Why did Motion choose the pointing stick versus a touch pad for the mouse pointer on the Convertible Keyboard?
A. The choice of pointing device is a highly subjective one. Implementing a touchpad or trackball required growing the keyboard significantly in size – which did not support the mobile design goals of this product. Second, touch pads usually require the user to move their hands from the keys when typing a document. While this works well for web browsing, it can be considered a disadvantage for authoring or typing a document. Because the pen interface already provides an ideal pointing device for web browsing, Motion was able to optimize the keyboard pointing device to better support traditional typing tasks.
The choice of pointing device is a highly subjective one. Implementing a touchpad or trackball required growing the keyboard significantly in size – which did not support the mobile design goals of this product. Second, touch pads usually require the user to move their hands from the keys when typing a document. While this works well for web browsing, it can be considered a disadvantage for authoring or typing a document. Because the pen interface already provides an ideal pointing device for web browsing, Motion was able to optimize the keyboard pointing device to better support traditional typing tasks.
