電腦外部接連設備: 五款代表性鼠標的測評
I said goodbye to my mouse last month. It was time to advance, I thought, to a higher plane of input, a trackpad that works like a tablet's screen. Instead of point and click, I'd swipe and flick.
上個月，我和自己的鼠標告了別。我原以爲，是時候使用升級版的輸入設備了，我指的是觸控板，它的工作原理和平板電腦的屏幕類似。相較於用鼠標點擊，我更傾向於在觸控板上用手指掃動和輕點。A few weeks in, I was missing my mouse. Moving a folder across a 27-inch iMac screen with the trackpad was like lugging a grand piano across the Sahara -- I had to keep taking breaks along the way, as I ran out of pad.
僅僅過了幾個星期，我就懷念起我的鼠標來了。使用觸控板在27英寸的iMac屏幕上移動文件夾就好像拖着一架巨大的鋼琴穿越撒哈拉沙漠――我在這個過程中必須要不時地休息，因爲我的觸控板不夠大。This can't be progress. Determined, I rustled up a dozen of the latest input devices, regular mice and trackpads, but also vertical mice, pen- and knob-shaped mice, a touch-screen stylus, even a controller that lets you wave your hands around without touching anything, a la 'Minority Report.'
這實在談不上進步。毅然決然地，我搜羅了十幾款最新型的輸入設備，其中不僅包括普通型鼠標和觸控板，還包括垂直型鼠標、筆型鼠標、球型鼠標和觸控筆，甚至一個不需要觸摸就能感應你雙手動作的控制器，感覺就像電影《少數派報告》(Minority Report)中的場景一樣。
What I discovered: Thirty years after the Macintosh took the mouse mainstream, I couldn't find anything more precise or comfortable for operating a computer. More important, I found the mouse has managed to reinvent itself over the years -- it's like the Madonna of PC peripherals.
我發現：從30年前Macintosh電腦奠定鼠標方向的那一天起，直至今日，我仍然無法找到可以比鼠標更加精準和舒適地操作電腦的設備了。更重要的是，我發現，鼠標在多年中一直在不斷實現創新――堪稱電腦外圍設備界的麥當娜(Madonna)。One reinvention stood out during my testing, a mouse whose unconventional look belied its natural grip: the Sculpt Ergonomic Mouse by Microsoft. Other standouts I tested were Apple's Magic Mouse, the Penclic Mouse and Logitech's Ultrathin Touch Mouse.
在我的測試中，一款革命性的鼠標脫潁而出：那就是微軟(Microsoft)的Sculpt人體工學鼠標(Sculpt Ergonomic Mouse)。這款鼠標外觀特立獨行，同時又有着自然舒適的抓握感。我測試的其他幾款出類拔萃的鼠標包括：蘋果公司(Apple)的Magic Mouse、Penclic鼠標和羅技(Logitech)的超薄觸控鼠標(Ultrathin Touch Mouse)。Picking a control device is kind of like choosing shoes -- some go for Air Jordans, others for Christian Louboutin heels. Everyone has their own size and physical fit -- sometimes even a medical need. (My right-handed editor swears by a trackball mouse in his left hand.)
選擇操控設備就像選擇鞋子一樣――有些人偏好耐克空中飛人(Air Jordans)運動鞋，有些人則青睞克里斯提・魯布托(Christian Louboutin)高跟鞋。每個人都有自己的尺碼和腳形――有時候人們還要求鞋子具備醫療功能。（坐在我右手邊的編輯正抱怨着他左手用着的軌跡球鼠標。）Though PC sales have declined in recent years, mouse unit sales slipped only 3% in the past 12 months, according to industry research firm NPD. In other words, a good chunk of laptop buyers are adding mice to their productivity ensembles.
儘管最近幾年PC電腦的銷量有所下滑，但是據行業調查公司NPD稱，在過去的12個月中，鼠標設備的銷量僅下滑了3%。換句話來說，很多便攜式電腦買家爲提高整體效率都添置了鼠標設備。To test my efficiency using a mouse and other input devices, I used a program scientists developed to study the speed-accuracy trade-offs in human muscle movements, called Fitts's Law. My scores, based on clicking scattered dots on a screen, were at times nearly twice as fast with a mouse as with a trackpad. Most hands are more relaxed on a mouse, so starting and stopping are easier, say the ergonomists.
爲了測試我在使用鼠標和其他輸入設備時的效率，我使用了一款科學家開發的用來測試人類肌肉在速度與準確性上協調程度的程序：菲茨定律(Fitts's Law)。我的得分按點擊分散在屏幕上的點來計算，我使用鼠標時的得分幾乎是使用觸控板時得分的兩倍。人體工程學家表示，大多數人的手在使用鼠標時更加放鬆，因此發出點擊動作和終止點擊動作更簡單。Of course, for flipping pages or pinching to zoom, finger gestures on a touch screen or trackpad are the more efficient way.
當然，在執行翻頁或屏幕縮放的動作時，用手指在觸摸屏或者觸控板上進行操作更加高效。Both Apple and Microsoft have integrated finger gestures into their latest computer operating systems. Apple sells iMacs with a trackpad option. Microsoft built the latest Windows version in the hope that users touch the screen itself.
蘋果公司和微軟都已經把手勢控制整合到了各自最新的電腦操作系統之中。蘋果公司在銷售iMac電腦時提供了選擇觸控板的配置選項。微軟在構建最新一代Windows操作系統時希望用戶可以進行屏幕觸控。A touch-screen monitor on a desktop or laptop sounds good, but it invites what some call 'gorilla-arm' fatigue. After forcing myself to use only the touch screen on a Windows 8.1 laptop, I found myself propping it up at an angle in my lap so my hands could rest on the side. (Microsoft says the touch screen is meant to supplement, not replace, other inputs.)
