Left is right
By Marc Perton
Given that I’m a southpaw, I’ve long been frustrated with typical computer pointing devices, which are often—in the name of ergonomics—curved to support the palm of a right-handed user. I know many lefties who have thrown in the towel, and now mouse with their right hands. I’ve refused to do this, and have been on the lookout for the perfect lefty mouse. Logitech’s new left-handed laser mouse, which I recently picked up, comes close, though its curvature isn’t really as pronounced as I’d like. Still, it’s big, chunky and feels good in the (left) hand. And it has one feature that endeared it to me from the moment I installed its drivers: it switches mouse buttons by default, so that the “left” mouse button is actually on the right, where it’s convenient for clicking by a lefty’s index finger. Having had to change the default settings for other mice regularly over the years, this is a nice usability touch, though it will continue to frustrate righties who try to use my computer. (Oh, and I’ve resisted including the same “Rocky Horror” reference in the title of this post that I used when I previewed this mouse for Engadget. I’m still a little bummed that it took 24 hours and 20 comments for anyone to pick that one up!)
