Why Use Application Launchers???

As fryke pointed out, for me it's about Dock tidiness.
I prefer my Dock to show me only what is running. I don't want crap in there that isn't being used. I don't want to have to right-click, or click-and-hold to navigate a menu to find what I want to launch. When I'm working I'm more than likely using the keyboard. I'd rather not have to reach for the mouse just to launch, say, Terminal when I can hit a hot key (control-space in the case of Quicksilver) and type "TE" then hit Enter.

I guess it goes back to my always using keyboard shortcuts for everything I possibly could. I'm not much of a mouser.
 
Mikuro said:
We've been through this! ;) To recap: Dock space is limited, and Dock menus are slow, inefficient, non-stationary, and require active maintenence. A good dedicated app launcher has none of those weaknesses.

I'm just too much of a control freak to settle for anything that's not perfectly suited to the task I need. :)
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But ... but ... but that's what the Dock is for: to keep apps that you use often right there, so all you have to do is click on 'em. :)

Then again, I guess the space issue becomes problematic if you frequently use more than 40 apps. I've got 28 apps in my Dock right now--and there's space for more.
 
fryke said:
Erh. Wow. That's a really big one. Read the thread you've created (i.e. this one) to learn more. And yeah, it's about limited Dock space. It's about people who want a tidy Dock - with only a couple of items - but a quick way to access _dozens_ of apps, not just one dozen.

If you have no need for a 3rd party launcher, then that's good. It means that what OS X provides is enough for you. But it certainly isn't for many of the geeks out here...
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Read my replies (i.e., the one above) to learn more.

Here, you can have some of your sarcasm back. I'm pretty filled up. Don't need it all, but thanks anyway.
 
Amie said:
Read my replies (i.e., the one above) to learn more.

Here, you can have some of your sarcasm back. I'm pretty filled up. Don't need it all, but thanks anyway.
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Amie, you know Fryke can't help being sarcastic when the opportunity is so rightly put right in front of him, as is the case with reading the entire contents of a 6-page thread. Completely reasonable I would think. :)
 
Qion said:
Amie, you know Fryke can't help being sarcastic when the opportunity is so rightly put right in front of him, as is the case with reading the entire contents of a 6-page thread. Completely reasonable I would think. :)
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Yeah, you would think, wouldn't you? However, you obviously didn't think about the dangers of assumations. You just assumed that I hadn't read the thread. Shame on you.
 
Amie said:
But ... but ... but that's what the Dock is for: to keep apps that you use often right there, so all you have to do is click on 'em. :)
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And where application launchers really shine is in quickly launching rarely, or not as oftenly, used apps.
 
cybergoober said:
And where application launchers really shine is in quickly launching rarely, or not as oftenly, used apps.
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My point exactly: Why even have the app launcher if you rarely use the apps that the app launcher launches.

Ugh. Never mind. My head hurts. lol
 
Zimbop said:
If I loaded everything I use in the dock, the icons would all be 1 pixel each. End of story.
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And that would be a problem for you?

Seriously though, that's a lot o' apps! I keep almost 30 in my Dock, and I still have room for more--if I should ever find it necessary to drag anymore app icons to my Dock.
 
Thinking about it, probably the main reason though is that I have hiding switched on. I just don't like the dock hogging vertical space, I never use it except to call up the trash. So I have to use something else to launch apps.

I think the answer to the original question is a crazy algorhythm with strange symbols that denote how many applications you use regularly, your screen resolution, your typing ability, your ability to recall shortcuts etc.
 
Amie said:
My point exactly: Why even have the app launcher if you rarely use the apps that the app launcher launches.

Ugh. Never mind. My head hurts. lol
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Er...why not? I mean, what's the alternative? Using slow methods like digging through folders or using nested Dock menus? Why would I want to do that when there are perfectly good application launchers out there?! Seriously....what's the advantage?

I probably have a hundred or two apps I rarely use, but not a day goes by when I don't use at least a few of them.

You seem to be operating under the assumption that installing and using an application launcher requires a lot of effort, but it doesn't. That's the whole point. It's easier and faster than the standard methods.

Configuring the Dock to include all apps you ever use does take effort — every time you install an app, you need to make aliases and sort it in your Docked folders. And then accessing them from there isn't as easy or fast as a simple app launcher anyway!

I think you just have a third-party app phobia. ;)
 
I'm really tempted to call "troll" here. 52 posts in this thread, clear explanations why some users do and others don't like 3rd party app launchers - and still we have to come back to your basic question? It's not just sarcasm, Amie. I worry...
 
Zimbop said:
Thinking about it, probably the main reason though is that I have hiding switched on. I just don't like the dock hogging vertical space, I never use it except to call up the trash. So I have to use something else to launch apps.

I think the answer to the original question is a crazy algorhythm with strange symbols that denote how many applications you use regularly, your screen resolution, your typing ability, your ability to recall shortcuts etc.
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Oh, yeah. I always have my Dock hiding switched on as well. No point in taking up valuable screen space!
 
fryke said:
I'm really tempted to call "troll" here. 52 posts in this thread, clear explanations why some users do and others don't like 3rd party app launchers - and still we have to come back to your basic question? It's not just sarcasm, Amie. I worry...
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No one said the original question hadn't been answered. This a discussion board. People are discussing app launchers. And you (and every moderator on this site) know that I'm no troll. I've been a member here way too long for that. You worry too much, Fryke.
 
I don't worry too much, really. But trolling has nothing to do with age or how much time one has spent on a specific forum. But I guess we'll come back to that subject in about 30 posts, when one of yours might read that you still don't get why people use apps to launch apps. (Btw.: The Dock is an application as well, so is the Finder - you merely don't consider them as such, because they're somehow "always there" - but for launcher users, so are their launchers.)
 
fryke said:
I don't worry too much, really. But trolling has nothing to do with age or how much time one has spent on a specific forum. But I guess we'll come back to that subject in about 30 posts, when one of yours might read that you still don't get why people use apps to launch apps. (Btw.: The Dock is an application as well, so is the Finder - you merely don't consider them as such, because they're somehow "always there" - but for launcher users, so are their launchers.)
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See? Sometimes you CAN be funny! ;)
 
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