臺式電腦或筆記本電腦的觸摸顯示屏聽起來不錯，但是它會帶來一種人們稱作“大猩猩臂”的疲勞感。在強迫自己只使用Windows 8.1筆記本電腦的觸摸屏後，我發現自己不由自主地把筆記本電腦以某個角度撐在了大腿上，這樣我的手就可以搭在邊上休息了。（微軟表示，觸摸屏的設計初衷是對其他輸入工具構成補充，而並非有意取代其他輸入工具。）Then there is a problem of universality: Designers haven't yet come up with a common language for touch on computers. In Windows 8.1, a swipe from the left lets you switch between apps, while on a Mac trackpad, three fingers, moving in the same direction, open a widget dashboard. And neither movement is particularly intuitive.
除此之外，還有一個關於通用性的問題：設計師們尚未制定出電腦觸屏方面的統一標準。在Windows 8.1系統中，從左向右劃過屏幕可以讓你在不同的應用程序間進行切換，而對於Mac觸控板而言，三隻手指划向同一個方向可以打開應用面板。並且，這兩種動作都不是人類的自然動作。The emerging world of touchless computing confuses things more. The Leap Motion, which tracks the movement of hands, lets you do cool tricks. But every compatible program comes with its own set of new moves you have to learn. And the accuracy of floating fingers is low. Leap Motion says its device isn't a replacement for the mouse, just an accessory for software that benefits from 3-D controls.
日漸成型的無觸控電腦技術把一切變得更復雜了。能夠感應手部運動的Leap Motion可以讓你體會變戲法的感受。但是，每一款兼容的應用程序都需要你通過學習掌握其特定的手法。此外，Leap Motion對處於運動狀態中的手指的感應靈敏度也較低。Leap Motion公司表示，這款感應設備並非鼠標的替代品，它只是3-D控制類軟件的一個附件。Mouse designers have made leaps in ergonomics. Many are now more vertical, better mimicking the posture of a hand in its natural resting state. 'Your fingers are curled into your palm, but not all evenly,' says Edie Adams, an ergonomist at Microsoft.
鼠標設計師在人體工程學上已經實現了突破。現在，很多鼠標都更加趨向於垂直型，以便更好地模擬手部在自然狀態下的姿勢。微軟的人體工程學家伊迪・亞當斯(Edie Adams)表示：“你的手指向掌心彎曲，但並不是每根手指的角度都相同。”My favorite mouse was one she worked on, Microsoft's wireless Sculpt Ergonomic Mouse ($60 or less). It looks like a plum, with an overly ripe area where you rest your thumb. It is comfortable enough to use for hours, the mouse equivalent of orthopedic shoes. And props to Microsoft for apparently getting it to run on one pair of AA batteries for a whole year. I'll even use it on my Mac.
我最喜歡的鼠標就是伊迪的團隊研發的，即微軟的無線Sculpt人體工學鼠標（售價爲60美元或更低）。它看起來像是一個李子，擁有一個可以讓拇指得到休息的寬敞區域。這款鼠標舒適到可以連用幾個小時，堪稱鼠標界的矯形鞋。這款微軟鼠標還有一個明顯的優勢，那就是它可以依靠兩節AA電池運行一整年。我甚至在我的Mac電腦上也使用它。The runner-up was the even more vertical $90 Penclic. That familiar pen shape gave me a sense of control I wasn't expecting.
位居第二的是更具垂直性的Penclic鼠標（其售價爲90美元）。這款鼠標運用了大家熟悉的筆型設計，它給我帶來了意想不到的操控感。Today's mice also do a better job at adding features through gestures, so they don't get overloaded with extra buttons. Apple's $70 Magic Mouse may be less comfortable to hold over extended periods than the ergonomic options, but it does the best job of integrating touch commands on its smooth, flat surface -- such as swiping with two fingers to advance through pages or browse photos. Logitech's $70 Ultrathin Touch Mouse puts similar gesture functionality into a body small enough to travel with a laptop.
當今的鼠標在通過感應觸控手勢來增加設備功能上表現得越來越出色了，所以它們不需要再設計額外的按鍵。與人體工學鼠標相比，蘋果公司售價70美元的Magic Mouse或許長時間使用沒有那麼舒適，但是對於在平滑表面上感應觸控指令這一點上，Magic Mouse的表現是最爲出色的――比如使用雙指輕掃鼠標表面，便可以瀏覽頁面和照片。羅技公司售價70美元的超薄觸控鼠標也具有類似的觸控功能，這款鼠標纖巧的體積非常便於隨便攜式電腦一起攜帶。The idea shouldn't be to try to 'out-mouse the mouse' with new kinds of inputs, says Josh Clark, a computer interface designer and founder of the firm Global Moxie. Rather, we're moving to a world of technology and input devices designed to fit specific times and places: touch screens on the go, voice activation for TVs, hand gestures to browse a store display with products.
電腦界面設計師、Global Moxie公司的創始人喬希・克拉克(Josh Clark)表示，試圖用新型輸入設備“取代鼠標”的理念是不正確的。我們正在進入科技和輸入設備的新世界，新工具將爲特定的時間和地點而設計：隨處可見的觸摸屏、聲控電視、用手勢瀏覽商店產品等。I spend a growing part of my day with smartphones and tablets, but like many professionals, when I need to get work done, I'm still sitting in a chair facing a big computer screen. And there, the mouse remains king.
我在一天中使用智能手機和平板電腦的時間越來越多了，但是，與很多職業人士一樣，當我需要完成工作時，我仍舊習慣坐在書桌前，面對寬大的電腦顯示器。此時此刻，鼠標依然爲王。
