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Confessions of a Left-Handed Technology User
harrymcc writes "Over at TIME.com, I wrote about my trials and tribulations as a left-handed person who uses technology products. An awful lot of them have clearly been designed with the right-handed majority in mind, even when they claimed they weren't. But the good news is that modern smartphones and tablets are very lefty-friendly compared to the devices that preceded them."
The Microsoft logo used for this story is outdated.
As a life long lefty, I can honestly say I've never felt the need to complain because a piece of technology isn't designed for me. I don't find any technology gadget I own to be designed in such a way so as to impede my usage of it.
I do know lefties who complain constantly about the injustice afforded them, but to be honest I've never been able to empathize with them.
You should really lock your PC when you walk away. Someone just trolled you and made you look like a complete jackass.
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I'm left-handed and I seriously don't see all of the life-challenges that are moaned about in this article and others, whether they concern technology or not. I'm pretty convinced that life as a left-hander is no harder than it would be if I were right-handed.
Maybe I'm just so used to right handed mice. I have always had the same issue with left handed scissors as well. :-/
I'm left handed, but I've never had an issue using mice or trackpads right handed. After a little test right now it seems I also use my right hand more often when using a tablet or smartphone - probably because of the mouse thing.
Random facts that perhaps nobody cares about: I play baseball, golf and hockey with a right handed orientation, but racket games like tennis and badminton left handed. I am more comfortable brushing my teeth and shaving with my left hand, but have recently been occasionally practice with my right just for fun. When I was a kid, I broke my left wrist and so was forced to learn to write, eat etc, with my right hand for a while. It's fun to practice being ambidextrous.
which is totally what she said
Other than smudging the ink from those awful erasable pens, I never payed much attention to products working or not working for us lefties, until CD's came along. Actually, it wasn't until I watched my right handed friend struggle to open a CD case. Somehow he was awkwardly trying to pry the front open with his right hand, which between the case swinging open against the natural movement of the right arm, and somehow gripping the edges of the lid with his left hand as he held the back, was quite entertaining.
For me it was natural to hold the back with my right hand (hinge side on my middle fingers, other side on my thumb) and then grab the front with my left hand (fingers/thumb along top and bottom). The case just opened beautifully.
It is the only tech device I can think of that worked better for us lefties from day one.
I'm in my right mind and I have the answer to everything!
I prefer ambidextrous mice. It probably has something to do with my mouse style--an extreme version of the fingertip grip--and I find that *-handed mice tend to want to rotate while I'm using them. I think that *-handed mice are really only good for people with the palm-grip style.
Take the gamepad, for instance. You do all the movement control that requires dexterity with your left hand, and use the right to simply bash buttons. For a couple of the very-hard fighting game maneuvers, I find myself crossing my right hand over.
Sendou Wave Kick!!
It's not that difficult to switch hands, infact it may be better for you in the long run. Many of the users where I work have switch the mouse from right to left because it's more ergonomic.
-- By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out.
... to stop my pesky colleagues from using my computer. Worked surprisingly very well.
Even though I am right-handed, I mouse with my left.
(Makes me more productive)...
I find myself agreeing with the author, because I search in vain for a proper left-mouse.
Boo Logiech!!
A pox on web designers who feel that window.innerWidth == screen.availWidth
As a lefty, I always thought it was a good thing that the mouse is on the right. Mousing isn't something that requires incredible accuracy, and the accuracy it does require is easily learned in a rather small amount of time, so long as my hand was compatible with the ergonomics of the mouse, I was in good shape. And it freed up my left hand for combination keystrokes and shortcuts and one-handed typing, which definitely requires more deliberate movements and precision than right-handed mousing does for a lefty.
Long signatures suck.
One of the photo captions: "Steve Jobs claimed to be ambidextrous, but as this 1981 photo shows, he wore his watch on his left hand -- a tattletale sign of right-handedness"
Really?! On which hand is an ambidextrous person supposed to wear a watch?
I will acknowledge your obscure facts and respond with my own. I'm a righty, but I deal cards left handed because I was taught by my mother, who is a lefty. You might say that makes sense, except she deals like a righty, and when I learned I properly mirror-imaged her teaching like I did with everything else she showed me. I guess we just both share a family proclivity for dealing cards backwards.
