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List:       kde-look
Subject:    Re: Clipboard
From:       "Steven D'Aprano" <dippy () cosmos ! net ! au>
Date:       2002-08-05 19:38:27
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On Mon,  5 Aug 2002 10:04, Friedrich W. H. Kossebau wrote:

> > I don't think the direction really makes that much difference. I've
> > always seen the traditional icon as the front paper being the
> > original, with the copy being dragged off from underneath and
> > towards the bottom right. That's probably because English speakers
> > write towards the bottom right.
>
> Speakers speak, don't write, otherwise they would be writer, or am I
> wrong? Just kidding <:O) Let me guess: you are left-handed, are you?
> Because I am right-handed, and would never ever use the right hand to
> move papers when writing (but that only because my pen leaks, so my
> right hand is always dirty ;)

I'm right handed, which is why I would use my right hand to move paper.

But what I am talking about it that most people in Western cultures 
that write left-to-right and top-to-bottom find it easier to imagine 
things moving left-to-right and top-to-bottom. If you combine the two, 
you get movement topleft-to-bottomright.

So if you see two bits of paper offset diagonally, its more natural to 
imagine the original is at the topleft and the dragged-away copy is at 
the bottomright.

For me at least, that tendency is much stronger than the tendency to 
see the closest (topmost) piece of paper as the dragged away copy.

> > Personally, I think the copy icon should have the original page,
> > with the copy above it, offset to the right and down, regardless of
> > the position of the paste icon.
>
> For the record: A problem is that the dog's ear, which seems to be
> needed to mark the paper, is at the top right, and this restricts the
> possible positions of the papers if the resulting symbol should
> remain understandable.

No it doesn't. First off, the dog's ear isn't strictly necessary, its 
just traditional. And secondly, especially if you rotate the second 
piece of paper by 45 degrees, you can still include the dog's ears.



-- 
Steven D'Aprano

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