> natural scrolling is just an awful idea for mouse
IMO there’s no objective reason why. Natural scrolling is not what a lot of people are used to with a mouse, but it’s perfectly usable and even more consistent if you’re using the Magic Mouse, which uses a touch surface instead of a mechanical wheel.
I, for example, always make my Windows and Linux machine use natural scrolling like I’m used to from my Mac and my life isn’t any better or worse because of it.
Unlike for touch devices, it is no better or worse - but as scroll wheel operation already is incredibly well established, most already have an intuitive assumption of behavior and switching forcing the user to switch only annoys them.
It is even part of our language: you "scroll down".
I thought the same as you until I once got a new Mac and forgot to switch off natural scrolling during the initial setup. You scroll down on a page far more often than you scroll up, at least in my day-to-day. Natural scrolling on the mouse wheel makes scrolling down an easier motion on my right middle finger than with classic scrolling. It's easier to push out than to pull in.
IMO there’s no objective reason why. Natural scrolling is not what a lot of people are used to with a mouse, but it’s perfectly usable and even more consistent if you’re using the Magic Mouse, which uses a touch surface instead of a mechanical wheel. I, for example, always make my Windows and Linux machine use natural scrolling like I’m used to from my Mac and my life isn’t any better or worse because of it.