I also learned to mouse lefty when I started suffering carpal tunnel effects. I have gotten some very weird reactions from people trying to use my desk, including an absurd number of "oh! I didn't know you were left handed!" comments from people who have no reason to know or care what my primary hand is, but suddenly seemed to think it was a big deal. I've had a couple of other visitors actually move the mouse over to the right side of the keyboard, despite the fact they were standing and only needed to use the mouse for a few seconds (easily could have just used the mouse where it was) and one person who went so far as to comment as he moved it "you've got the mouse on the wrong side" like I didn't know where I'd left it.
The Quirkz Handbook of Self-Improvement for People Who Are Already Pretty Okay
I don't know why you were considered a troll. It is actually informative.
The last 4 Presidents were left handed - Bush the elder, Clinton, Bush the younger, and Obama. How's that working out for everyone?
I only have problems with two products I own:
1. Samsung Galaxy S3. The screen is so big that it is wider than my thumb. That means that I've some difficulties using the back button. Since that is the button I use more, its uncomfortable. Right handed people with small hands would have the same problem with the "menu" button. Also, lot of program with scroll bars are on the left side. Very few offer an option to change the size of the scrollbar; the buttons can usually be reprogrammed after rooting (I still have to look how to do it on the S3.)
2. My Sony Vaio laptop. I use right-handed buttons on the mouse but with the left hand (left side). My Vaio has the fan air exit on the left side, so if I'm using an external mouse my hand is constantly receiving a not so nice (specially in summer) how air stream.
Other than that, I've never feel "impeded" by technology.
So, will lefties demand to drive british cars in the USA? Right now they are forced to operate the gear lever with their non-dominant right hand.
This is exactly how I am explaining to everyone what the 'ideal' (so it won't be confusing) side of the road is to drive on:
Assumptions:
1. There are two side-by-side seats in front, with a center console for instrumentation.
2. One sits on the opposite side of the side of the road one drives on (e.g. drive on the right, sit on the left).
3. Drivers prefer to use their dominant hand for tasks that require the most precise motor control.
Argument:
Since the console, which holds the gear shift, climate control, GPS, stereo, etc. is in the centre, it depends on what the dominant hand is for the majority of the population. If that happens to be the right hand, the console should be to the right of the driver, hence the driver is sitting in the left seat. With assumption 2 that follows the car should drive on the right-hand side of the road.
Lefties can rejoyce themselves in thinking what it would be like for a right-handed person to learn to drive with a standard stick-shift over in the UK.
When the copyright term is "forever minus a day", live every day like it's the last.
Frakking clawgrippers, make it impossible to find a proper non-wireless palm-grip mouse these days.
If you want something to complain about you'll find it. Maybe it's not the left-handed thing getting in the way, but rather your assumption that the world is out to get you for it. Buttons are generally on both sides of devices or centred which makes them equally easy or difficult for left/right handed people. As for marker smudges, you can't blame technology for that one, that's the fault of writing in a left-to-right language. Top to bottom and right to left languages would not cause any issue for lefties.
Most recent example of a hand bias that hit major headlines. While I doubt Apple made this mistake by using only right-handed testers and it likely had more to do with minimal testing in poor signal areas, this problem manifested more frequently with the way a lefty held their phone.
Sometimes I switch the buttons around, sometimes I don't;
Why do lefties switch the mouse buttons?
They're referred to as "left mouse button" and "right mouse button" - not as "index finger" and "middle finger".
The most invalid example is that of the PDA/tablet, where writing with your left hand drags on the touch-sensitive surface.
That isn't a problem with a data tablet - it's a problem with the English language. If you use a tablet in Arabic, Japanese, or many other languages, lefties have the advantage, and right-handed people are at a disadvantage.
I think the worst thing about it is buying sport equipment. All three of us brothers are lefties, and growing up, we played a lot of sports. A nice set of left handed golf clubs, for example, are almost twice as much for the right handed version if they are even available.
On an unrelated note, in my first engineering course in college my professor said for all the left-handed people to raise their hands, which ended up being more than 50% of the class. Aside from my own home, that's the only time I've ever been in the majority with my dominant hand.
I'm ambidextrous. I can screw things up equally with both hands.
Actually, I'm left handed, but I've never had any issue with right-handed devices.. scissors work just fine for me, etc.
Oh yeah, I also play guitar right handed. I actually think this probably gives a benefit to dexterity on the fingerboard, which requires more spacial coordination than simply choosing which string to pluck. So I'm not sure why left handers even want to play using the opposite orientation - especially given that this means you can't just pick up any old guitar at someone's house and play.
which is totally what she said
Agree...
