Yeah, I could. There's no requirement that Button 3 be any particular location, but I personally find it awkward. The way I tend to use my mouse is to toss it about to focus windows and when I press a button, it frequently doesn't need any mouse movement, so I just press it without grabbing the mouse, which would be very hard to do with a side-mounted button, as I'd just end up moving the mouse.
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Bitt Faulk