We implemented gestures in an early version of ipaper. Unfortunately it wasn't very usable. The physical analog -- swiping pages -- is far more comfortable than the same motion with a mouse.
Incidentally we chose to watch cursor acceleration (removing the mouse-down step), which simplifies the gesture.
I think it would be much more comfortable, and useful, if the user were using a touch screen, and could use gestures on the screen. If someone were viewing ipaper on the iPhone, that would be the way to go for navigation.
I totally agree. Gestures on the iPhone work well because your hand is resting in a natural position. This is more or less true with track pads as well.
If you're going to support mouse gestures, the system must be sensitive enough to act on small, finger-driven, movements. That is, the user must be able to gesture without moving their wrist.