Even more fun - mapping things to a ambidextrous left-side trackball. Especially software that assumes everyone has a mouse-wheel so there is no need to make the zoom in/out or whatever function re-mappable.
My biggest recent rant was at Skyrim. It shipped with no way to remap controls to the number pad, apparently it never occurred to them that people would want to use all of their keyboard.
(Happily a modder posted a fix for that little oversight.)
http://visualizecommonsense.com/
...I'm ashamed to be associated with this article/author in any way. I've been a lefty since day one per my parents - there was never any doubt. Was it easy growing up learning to write, use tech, etc.? Yeah, actually, it was. A child's brain is highly plastic. Additionally, my kindegarten and first grade teacher (same woman) was lefthanded so I had that advantage as compared to all the other unfortunates in my class hehe. And now that I'm an adult I do just fine. Yeah, I mouse with my right. And by some miracle I can actually use standard scissors - the horror! I don't think I've ever known anyone who couldn't. I do have a dexterity advantage in operating a motorcycle though as the transmission controls are fully on the left side. :D
Parent post wasn't showing. I'm disappointed that you didn't mean the /Time/ author.
There are 1.1... kinds of people.
I agree with you there. I don't play guitar, but when I started playing Rock Band it only took me a couple of minutes to realize that it made sense to use my left thumb to hit the strum button since there's no precision at all needed there, and to use my right hand for the more complicated multi-key fingering on the neck.
The Quirkz Handbook of Self-Improvement for People Who Are Already Pretty Okay
What about us poor folks who can't make up their minds? I write, bowl, golf and eat right handed. I throw a baseball, football, darts, shoot baskets with my left. I wish the numeric keypad was on the other side of the keyboard. And it really is time to switch the (numeric)keys to match those on a phone.
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Learn to be ambidextrous. It will serve you well no matter which is your dominant hand and it is helpful protection against strokes and such.
It is called being cross dominant.
I have had various bits of lefty technologies bought me over the years, and probably half of them surprised people in existing at all. These include - the left-handed bread knife (blade serrations on only one side, tends to result in righthanders cutting wedges); the left-handed saucepan (with a lip on one side of the rim only, dribbles for righthanders); lefthanded scissors (right handers can't see the cutting line without moving their neck to position the head to look at the back of the cutting hand); lefthanded mugs (logo/design facing the wrong way); lefthanded fountain pen (doesn't stick its nib into the paper); lefthanded guitar (strings round the other way, bridge cut to accommodate the wider strings, fingerboard on the other way, leads trailing away); the lefthanded corkscrew (turns the other way); the lefthanded can opener (ditto). Most of these are easy to adapt to with just a little practice, and the situation is definitely getting better (iPhone 4 excepted). However, I have barely had any handedness issues with digital technologies compared with these old-world examples. Just imagine what being the only lefthander in a line of people scything a field of corn would have been like - the answer, presumably, is either very dangerous or . . . a bit like a righthander. So, yes, it can be a bit of a nuisance sometimes, but there are so many other prejudices worth getting worked up about that I don't let the cruel oppression of the dextrous get to me.
Wow, didn't know that. Actually, Bush younger seems to be right-handed though. I dug slightly to it and yes, there's even a Wikipedia article about the topic.
I'm left-handed and of course have always bought ambidextrous / neutral mice. What puzzles me is why anyone would *want* to use a mouse that was permanently shaped for one hand. I mean, I switch off my mouse hand sometimes when I start to feel tendinitis (such as after a marathon gaming session on the weekend). I can't imagine using the same mouse hand *always*.
I'm left-handed and if I want to quickly skim through some magazine or book, I tend to start from the back cover.
Exactly. For those who have completed Guitar Hero/Rock Band on Expert, it's a fun challenge to go back and play upside down. It's surprising how much actually carries over I found.. I managed to complete first time a couple of tracks that took a bit of practice on my "good" side.
which is totally what she said
As a kid, I was given a pair of left-handed scissors. They were horrible. I hated them. I learned to use right-handed scissors instead, assuming I wasn't as left-handed as I thought.
Later in life, I happened upon a pair of good-quality left-handed scissors. To my amazement, I could use them just fine! The scissors I'd tried to use as a kid clearly couldn't cut through butter.
