[NTLK] left-handers and HWR on newt

From: Paul G. Grothaus (pgrothaus_at_mac.com)
Date: Mon Oct 22 2001 - 23:49:40 EDT


on 10/13/01 11:49 PM, good-dog_at_northshore.net wrote:

> I have a friend who is exploring my newton with the possibility of
> getting one someday. She's left-handed. Is there any known problem
> with the software that'd make it difficult for left-handed people to use
> the handwriting aspect of newton?

I'm one of those weirdos who is ambidexterous, i.e. can write with either
hand (for details of how I developed this talent, see below). In my
experience, my newt's HWR is nearly perfect with either my left or right
handed scribble, both of which are illegible to me sometimes. And no, I
don't have a separate user set up for each hand, I alternate hands with no
discernible change in HWR accuracy.

 In general, I find the Newton UI is better suited for right handed use due
to the position of scroll bars and arrows. When scrolling, a left hander's
hand blocks the screen. While the position of the scroll arrows in the
button bar can be changed in Prefs, most applications fix the scroll bar on
the right. One exception is InkSpot, the newsgroup reader. It has a prefs
function which moves the scroll bar to the left. I would love to have a
small utility which would accomplish this on a global scale so that Newton
Works, Simple Mail, etc. could be configured the same way. Does anyone know
how this could be accomplished?

As to how I learned to write both ways, I am a natural lefty and owe this
ability to Sister Alice, my kindergarten through second grade teacher. She
made all of us "sinister" children sit on our left hands during penmanship
classes, forcing us to learn to use our right hands. She actually extended
this restriction to the playground and would reprimand us for throwing a
ball with our left hand! Now, I can do almost anything as well with my right
hand as with my left. Unfortunately for me, when it comes to athletic
pursuits, that means equally bad!

Aloha,
Paul Grothaus
Mililani, Hawaii

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