Laptop Track Pads
10th of April, 2007
The thought of having to use a track pad was the scariest thing about buying a laptop. Every track pad I’d ever used was extremely difficult and felt completely unnatural. I ended up buying a Mighty Mouse with my computer but have since found I’d much prefer to use the track pad over a Mighty Mouse. But that’s partly because they suck.
Like many things Apple do, they’ve done track pads right. On other track pads the tracking area is awkwardly deep, with a thick border, tracking feels unnatural, the area is too small, guides are permanently printed, the buttons have some sort of texture and have a difficult clicking action. They’re horrible to use.
Recently Daring Fireball wrote about usability and compared iCal date entering to Backpack date entering. It’s obvious that the iCal interface is easier to decipher and use the very first time but it’s cumbersome every time after the first. While the Backpack method takes a little learning at first but once learnt, it’s much more efficient and enjoyable to use than iCal.
It’s the same case with the little scroll bar guides etched into PC laptop track pads. Once you know how to scroll, you never have to be taught again but the instructions are there forever. It’s like burning the assembly instructions into the top of an Ikea desk.
Photo Credit: Dred242 and Jeffturner