FYI:
Right hand on fretboard == left-handed play.
I say this as both a rightie and a guitarist.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Being left-handed, I've generally found that I have to decide for myself how a thing should be used. I might not use it in the same way as a right-handed person, but I'd usually find a way that makes sense. It's silly when manufacturers go out of their way to make a thing right-handed that could just as easily have been ambidextrous, but still not a huge deal.
One useful example. I'm American. My family attempted to teach me to hold a knife and fork like a right-handed American. (Hold the fork in your right hand... unless you want to cut something - then you switch the fork to your left hand, and hold the knife in the right.) I thought that was silly, and figured I should just take the silverware from where it was on the table. I hold the fork in my left, and the knife in my right. (It turns out I inadvertently learned to eat like a European)
Technically when you play an instrument you only play it one way. Your handiness, will often be a factor in your playing style.
I play the double bass and I am right handed. That means I am a little less agile with fingering but better with plucking, and bowing. But with practice the difference is not a big deal.
Besides Brass there isn't too many one handed instruments out there. .
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
"Home keys for movement being pl';"
Why not just use the arrow keys? That way, the up and down are properly aligned and you can never accidentally shift to the left or right. Then use the insert/delete/home/etc. block of keys for reload, crouch, etc. You can also use parts of the numpad (sometimes) and the keys on the right of the main keyboard area.
I had some left handed coffee mugs made, with the logos on the other side.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
As far as I'm concerned the normal guitar is already a left handed instrument. And righties are at a huge disadvantage. On a standard guitar, where you are picking with your right and fretting with your left, you need more strength in your left hand and the ability to know where your hand is without looking too much.
I love my left scissors. I didn't know they made a proper corkscrew, so I bought a high tech one that you just squeeze with either (or both) hands.
Power switch on most tablets and cell phones means I have to flip the device around in my hand to turn it off one handed, or attempt it with my right. And sometimes touch kiosks are a bit tricky because I can't see the status of what I'm touching and have to listen instead of look. (like when getting movie tickets)
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
Most left handed people (such as myself) learn to handle tools and gadgets right handed. It is a right handed world. In a way this is an advantage, as we southpaws do more and therefore tend to have more dexterity using the "wrong hand" than most righties. This tends to make southpaws somewhat ambidextrous. Watch someone doing a repetitious task -- if they're naturally a leftie, chances are they're using both hands. If they're naturally a rightie, often their left arm just hangs there like a piece of meat.
Back in the days of mechanical cash registers, me and the only other leftie checker were the fastest bar none.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Mouse doesn't need to be as accurate as hand on a keyboard?
I estimate about 200 clickable items on my screen right now. Some of them are pretty tiny.
My keyboard keys are nice and fat!
Yep, that was my point. I chose to play "lefty" because what's considered normal positioning didn't match what I perceived the game's challenges to be. It seemed like a silly waste of my primary hand to put it on a single button and have my weaker hand do the complicated articulating. Then again, even on a real guitar it seems like I'd want my right hand on the fretboard, but I don't know how to play so maybe there are important points I'm overlooking.
The Quirkz Handbook of Self-Improvement for People Who Are Already Pretty Okay
In second grade, my teachers tried to force me to be right handed. (For which I would like to give a personal "thank you". Oh, and "may you burn in hell".) I got terrible headaches and a bad stutter. (I know handedness as a cause of stuttering is now considered controversial. I can only tell you what I experienced.) In fifth grade I switched myself back. My symptoms gradually disappeared. As a result, I never learned to write cursive with my dominant hand, as those years were spent training a hand that doesn't write anymore.
However, being the only southpaw in a large extended family, I was introduced to the perils of a right-hand-only world at an early age. Even though I now own left handed scissors, I still tend to use them right handed out of habit.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
That has nothing to do with left handed issues.
Hey Cartman, go whine to your mom.
"Mousing", as in your ability to manipulate the mouse. The mouse itself should obviously be accurate.
I just meant the dexterity required in order to be proficient at mousing is very low. It doesn't require extensive training and use to master. For example, my three year old niece's typing is for shit. However, she can get the mouse around and click on things no problem.
Long signatures suck.
A few years ago I started setting my desk up lefty: keyboard on the right, mouse on the left. This means that the QWERTY section is dead center and that reaching over to the mouse is a much shorter distance. My typing speed is up considerably and my right wrist no longer bends at a weird angle.
