30 | June | 2009 | NavEenOEy

Archive for June 30, 2009

Is anYoNe LeFt-hanDerS?

As left-handedness is quite uncommon (the study shows that 90 to 93 percent of the adult population is right-handed), almost all products we use in every life are designed for the right-handers. You (and I as well) might have never notice that there’re a lot of simple device that left-handers use with difficulty. This cause them so much problems that companies producing products especially for the left-handers or both-handed products are established.

Here are some left-handers difficulties and products i’ve found to fixed them. Some are what i’ve never thought about. Let’s take a look!

1. Scissors
Scissors’ handles are often molded in a way that is difficult for a left-hander to hold, and extensive use in such cases can lead to varying levels of discomfort. Most importantly, the shearing action of scissors operates correctly for a right-hander, but a left-hander will tend to force the blades apart rather than shearing the target substance.

2. Computer mouse
lefty-pointers
The computer mouse is sometimes made to fit the right hand better. Many computer installations have the mouse placed on the right side, making it awkward for left-handers to use without moving the mouse to the other side of the keyboard. Some mouse drivers and operating systems allow the user to reconfigure the mouse buttons to reverse their functions.

3. Watch & clock
Some left-handers prefer to wear a watch on their left-wrist and need the controls on the right side and a lot of left-handers find it easier to read a backwards face, or just want to see time run backwards!

4. Camera

Cameras predominantly have the hand grip, shutter release, film wind lever and commonly used selection buttons, switches and dials controlled by the right hand, lens controls tend to be accessible by either hand. When a left-handed person uses a right-handed camera the hand control can be less steady and hence produce camera shake leading to poorer pictures at low shutter speeds. Video-cameras also tend to have the handstrap on the rightside of the camera. Thus the camera must be held using the right hand, which often leads to a more shakey video being captured.

5. Guitar

Most guitars are designed to be played right-handed (the right hand is used to strum the strings while the left hand manipulates the fret board). But the fact is that most of the skills in playing a standard guitar is in the left hand so the left-handers playing a standard guitar should be more skillful than the right-handers. As the result, left-handed guitars are actually designed for the right-handers.

6. Testing spoon