Re: Backspace/Delete - What do you prefer?
Jean wrote:
Personally, I could go either way. We have implemented solution B on the WinCE platform and it works well. On the other hand, delete is rare so that this is not a big issue.
My immediate reaction to a backspace key with slide-toggled "states" is YUCK! I agree with Keith: state changes are awful, so annoying that if states were added to the backspace key, I might also choose to stick with the current beta version rather than upgrade. Here are two good reasons why states for the backspace key don't make sense to me:
- I agree with Jean that deletes are rare, so I don't see a need for a "delete state" in which the backspace key always deletes. Most of the time I want the backspace key to backspace. With states, I'd constantly be doing three actions (slide, tap, slide) or at least two (left arrow then backspace, although this means jumping around a lot) to do my occasional deletes rather than the single slide we've got in the current version.
- For me, slides are as easy and natural and nearly as fast as taps. Believe it or not, since sliding was introduced, I never use the caps key anymore. If I need to write a word in uppercase, I slide every single letter, because it's faster and more convenient for me than changing the "caps state" twice. So sliding repeatedly for a sequence of deletes is no big deal.
I strongly recommend that the current operation of the backspace key remain unchanged in the final version, if at all possible.
Pardon the rant,
- Kennis