Retraining to mouse left-handed was easy. It took a few days of being a fumbling klutz but now it's completely natural. Having to buy ambidextrous mice really limits your options though.
You lefties DO NOT want a lefty keyboard. That just gets you back to the same dysfunction that I had to escape. I want a lefty keyboard. Does anyone know of a lefty keyboard with light clicky keyswitches (Cherry MX Blues are perfect)?
Then again, even on a real guitar it seems like I'd want my right hand on the fretboard, but I don't know how to play so maybe there are important points I'm overlooking.
Anecdotally speaking, yes. I know, it seems counter-intuitive, but from my experience, switching stance to right-hand-on-fretboard is far more difficult than it at first appears.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
I consider myself to be very left-hand oriented. I write, use my mouse/trackpad/trackball in my left, play a left-handed guitar, and golf lefty. I'm a switch-hitter in baseball, but prefer my left, and throw lefty. My shotgun is bottom-eject, because I shoot lefty, too.
Right-handed tools are the bane of my existence. I hire contractors to do all my home repairs/upgrades that involves power tools. I won't risk it. As a computer-oriented professional, my hands are too important to lose them, or any of my fingers, in an accident.
The problem with mice isn't that left-handed mice aren't available, it is that schools and businesses will blindly purchase right-handed mice. Even worse, none of the operating systems make it quick and easy to change the mousing preferences. This should be a clear and visible option on the login screen, but it isn't. In all Linux distributions, in MacOS, and Windows (through to at least 7), you can't switch your mouse binding without digging into relatively obscure options, that can only be accessed through use of the right-handed mouse, or relatively arcane keyboard-oriented knowledge. That is assuming the school/business hasn't wired the mouse in a way where it is difficult or impossible to use it on the other side of the keyboard. The average user will default to learning how to use the mouse right-handed before they figure out the mouse can be used left-handed, or spend the time to configure every public access-terminal.
The anarchist in me has left public computers configured for left-handed use after using it, for the sake of the next left-handed person, and for the education of the right-handers. If they can discriminate...
In the USA, businesses and schools are not required to provide left-handed computing facilities or otherwise assist left-handed employees, contractors, or students. The ADA does not protect left-handedness as it is a physical characteristic, and not an impairment. However, culturally, left-handed people ARE impaired and would benefit from government mandated accessibility in schools and businesses.
I've found that Swype is a notable exception to the original article's statement that mobile is better for lefties. What makes Qwerty so good for lefties on a keyboard is what makes it so terrible for Swype.
First, the most common keys in Qwerty are on the left, which benefits from the angle at which a right-handed swype-motion attacks. Secondly, when using the right-hand, the keyboard is not as frequently obscured. The thumb always covers the least-used keys, exposing the more frequently used keys (those on the left) for navigation and selection. Still, with Swype, the right-thumb will eventually obscure keys for the right-handed user, but it is never as bad as it is for the lefty.
Lefties using Swype will most frequently cover the most frequently used keys, leaving the right-hand-side of the keyboard exposed, where the least-frequently-used keys reside. Also, the attack angle of the left-thumb is more likely to trigger false selections, both because of the nature of the angle itself, and (I presume) a bias in the software toward a right-thumbed attack angle.
These problems aren't so bad with two-thumb qwerty software keyboards, since they're intended to be used with both hands. In that case, it really don't matter, no more than with a standard keyboard. In fact, like with standard qwerty, the lefty might be at an advantage. Still, as a lefty, I haven't had much success with on-screen keyboards, so I do wonder if all those righties that have no problem have some hidden advantage that I haven't quite figured out yet.
Anecdotally speaking, yes. I know, it seems counter-intuitive, but from my experience, switching stance to right-hand-on-fretboard is far more difficult than it at first appears.
As another anecdote, I tried switching sides and found it a lot easier than expected. I actually played some songs better than when I'd first played them the right way around, although it would have helped that by then I knew the song pattern better (albeit back-to-front..)
which is totally what she said
Probably a bit easier for you because you're a natural lefty.
I've got a spare acoustic, may be time to string it backwards and give 'er another go...
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Actually, the ones who crack me up are the folks who sit there and cross their right arm over their left so that they can mouse with their right arm. It's like they'd rather play twister while using the computer than use that vestigal left hand they have.
