>It takes two seconds to decide upon which special-function key to press. Deciding among abstract symbols is a high-level cognitive function. Not only is this decision not boring, the user actually experiences amnesia! Real amnesia! The time-slice spent making the decision simply ceases to exist.
I wonder if mussel memory ever catches up to make the time benefit break the other way. I want something closed, hitting f3 is the same as typing any other letter. I had to look down to see what F-button it actually is.
I think their claim is trivially disproven just by watching someone who's been using computers long enough. I don't think about the overwhelming majority of special-key presses, I just do them. Same with vim wizards and their tool of choice.
But, then, this was written in Ye Olde Days, where people hadn't really grown up with computers and may not have had that instinctual comfort with keyboard commands.
I wonder if mussel memory ever catches up to make the time benefit break the other way. I want something closed, hitting f3 is the same as typing any other letter. I had to look down to see what F-button it actually is.