Re: can the '08 GUI be ANY crappier?
 

how do you right click without a long click?

Re: can the '08 GUI be ANY crappier?
 

I like the ability of a long click to represent a right mouse click. As a former product designer (and thus heavy user of parametric modeling tools such as SolidWorks) I am a big, BIG evangelist for context-sensitive UI approaches. Hide what the user doesn't need, and bring up what he/she does need based mainly on current context. Beautiful. Reduction of used real estate, reduction of clicks, win for the happy user.

I don't see a better way for right clicks to be emulated on the tablets, unless one considers combining touch with a hardware button press-- and I just don't see that as better. But to each his own.

Re: can the '08 GUI be ANY crappier?
 

I, for one, will welcome consistency!

There are places and times for both finger and stylus. Unfortunately, I found I can never just use my finger, I have to dig out the stylus, even at the most awkward times... "(finger tap, finger tap..) excuse me, just gotta... oompf... shift my stuff around so I can free up an extra hand and get the stylus out so I can tap that tiny little menu item / scroll bar / button ..."

Re: can the '08 GUI be ANY crappier?
 

I don't. :(
I use the stylus for browsing. The current browser simply won't work with fingers.
But I wouldn't mind it being more finger-friendly.

Re: can the '08 GUI be ANY crappier?
 

one could say that context sensitive is one short step up from keyboard shortcuts. at least thats how it seems to be with windows users.

also, as the menu is something you dont see, if you forget about testing whats there, you may miss a feature or more (happened to me with mauku).

then there is the issue of screen sensitivity. if find myself unable to maintain consistent pressure long enough for the menu to come up. often i end up having accidental double-clicks because of that.

this also happened when im dragging things around. either i rest the stylus or finger on the screen with just enough pressure to read it as a click and drag, or i cant maintain the pressure thru the drag and get a unwanted event (like say the files ending up in the wrong dir, mail opening when i want to multiselect, or just having to start over).

then there is trying to hit a small target while getting that menu to appear. bothersome like nothing else when you want to open up a link in a different page. specifically forums or similar that hide links behind small graphical elements.

with a mouse one can drag over to see the hand, then right click. no such thing with the stylus or finger. you only really know if you hit based on the border (but that can be so small as to be hidden under the stylus tip), or the content of the menu.

sure, i could zoom the page. but that takes time, and it will have to be zoomed back out ones the next page opens up so that i can read the full page without having to scroll sideways (i could turn on "fit to page", but that makes the page rendering take even longer then it usually do with all the ajaxy bling that pages have these days).

its a bit of damned if one do, damned if one dont...

Re: can the '08 GUI be ANY crappier?
 

Too much analysis leads to paralysis. :p

Re: can the '08 GUI be ANY crappier?
 

heh, there may funnily enough be some truth to that...

Re: can the '08 GUI be ANY crappier?
 

You bet there is. I'm the analytical type by nature (and occasionally by career). A former manager had to constantly warn me against "analysis paralysis"-- and he was mostly on target. So I constantly force myself to apply an 80/20 rule to any endeavor, and you know what? It's usually appropriate. ;)

Re: can the '08 GUI be ANY crappier?
 

I wonder if the average user ever thinks of the UI we have as being inconsistent or crappy or anything else than "the way it should be".

Sometimes I think we're just a bunch of very, very strange people - and in no way representative of the real world out there ;)

(I mean... come on! Would any normal user register on a forum and discuss user interface design???)

Re: can the '08 GUI be ANY crappier?
 

Oh my God. Oh my God!

I should change my font or at least increase letter spacing. Or think of something else quickly. This is a C and an L close together, not a D!