Re: Mighty trackpad?

In article <IZBKe.1494$XM3.118@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
TheLetterK <theletterk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> > You are talking about Fitt's Law,
>
> In this instance, yes.
>
> > which ironically concludes that the easiest
> > target to hit is contextual menues.
>
> Actually, it concludes that they're easiest to invoke, not manipulate.

>From the point of invokation to the point of a menu item being selected, a
contextual menu and the main menu is identical in termms of Fitt's Law.
File->Save As... is as easy or as hard to hit as Contextual Menu->Check
Spelling... - the difference is that "File" is a lot harder to hit than
"Contextual menu".

> > hard to hit: anywhere on screen not covered below
> > easier to hit: screen edges
> > very easy to hit: screen corners
> > easiest to hit: mouse position
>
> And since no entry in a context menu is at the position of the cursor
> when it's invoked, fitt's law shows that screen corners are the best
> position for a menu.

Of course not - see above. Invokation of the menu is all we are talking about
here. Navigating and selecting menu items is no different in the main menu than
it is in a contextual menu.

> A target at the position of the cursor is easiet to hit because there's
> no time taken to acquire or hit it. It basically means that
> single-fuction buttons on the mouse will always be faster than menus,
> not that menus in a near-cursor position are easier to hit than a menu
> arrayed across the edge of the screen. Unless, of course, your trying to
> claim that menus take up no screen space, save for the exact point where
> the menu was invoked.

I don't fully understand what you are trying to say here.

> >>neither do they consider the
> >>inherent complexity caused by menus that change based on the arbitrary
> >>position of the cursor.
> >
> > Contedtual menues change to work with the context at hand.
>
> Yes, that's obvious.

Exactly. It is obvious.

> > Never does it change
> > to play your mp3 files when you select a word in text edit.
>
> Any change at all is as bad as random changes.

Of course not.

> If it invoked a standard
> set of functions ('cut', 'copy', 'paste', etc) and never changed, then
> it would make sense. As it is, it's just added complexity for nothing.

Of course not. It adds functionality that would be impossible or illogical in
the main menu.

> > If you select a
> > word in text edit, the contextual menu will contain actions relevant to the
> > selection - as opposed to the big menu, which will always contain lots of
> > action that are completely *irrelevant* to the context.
>
> And since menus typically aren't one large menu with all it's functions
> lumped to gether, your argument is invalid. Static menus are almost
> always arranged in some sort of logical grouping ('File', 'Edit',
> 'Tools', etc).

Exactly, but using MT-NewsWatcher as an example. The Edit menu has
context-specific actions, such as Cut and Copy, which is disabled unless you
have context selected. But the Edit menu also has a selection for "Compose
as..." which lets me select the encoding for the message. Am I to think that it
changes the encoding for the text selected or for the entire message? If the
same both options were (also) found in a contextual menu when I right-clicked a
word, it would be obvious that it would relate to the word I had selected.

> >>The time taken to actually move the mouse and
> >>click is neglegable when compared with the time taken to figure out
> >>what you need to do, and accurately hit a target.
> >
> > You don't need to hit a target when you're using contextual menues, it's
> > right where your mouse is.
>
> No, it's not. If you move even 1/64nd of an inch, you've now invalidated
> your 'Fitt's law' defense. Context Menus are much, much larger than the
> cursor's position when the menu was invoked.

Not for invokation. See above.

> > Of course not, especially when there are things you can do with contextual
> > menues that is impossible using the main menu. A perfect example of context
> > interaction would be a web page. The main menu applies to the entire web
> > page, and not any context.
> >
> > But using the contextual menu, you can apply commands to
> > specific context, such as links and images, zoom in flash movies and so on.
> > These commands are ONLY available in contextual menues since having them
> > in the
> > main menu bar would be insane.
>
> Hardly. There's no reason static menu bars can't manipulate specific
> content.

Please detail this. Any given web page might contain some 100 links and 50
images for example. How do I open the logo image in a new window using nothing
but the main menu? Are you suggesting a series of sub menues for every single
image and link on the page?

--
Sandman[.net]
.

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