No. Simple means being willing to make hard choices and say “no” when something’s inclusion doesn’t warrant the cognitive overhead it adds. Or effectively designing so that complexity is only exposed if you really need it.
Yeah maybe, but for desktop OSes it usually means "we don't want to do the work to implement that obviously useful feature". Consider for example MacOS removing the mouse acceleration setting. What a brave choice.
> designing so that complexity is only exposed if you really need it.
Yeah this is the right way to do things. But again, often stuff is just ripped out rather than sensibly managed. Another example: most of the useful WiFi settings in Linux are not accessible in Gnome by default. You have to install the third party `nm-connection-editor` tool. Why? All that stuff should be accessible from Settings.
> Consider for example MacOS removing the mouse acceleration setting. What a brave choice.
I haven’t used a Mac with a mouse in ages. I feel the trackpad interface is so much better (and consistent between laptop and desktop) that I think a move away from mice is a deliberate choice by Apple.
For gaming, absolutely. But macOS and Apple devices aren't tailored towards that, and their mice are oddballs anyway: one button, and heavily tailored towards gestures. They're a mouse and touchpad in one. I quit using it when I got RSI. Now I use a vertical mouse (by Logitech). Now that is one of a kind (but it does not do gestures well).
Not just for gaming. Mice are better for everything.
> Now I use a vertical mouse (by Logitech).
Ugh I tried that when I had RSI. Absolutely awful. The fundamental flaw is that you click sideways which always moves the pointer a little unless you strain to avoid it, which kind of defeats the point.
Get a better chair and desk. That solved the RSI for me - no weird ergonomic input devices made any difference.
For me, a couple of years ago a vertical mouse almost instantly solved my RSI which I only once had severe before in 40+ years of computer usage (that was due to physical work, though they attempted to gaslight me into being a heavy computer user). Using a mouse, trackpad or trackpad meant trouble. Slowly, it healed, and I can once again use a trackpad. But nowadays I do not use normal mice anymore for any prolonged tasks. Only my vertical one. I had a different one before the Logitech one. Some cheap ass brand. It worked well for a couple of months of heavy usage and then it had hardware malfunctioning. I went with the Logitech and years later still goes strong, with a couple of weeks of battery life.
You're wrong regarding mice being always superior. Mice have their place, and I am not the only person who has benefited from vertical mice (there is a learning curve, btw). Mice have a severe drawback: they need more physical, flat, clean space than the other pointer solutions. Try a mouse with a cyberdeck and tell me how that worked out. I've done pentesting tasks with a small laptop the size of two mice. I would not be able to do that outside on the go with a mouse. I also had situations where back in the days I had no space for a mouse, so I used my trackpoint.
