prove, that I'm a smartass, but to make people aware of 
the fact that good design comes from thinking things through and also 
looking at the big picture. I didn't think, I needed to remind you of 
that :-), but hopefully others can profit from my criticism.

michael