[ASTRO] Re: Buttons

[Michael Kepler <kepler@metro1.com>]

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> 
> Buttons are good....
> 
> i would say switches second, but sliders?
> i dont like sliders...i feel like i am not in control...i cant define EXACTLY
> where i want the slide to slide and i never seem to get it right...knobs are
> rather the same way. i never seem to have the volume adjusted right on
> anything! i just can't be satisfied by them! gosh....
> 
> leslie

There are good sliders and bad sliders and good and bad applications
for them.  They are best for those imprecise "by the feel" kind of
things like mixing boards.  The bad sliders are "sticky". they
don't move until you use more force than you would want to, and
then they move too far and too quick.  I _hate_ that.  That's the
way the sliders on my Radio Shack mixer board are.  Also, the longer
the slider the better, as you can be a lot more subtle with them.

Sliders are also great in applications, like mixer boards, where
you want a very direct at-a-glance indication of the relative
settings of several parallel controls.  That's kinda tough with
knobs.

How can I knock the kind of controller that Scotty uses to beam
people up/down?

For game interfaces, my fondest memories are with the big heavy
trackball on Centipede.  I've got the MsWin port of Centipede, 
which is an exact functional and visual replica of the arcade game,
now I just need to scrape up the bucks for a big heavy trackball.

Isn't it funny how we ASTRO-fans are so into this stuff?

Mookie

P.S.
Sliders is also a TV show with which I am not very impressed.

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