Well, somebody had to invent this thing, I guess:

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2011/05/dean-hovey-ideo-mouse-prototype.html

Go to the article and scroll through the slideshow to see how the design evolved.

Funny thing is I'm currently using a wireless laser mouse. No mouse "tail" cord, and no more roller ball.

xerox actually got it right when they chose 3 buttons and high precision ball bearings. the difference from that and my design is mine has a scroll-wheel and uses an optical senor in place of a "mouse ball." if the technology was cheap and existed in the first place, i'm sure they would have used an optical system like we have now. sure mine is molded to be comfortable and it uses a little bit fancier communication system but it's really the same when it comes down to general design.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/14/2011 12:23AM by Gravis.

Small lasers were cheap enough in the 80s for CD players to be made affordable; I wonder what took them so long to get rid of the stupid ball. Hell, I think you can still buy a mouse with a ball, or at least you could until recently. And an optical mouse doesn't even need a laser, one of mine is just an LED.

This style of mouse was always weird.




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Looks like a track ball. I'm guessing it works the way some laptop mouses work? I remember for a while there was an attempt to market track balls as a substitute for a mouse, but it didn't catch on.

They made a trackball controller for the Atari 2600 back in the day. I remember we bought it to play Missile Command but it didn't have the same feel as the arcade version.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/14/2011 11:47AM by tomahawk.

tomahawk Wrote:
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> Small lasers were cheap enough in the 80s for CD
> players to be made affordable; I wonder what took
> them so long to get rid of the stupid ball. Hell,
> I think you can still buy a mouse with a ball, or
> at least you could until recently. And an optical
> mouse doesn't even need a laser, one of mine is
> just an LED.

the reason is not the emitter, it's the detector. optical mice use CCDs which are what cameras use. like i said, the technology wasnt there yet.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

I use to love missle command,,,

There's something in the way of irony here...
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Knowing what the word irony means I don't get what you are saying.

it's called a mouse but looks like a pussy

how do you define irony?

Ironic that those who would use it (ultra-hard-core computer nerds) have probably never seen a pussy in real life nor are they likely to see one least it be mail-ordered (and even then it isn't guaranteed) or attached to the underside of a manatee with legs?

just look Wrote:
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> it's called a mouse but looks like a pussy
>
> how do you define irony?


That isn't irony. Coincidentally I saw a tweet today from a comedienne saying she hadn't seen the words irony or random used correctly in the last five years and thanked schools for that.

justsayin Wrote:
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> Knowing what the word irony means I don't get what
> you are saying.


Knowing what the word means as well and completely undestanding the irony of someone sitting at a computer connected to the world wide web, questioning me on the meaning of that word........I can only say you need a refresher course.


Thanks for playing, have a nice evening

What does irony mean, Soylent?

Enlighten us innernet dummies, p-p-p-please?


Signatures are for fags

Harry Tuttle Wrote:
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> What does irony mean, Soylent?
>
> Enlighten us innernet dummies, p-p-p-please?
> http://media.bigoo.ws/content/gif/disney/disney_67
> 2.gif


Don't be a twit, Harry.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=irony

I have mad google skillz, bra... It's my reading comprehension, along with my ability to grasp abstract concepts, that is sorely lacking...

I would like you to explain "irony" in such a way that even a twit, like me, could understand the concept...

Are you up for the challenge?

SoylentGreen Wrote:
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> Don't be a twit, Harry.

Signatures are for fags

Let's get this back on topic. How about some ironic mousepads?

http://www.zazzle.com/ironic+mousepads

Harry Tuttle Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have mad google skillz, bra... It's my reading
> comprehension, along with my ability to grasp
> abstract concepts, that is sorely lacking...
>
> I would like you to explain "irony" in such a way
> that even a twit, like me, could understand the
> concept...
>
> Are you up for the challenge?
>

Okay Harry.......have it your way.

Irony (from the Ancient Greek, meaning dissimulation or feigned ignorance..just like yours, Harry)[1] is a rhetorical device, literary technique, or situation in which there is a sharp incongruity or discordance that goes beyond the simple and evident intention of words or actions. Ironic statements (verbal irony) typically imply a meaning in opposition to their literal meaning. A situation is often said to be ironic (situational irony) if the actions taken have an effect exactly opposite from what was intended. The discordance of verbal irony is created as a means of communication (as in art or rhetoric). Descriptions or depictions of situational ironies, whether in fiction or in non-fiction, serve a communicative function of sharpening or highlighting certain discordant features of reality.

Or....

Making a "mouse" that looks like a "pussy".

I had this mouse with my first laptop. It was pretty easy to get used to:



==================================================================================================
"And if any women or children get their legs torn off, or faces caved in, well, it's tough shit for them." -2LT. Bert Stiles, 505th, 339th (On Berlin Bombardier Mission, 1944).

who cares

Pinhead the Xenophobe Wrote:
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> who cares


we don't, that's for sure

Pinhead the Trilobite Wrote:
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> Pinhead the Xenophobe Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > who cares
>
>
> we don't, that's for sure

Talking to yourself again, Patricia?

And what's with your latest crush? Are you really that butthurt about Pinhead having "Under the plasmas" as his sig? Sheesh...

Ut videam Wrote:
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> Pinhead the Trilobite Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Pinhead the Xenophobe Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > who cares
> >
> >
> > we don't, that's for sure
>
> Talking to yourself again, Patricia?
>
> And what's with your latest crush? Are you really
> that butthurt about Pinhead having "Under the
> plasmas" as his sig? Sheesh...


trilobite is eesh

Yeah we're eesh