This article is really interesting. It claims that the perceived time savings people get from using keyboard shortcuts are just that: perceived time savings. I am definitely in the keyboard shortcut camp, so I’m not sure I’m ready to wholly buy this argument.

I think that it is probably true that mousing is just as fast or faster when using applications you are not a familier with, but I would argue that keyboarding can be faster when using applications you really know, or for doing a repetative task. I’m often waiting for the application to catch up between keystroke commands.

When you really know an application, I believe that calling on frequently used commands becomes an unconsious action rather than a consious action. If you don’t have to stop and think, then the keyboard thinking lag is significantly lessened. Of course, i could just be experiencing the same amnesia effect that is described in the study.

Oh, and The Onion has a nice supporting article here (thanks Jason).