On 11-Sep-09 10:41:21, Jim Lemon wrote: > On 09/11/2009 05:15 PM, Patrick Connolly wrote: >> ... >> |> and in previous versions, you could always do M-x cua-mode for >> |> the same effect. Talk about a well-hidden function mostly directed >> |> at beginners ... >> >> Perhaps the thinking was that by the time they find it, they'll >> already have noticed that they can cut/copy and paste using only the >> mouse buttons and won't be bothered with such inefficient methods. >> >> Though this be madness, yet there is a method in't. :-) >> > Well, okay, let's look at it from the viewpoint of learning theory. We > expect that if someone has learned a skill, they will prefer to engage > in other behaviors where they can successfully use that skill. Upon > this > easily understood foundation rest the fortunes of many. Thus two of > those entities, let us call them A and M for the purposes of > discussion, > spend a great deal of time and effort attempting to differentiate their > interfaces from each other so that having trained their users, those > users will be reluctant to switch to the competitor. However, they must > remain similar enough so that the switch from the competitor is not > impossible. Such is the dispiriting triumph of form over substance in > interface design. Both have yet to abandon such atavists as myself who > prefer to type rather than fiddle with a pointing device, though they > try hard to convert us. A somewhat smaller organization that I will > label G seems to have decided that it can build a user base by sticking > to the arcane typoglyphics of the VT-100 era and enticing the largely > amoral digirati with moral suasion. Now that's madness. > > Jim
Once again, I cannot resist citing the immortal quote (from Charles Curran, of the UK Unix Users Group): "I can touch-type, but I can't touch-mouse" Originally posted on Wed Nov 17 13:48:14 2004, in the context of an extended discussion (still relevant to the present thread): http://finzi.psych.upenn.edu/R/Rhelp02/archive/41560.html Best wishes to all, Ted. -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <ted.hard...@manchester.ac.uk> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 11-Sep-09 Time: 11:53:09 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------ ______________________________________________ R-help@r-project.org mailing list https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.