I don't see a short vs long press as being any easier, so to me it comes entirely down to the positioning, and the select button is certainly in a better position than the 'context menu' button. It even makes more sense to me that it be on the select button, in terms of pure interface, because you use the select button as part of navigation (to select a file, analogous to clicking on a computer), and holding the select button is an alternate form of selecting the file (bringing up the things you can do with it, rather than taking the default action, analogous to right clicking on a file), so just from a pure "what should it do" concept, it makes sense to me for it to be there, as well as from a convenience concept.
To me personally the other mapping is easier to use overall, but I was trying not to bring personal preference into this. As is the case, I posit that _overall_ the benefits of having the buttons mapped as the other targets outweigh the costs. The current layout shows a significant preference for right handed people, something that can be fixed at a very, very minimal cost, as well as requiring less thumb movement for one-handed operation (for either left or right-handed users), which has been in the past mentioned as a preference. In regards to Simon's post:
But for me the core is only cursor movement, menu, select, play.
I hate to say it, but you're either contradicting yourself with that statement, or not understanding me: The 'menu' button, as you mentioned, isn't honored on the Sansa because it's also the power button, and the quick menu has been removed from it. That 'core' button doesn't work the same on the Sansas. I honestly find the current Sansa button layout incredibly inconvenient for either hand usage, but I'd rather discuss it on objective terms rather than a matter of preference, because honestly if you ask 20 people how they'd like their button layouts, you're going to get 20 responses. I think it's absolutely horrible for overall usefulness, independent of handedness and prior targets, because the main menu is visited frequently and not accessible from the "central" area.
