Iconitis

[James C. Benz]

In article <11555 at lanl.gov> jlg at lanl.gov (Jim Giles) writes:
>My major objection with icons is that often I know very well what I want
>to do, but I can't do it without walking down some menu.  This requires
>that I use the mouse, move to the right place to bring up the desired
>menu, move to the selected item, etc..  But, since I already KNOW what
>I want to do, what I really need is to type in a short command!  The
>icon interface simply slows down experienced users.

I'd like to put my two kopeks worth in here too.  I found mouse and icon
based applications infuriating for this very reason.  A word to all you who
write these things.  I am a *fast* typist.  I absolutely hate having to 
remove my fingers from the home keys to manipulate a mouse.  I have a
7300 UNIXPC at home, and I always use the Unix shell rather than the nifty
window interface that the designers at ATT thought was so necessary to
compete with Macs.  I will *never* own a Mac, and will never recommend one
to anyone else, until they give up this icon obsession.  I do most 
everything in vi, have used Emacs, and VMS editor, and find all these most
productive, but every time I am forced to use a Mac, I turn the air blue
around me.  Please, if you are going to write applications based on the
mouse, give me the *option* of using the keyboard.  I don't care if it means
a couple of extra key presses - at 90 words per minute, this is hardly a
factor, but moving from the keyboard to a mouse and back slows me down to
an effective 50 or 60 WPM, and even worse if I have to go through umpteen
levels of pull down menus just to look at another file, it just makes me
mad.  There are plenty of us out here who have good typing skills and the
smarts to understand English and even Unix, and by catering to the least
common denominator, you only cut yourselves out of a large chunk of market
share.

(Up with cat, down with mouse!)  Flame off.
-- 
Jim Benz 		     jcbst3 at unix.cis.pittsburgh.edu     If a modem 
University of Pittsburgh					 answers,
UCIR			     (412) 648-5930			 hang up!