[cycomanic]

I also priorise input devices and because of that I would never get a laptop without a track point. Track pads (no matter which ones) are just such a poor choice of pointing device on a laptop, requiring one to essentially move the hand away from the keyboard. Unfortunately I'm pretty much locked into thinkpads now because all other track pointers are pretty crap. The again I can't really complain thinkpads are quite excellent compared to most other laptops.

Just goes to show that people can prioritise but come to very different conclusions

[samatman]

There's a categorical difference between preferring one sort of input over another, and there being only one acceptable implementation of that category. As you indicated, if the keyboard cough nub, let's call it a nub, is your mouse pusher of choice, you pretty much own a ThinkPad, because the other ones suck.

If you like a trackpad, you have a Mac, for the same reason. I don't know if it's the hardware or the firmware, might be some of both, but no one else ships a laptop with an acceptable response curve.

I stick with the Apple ecosystem for a few reasons, but this is a big one. Even when I'm at the desktop with keyboard and trackball, I'll reach over to the laptop sometimes to pinch, or three-finger swipe, just because it's the easiest way to express my intention. The context switch from using the keyboard to using the mouse is a fairly complete one for me, which is to say I tend to spend long stretches doing one or the other. I don't place any value on staying on the home row while switching. I do place considerable value on proper pointer and scroll acceleration, reliable recognition of gestures, and input rejection when my palm or thumb happens to rest on the trackpad. Any non-Apple laptop trackpad I've tested completely fails one or all of these.

[tssva]

“If you like a trackpad, you have a Mac, for the same reason.”

I have a ThinkPad with a track point and don’t use it opting instead to use the trackpad. Before the ThinkPad I had a MacBook Pro. I find neither trackpad better or worse than the other.

[yencabulator]

> If you like a trackpad, you have a Mac, for the same reason.

Weird fanboyism. I've migrated from nubs to touchpads because Lenovo ruined Thinkpads, and I'm perfectly fine without a Mac thankyouverymuch.

[wtallis]

It sounds like you don't like trackpads, so you're not providing a counterexample to that statement.

[samatman]

Weird hostility. Apple's trackpads are best in class, there's no serious debate about this. There are plenty of other considerations as to what machine or machines someone might use, I don't care what sort of computer you prefer or even want to know, really. "Fanboy" is your insecurity talking, nothing more.

[al_borland]

My first laptop was a Thinkpad and I used the trackpoint exclusively, because the trackpad was so small and awful (this was around 2001). At the time I said something similar, that the trackpoint is the best. Years later, probably around 2007 I got my first MacBook Pro and the trackpad was great. Many years after that got I got work laptop with a trackpoint on it and had a really problem getting used to it again... the trackpad was also bad, so I just used a mouse all the time.

I think the trackpoint can be great, but more adaptation is required and most people aren't willing to go through it.

My dad also ended up with some sort of tendon injury that he attributed to the using the trackpoint on his laptop all day, every day, which I've never experienced, but it has always been in the back of my mind.

[dTal]

Quite possible the trackpoint was genuinely worse in 2007 than in 2001. Like Windows 95 itself, huge amounts of human factors research went into making it worthwhile when it was new and unproven, with usability studies deriving the optimal curves and constants. People described it as feeling like telepathy. And like Windows itself, some time between then and now, everyone seems to have forgotten that it's a hard problem and just started YOLOing whatever random stuff "feels right".

Rant: On my T480 - an extremely popular, flagship Thinkpad - the trackpoint is unusable out of the box on Linux - it crawls at a snails pace unless I manually max out the sensitivity in sysfs, and also fiddle with xinput (no configuration is possible on Wayland). What is worse, infuriatingly, the curve seems to frequently change whenever libinput is updated, requiring me to go and find another set of fiddles to bring it roughly into line. This is clearly not the output of a structured, empirical, research-based approach to the issue, but of someone just fucking around with the constants for one reason or another. It does not feel like telepathy, and it makes my wrist hurt in short order if I overuse it (luckily the laptop also has a generous touchpad).

I dunno, maybe it's better on Windows. But I'd be amazed if anyone cared enough to make sure that 90s usability research was still valid, on modern variants of trackpoint sensors and modern high resolution screens.

[mschuster91]

Trackpoints IMHO suck hard, simply because you need a lot of fine motor control to precisely operate them, the texture is bad, and a single "purring cat on closed lid" event can be enough to permanently stain the screen.

[rjh29]

Skill issue.

[mschuster91]

There are people on this world who legitimately have physical/neurological issues with fine motor control. The latter one just happens to include myself.

Apple's touchpad is far superior - it allows for really precise gestures as well as high speed coarse gestures, just varied by the speed of moving.