IMHO mousing, like typing, is something inherently left-hand biased. I understand rather a lot of so-called professional gamers mouse lefty.
The A500 was my first computer with a mouse, and I'm almost positive I moused with my left hand, which the author says isn't possible due to the short cord on the mouse. I eventually evolved into a right handed mouser, but I'm almost positive I used the Amiga's in my left.
Never let a lack of data get in the way of a good rant.
I'll let you in on a secret: The mouse can also be placed on the left side of the keyboard, if you so desire.
Shhhh! Don't tell anybody...
That's what I thought when I started switching sides with my mouse, but it just feels more natural to me to have them switched around. I don't really understand why I do it, I just do.
Is 1563649 a prime number?
Generally you left click far more than right click. Similarly, you generally use your index finger more than your middle finger. Just think of how you type- the index finger does the most moving. Why go through the trouble of adapting something for your dominant hand but not adapt it for your dominant finger?
My webcomic
has there every been a poll?
I'd be interested in finding out if there are significantly more lefties among slashdot readers.
At work I have my workstation set up with a mouse on each side of the keyboard. I'm not aware of any way to swap the buttons on just one mouse through software, but I have never been completely satisfied with the software approach. Instead, I hardwire the buttons to be swapped.
Now I don't even know which mouse I use most often. I catch myself using either. I think I prefer the one on the left because I don't have to move over the numeric keypad to get to it, but more often it has to do with whichever way I am leaning in my chair.
The big advantage is when someone else needs to sit down at my workstation to do something, there is a normal right-handed mouse for them on the right. The only downside is that I always get that question about why I have two mice.
I've often wondered why a bias even exists. It'll be a positive feedback of some sort as per all dominant traits.
Is it just due to our preference for learning by copying each other, or maybe it's something like survival from combat because of where more of the vital organs are located?
Why handed at all? This is possibly a separate question, as in it's faster learning combinations one way than both. Which kind of leads back to the learning by copying thing ...
Which means you are partially ambidextrous.
I'm fully ambidextrous and I am of the belief that all left handed problems stem from a refusal to accept the learning process of using the other hand. I.e. "I'm left handed and I'm only going to use my left hand".
I believe there is no such thing as a left handed or right handed person. You have two hands. You choose to use one of them at all times. I guarantee you that if you are left handed and have your left hand chopped off in an accident, you'll magically be right handed in not much time at all.
When I learn a new action I can learn it with the left or right hand and the skill automatically transfers to the other hand as a mirror image. But, it is just as hard (in general, there are a few exceptions) to initially learn it with the left as with the right hand.
This obstinance I speak of makes lefties do strange things - like change a guitar over to the right side of the body - a strange action indeed because a standard guitar is left handed already, and all right handed people learn to play it left handed.
On my desktop, I put the mouse on the left side of the keyboard and I move the mouse with my left hand
And I don't know why 99.9% of the time I see others put their mice on the right side of their keyboard
I find it cumbersome to have to juggle my right hand from keyboard to mouse and then back again, while the left hand remains idle 75% of the time
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
There's where I lost your instructions. How can I do anything else to it after I've thrown it away?
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
Likewise, I write with my left hand, but I've always used mice and trackpads right handed, and even feel awkward using them left handed when I tried. Unlike you, I play bat and club sports left handed, but in racquet sports I switch hands at random, and I shave and brush my teeth with my right hand. Like you, I broke my left arm as a child and spent about 4 months learning to do everything with my right hand.
I have been using computers, and other technology since I was very young and adapted to using all of it right handed, I am left handed. I do use the stuff left handed as well, while leaving it configured for right hand use. Hockey I can shoot either way, and have the same power. Golf can only hit long drives right handed, and short drives left handed? Cannot figure out why that is exactly! Have trouble using a manual transmission? I did get to try driving a right side driver configuration, and had no problem shifting!
FYI a standard guitar with left hand on the fretboard is a left handed instrument - and right handed people learn to play it left handed without a complaint.
The fret work is an order of magnitude harder than plucking or strumming the strings.
I'm fully ambidextrous.
Exactly - all of the violin family and guitar family are left handed - despite what one may read on wikipedia.
All of the technically hard work is done on the finger board or the fret board with the left hand. This means it is easy for a left hander to play, and hard for a right hander - fulfilling the requirements to be called left handed.
