What buttons appear on the TouchBar, where they appear, their size, colors, and content are all a function of the TouchBar software. I can also choose to prop it up or lay it flat on the desk depending on the use case Fully customisable much like the Touch Bar, but the keys are fixed in place and I’d develop muscle memory with use. On the other hand, I like the Stream Deck much better. My finger hurts after hitting the Escape ‘key’ for too long (and sometimes, the key would disappear and the key is slightly indented), and my brain hurts when I accidentally lock the Mac while brushing my little finger over the Lock button. When typing out lines of complicated loops and nested statements, this is quite a big deal. Having to look away from the screen breaks my ‘flow state’ which is disruptive and takes a while to get back on track. Since it is a continuous strip, it is almost impossible for me to develop muscle memory with it. This is the biggest problem I have with the Touch Bar. The central tenet of touch typing is DO NOT LOOK AWAY FROM THE TEXT and this violates that egregiously. It’s look down, location of desired item, watching while you press it, and then look back up and reacquire where you are on the page, and do that multiple times during the typing. I could go into a huge tangent about touch interfaces and how they can permit individual user customization for control and overall improved experience (I believe Denise & Michael Okuda talked about this in the late 80s with their Star Trek: TNG console designs).Īnyway… looking at the OP by Simon that was speculating about the March Apple Event and product announcements, we are perhaps running a bit of a myopic tangent (myself included).

Nothing new in the realm of mega-corporations, of course. While economic reasons certainly play a part, it is relevant that Apple does not appear to be losing money at this time, despite numerous stumbles and a stubborn refusal to acknowledge some outright errors and defects. I saw some productive uses with Newton pads even in the early 2000s until the modern touchscreen pocket devices became cheaper and proliferated. These are good examples of the community taking something produced by a technology company and running with it. Norman G and others pointed out the brilliant tools (BTT, Aqua Touch) made by non-Apple folks. Having seen the TouchBar debate elsewhere, I think it is safe to say “it wasn’t for everyone” and I also feel it was not fully realized and/or supported by Apple.

Better touch tool alternative mac