The basic principle behind the standard computer mouse hasn’t changed much in the 30 years since it was invented. It started out as a tiny box with a wheel underneath.
The box was intended to convey a computer user’s hand movements, via an on-screen cursor, to activities on the computer screen. Clicking a button on the mouse corresponded to initiating an action, such as grasping a paintbrush or telling a printer to print.Yet while all mice – and their cousins, the trackball – follow these basic principles, the features and pricing of the models currently on the market in some cases show little resemblance to their predecessors.Today, simple computer mice are often available for less than 10 dollars. They rarely have more than two buttons and are always connected to the computer with a cable. User input is still recorded by means of a small ball on the underside of the mouse, which translates hand movement into pointer movement on the screen.One problem with the traditional mechanical scanning process used by ball mice is that it the technology is vulnerable to disruption.The ball and rollers can easily get dirty, which can make the mouse work imprecisely or stick. For this reason I generally recommend an optical mouse.Optical mice replace the roller ball with a tiny camera that watches the surface of the desk, calculating the direction of movement and speed from optical readings. These mice are recognizable by the red diode glowing on the bottoms of their casings. California- based Logitech, one of the major pointing device makers, even introduced a mouse in 2001 that featured two such optical sensors.Logitech claims that its MouseMan Duo Optical functions significantly more reliably than a mouse with just one sensor. Whether or not the two optical sensors are really necessary is hard to determine.Logitech’s MouseMan Duo Optical costs around 50 dollars. A model using a single sensor can be had for 30 dollars.Microsoft, a Logitech competitor, does not offer a dual sensor mouse among its product line-up and expresses no interest in the technology. “The exactness of movement translation for a mouse has nothing to do with the rate of sensing. It makes no difference at all how many sensors are at work,” explains Carsten Weber, product manager for hardware at Microsoft.“We have with our IntelliEye Technology, for example, already reached the limits of possibility when it comes to quick mouse movements, and that with a single sensor,” Weber says. The technology allows for 6,000 images per second to be recorded, as opposed to the 2,000 offered by Logitech’s dual sensors.The optical mice are, like their roller ball-equipped predecessors, available in models with and without cables. Wireless mice send their data signals through radio waves. While infrared models were available a few years ago, they have disappeared completely from the market. Altogether, a top-of-the-line mouse offering wireless radio technology, optical sensing, scroll wheel and four or five buttons, will cost around 69 dollars from either Microsoft or Logitech.Despite all of these technical possibilities, it is ergonomics that catches attention. Mice are like shoes in this regard, nobody should buy a mouse without trying it out first. People with little hands will end up having problems with big mice. The user’s fingers should be able to reach the buttons without effort. Left-handers should be particularly careful when looking to buy a mouse. Unlike right-handers, the only things available to them are symmetrical mice which aren’t designed specially for the shape of the hand.Microsoft’s Weber recommends the trackball as an alternative to mice. In principle, trackballs are simply a mouse turned upside down. The mouse point is steered using a trackball that sits exposed in the device’s casing.The decision to go for a mouse or a trackball is really just a matter of taste. There are trackballs that rely upon the thumb and pointer finger for steering.In terms of technical specs, there are no differences between mice and trackballs. Extra buttons and the scroll wheel can be included on trackballs just like on mice, as well as the choice of mechanical or optical sensing. The prices are comparable, in any case. Based on the included features, they run between 39 and 70 dollars.Graphic tablets can serve as a complementary input device. Tablets are generally not a viable alternative to the mouse, but for people who like to draw, they can be a helpful expansion. The tablets, including the pencil for drawing on them, can be found for around 80 dollars. That’s really a good deal, since the tablets can really be essential for many applications.
