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@snowcone Morse is 5 taps, at most, for any letter. Most ate significantly shorter. Whereas scrolling would mean that you're potentially a full 13 taps away from your choice of letter, or even 25 if the alphabet doesn't wrap around at the ends. So... not quite so efficient. :p
Tuesday, 01-Oct-13 08:34:57 UTC from web-
@snowcone 2 words- DAMN IMPOSSIBLE! TO THE MAX!
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@snowcone Like the stuff used for paralysed guys. Eye tracking and all that.
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@snowcone how would you teach it to 1st graders how to type?!
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@saxbrony They'll probably be able to figure it out on their own if left alone with the device
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@snowcone Stuff is mostly binary due to the reduced input they can give
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@snowcone Wait, you said one's scroll and one's select. So yeah, even just doing the alphabet that's potentially 25 taps (plus select!) for a single letter.
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@bitshift @snowcone But what if the buttons aren't just buttons? I could easily imagine one of the buttons rotating as a selector knob, kinda like how the average cheap label maker works. Or possibly both would be pushable knobs of some sort, diving the option count evenly between both halves and making reasonably quick letter selection possible given the proper arrangement of each letter and enough practice. (Of course, this is all assuming Equestria uses our alphabet, anyway. They could have their own ridiculous alphabet with, like, six letters or something.)
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@redenchilada Then that would be neat, and a lot more logical. But we've seen the closest thing they have to a keyboard in the show (the Foal Free Press typewriter in Ponyville Confidential), and it has two press-down buttons, so that's what I was taking as context. :P
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@bitshift Maybe they're pressure sensitive like the gamecube triggers.
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@bitshift I really need to watch that episode again. I remember the whole two-button typewriter thing, but I've completely forgotten how exactly it was operated. (Plus it's my second-favorite episode of the whole show so that's another good reason)
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@snowcone Shorter learning curve, significantly lower maximum speed. I wouldn't be surprised if both exist, for that reason, with professional newsponies and such learning the efficient-but-unintuitive option. :)
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@weedlordhitler That could definitely work, although then it becomes a case of training oneself to apply just the right pressure at all times. Which is not necessarily a bad thing.
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@bitshift I think even considering that it's easier to train to apply the right pressure than it is to train for proper typing on a keyboard, even more so if the trigger has three or four positions which is likely to be, since triggers with more sensitivity are usually fragile.