The modern suggestion that it is a right handed instrument because right handed people play it that way is ridiculous. It is played that way because of tradition - and tradition dictates it as a left handed instrument. For some strange reason whenever this is pointed out to lefties they argue black and blue that it can't possibly be a left handed instrument (because nothing is ever made left handed).
I live in the UK so over 99% of cars here are right hand drive anyway :p I do find it a bit awkward playing arcade games where the gear shifter is on the right.
which is totally what she said
The smartphone usability issues for left handed people are obvious if you analyze the UIs. Take iOS as an example. If you only hold the phone with one hand a right handed user can use his thumb to easily press the call or message icons while it is relatively hard to press the settings icon (which is rarely used) without using both hands or dropping the phone in the process. For a left handed user ALL the icons should be flipped in the horizontal axis. There are also issues with the physical buttons on the sides of the devices.
For mice it is usually more convenient for left handed users to place them on the left side of the keyboard. If you do not change the system settings to reverse the mouse button order (sometimes you are even blocked from doing it if you don't have the permissions) you are at a disadvantage because the left button is pressed with your less agile middle finger rather than the index finger but it is easier to get used to than having to relearn the button order every time you use someone else's computer.
For those people who do not get the usability issues because they are right handed try opening a door (with a key or a rotating knob), or using some scissors with your left hand and see how well you can do it. :-)
You are wrong. People usually have a dominant hand/side and it is related to how each person's brain is wired. While you can learn to be ambidextrous you have to practice and the brain needs to rewire itself to be able to handle the new environment. It takes a lot of work to learn to use another hand and most people are not ambidextrous in all situations despite what they claim. I am ambidextrous while using the keyboard but certainly not at doing a lot of other things. I sometimes press buttons with my toes as a joke but it is not something I feel particularly inclined to doing on a regular basis and it took a bit of practice as a kid. The number of connections neurons have is certainly not infinite and it probably comes with some sort of switching penalty. I do not have as much precision nor strength with my non dominant hand and I have tried drawing and writing with it more than once.
So yeah. You could waste time and learn how to use your other hand. You could also memorize hundreds of Chinese ideograms but most people do not bother. Why? Because they have other things to do with their time and they will never be as good with it as a native is. They have no reason to.
The fact that a left handed person instinctively tries to use a guitar the other way around shows that you are not seeing the whole picture. There is more to biomechanics than that. In the traditional setup the right hand and arm have to do a lot of movements to play a guitar (not to mention hold the damned thing most of the time) while the left hand and arm only have to slide and press chords. It's probably related to arm strength. You can often tell which side is dominant in a person by looking at their arm muscles...
cpghost at Cordula's Web.
In most cases, they're refered to as "mouse1, mouse2 and mouse3". On less technical scenarios, they're called "primary mouse button" and "secondary mouse button".
Would you care to explain how this a good thing? ASDW are surrounded by plenty of keys (which are generally used), while the arrow keys are slightly more isolated.
Also, as a lefty, you can just move your keyboard further to the right.
Isolation is a good thing because you don't want to hit any nearby keys accidentally. Also, I can lay my fingers on the keys horizontally while my palm rests on the table instead of having to hover my hand above WASD. This way, I can use my middle finger to press up, down or both without having to move it. For extra functions, I can use num0 with my little finger, and rctrl, rshft, del, end and pgdwn are also within reach, but most of the time you only need two keys for jump and duck. Another problem with WASD is that those keys aren't aligned like the arrow keys are which makes them unnatural to use. Sure, I could move the keyboard and use WASD, I even do it for games that don't allow me to reconfigure the input, but why would having that extra option be a disadvantage?
The fret work is an order of magnitude harder than plucking or strumming the strings.
I'm fully ambidextrous.
Suddenly I hate you very much (being the sad owner of 'stupid fingers').
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
The problem is that ergonomic mice or mice with more than just 3 buttons and a scroll wheel are designed for a right hand.
That's why I don't buy them. Most manufacturers have a whole line of ambidexterous mice. That includes gaming mice manufacturers. My current home mouse is a 9-button ambi gaming mouse from Logitec. It replaces a similar 9-button ambi mouse from Razer (for some reason my Razer mice have always been really flaky).
It is true that you can't get an ambi version of the new MMO mice. However, if you place the mouse on the left side of the keyboard, you don't need all those MMO buttons, or a special game pad, because you have full access to the numeric keypad and arrows with your other hand!
Yet another advantage to being a lefty. :-)