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. 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 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, an optical mouse is generally recommended.
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. 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.
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 depends on 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.
“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.
Like their roller ball-equipped predecessors, the optical mice are 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.
Despite all of these technical possibilities, it is ergonomics that catches cutomers’ 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, for example.
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.
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. One advantage of a trackball is that it doesn’t need to be rolled around on the table. In terms of technical specs, there are no differences between mice and trackballs.
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.
