Comments on: The Mouse is Dead? Not So Fast, Slick…

By: Michael Anderson

Michael Anderson — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:37:53 +0000

I really don’t know about tablet / touch interfaces. I love my iPod touch and use it for personal email and web browsing at work – and it is wonderful for what it does. But the mouse is really a wonderfully simple and efficient device for accomplishing tasks.

Oh – and I was out at lunch with my HP laptop using the trackpad for an hour … good gravy was that awful!

Random thought – one of mmy all-time faves is the pop-out mouse in the early HP Omnibook … I still have my Omnibook 800CT for DOS stuff and it remains brilliant.

By: Brie in DC

Brie in DC — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:24:26 +0000

OK, what if, like that table thingie, you could sit at the table and use a stylus pen, or you hand, finger to do everything? And a smaller, notebook size version for travel. What do you think?

By: Susabelle

Susabelle — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:34:01 +0000

Thanks for your comment, Michael. I did use it once and it was a fascinating little ride, but I have to admit that it wasn’t more than just a one-time play-around with someone else’s machine (my afore-mentioned Apple FanGirl friend). I can’t see getting rid of my mouse at this point, all tracking devices just make me insane, from the track ball to the pointer mouse to the eraser mouse to the track pad on virtually any laptop I’ve ever encountered. Even this new Dell drives me crazy, one time a light tap will make it select, and another, I’m practically hammering the pad and it won’t select.

By: Michael Anderson

Michael Anderson — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:36:31 +0000

I largely agree with you, but would ask if you have spent any amount of time with the trackpad on a recent Apple MacBook Pro or Air laptop? Comparing to the ones on my HP Mini Note, Dell XPS 1730 and HP 6910p, it is a whole different beast. For those, a mouse is a necessity and the trackpad is only for when you are away from a desk. On the Apple you can easily find yourself just using the trackpad even while a mouse sits idle – I do that while my ‘mighty mouse’ is right there.

But the core issue – I see myself still mousing away in another 5 years.