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20 years of the optical mouse

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  20 years of the optical mouse RS Wood  <rsw@therandymon.com> - 2019-04-29 18:23 -0400
    Re: 20 years of the optical mouse not@telling.you.invalid (Computer Nerd Kev) - 2019-04-30 23:08 +0000
      Re: 20 years of the optical mouse Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2019-05-01 03:15 -0300
        Re: 20 years of the optical mouse RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> - 2019-05-02 01:22 +0000
          Re: 20 years of the optical mouse Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2019-05-02 15:53 +0000
    Re: 20 years of the optical mouse Oregonian Haruspex <no_email@invalid.invalid> - 2019-05-01 07:25 +0000
      Re: 20 years of the optical mouse RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> - 2019-05-02 01:26 +0000
    Re: 20 years of the optical mouse richard@cogsci.ed.ac.uk (Richard Tobin) - 2019-05-01 12:17 +0000
      Re: 20 years of the optical mouse Eli the Bearded <*@eli.users.panix.com> - 2019-05-01 21:05 +0000
        Re: 20 years of the optical mouse Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2019-05-01 21:17 +0000

#17893 — 20 years of the optical mouse

From the «good riddance, dirt sucking roller ball» department:
Title: 20 Years Ago, Microsoft Changed How We Mouse Forever'
Author: help@slashdot.org
Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2019 04:34:00 -0400
Link: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/dc0x6Lj_XB8/20-years-ago-microsoft-changed-how-we-mouse-forever

Gizmodo contributing editor Andrew Liszewski remembers April 14, 1999, "when at
the COMDEX expo in Las Vegas, a now-defunct trade show similar to today's CES,
Microsoft announced its IntelliMouse Explorer: a mouse that traded the dirt
sucking rolling ball for LEDs and a digital camera that could optically track
the mouse's movements with extreme precision." Based on technology developed by
Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft's IntelliMouse Explorer arrived with a price tag
that could be justified by even cash-strapped students like me. Even better,
the underside of the mouse was completely sealed, preventing even the tiniest
speck of dirt from penetrating its insides, and it improved on its predecessors
by working on almost any surface that wasn't too reflective. I remember getting
back to my dorm room and plugging in the Explorer for the first time, wondering
who had a rig fancy enough to use the included PS2 to USB adapter. There were
undoubtedly a few driver installation hiccups along the way, but once Windows
98 was happy, I fired up Photoshop and strapped in for the smoothest mouse
experience I'd ever had. Problem solved. In addition to that game-changing
optical sensor, the IntelliMouse Explorer also introduced a couple of extra
programmable buttons which seemed unnecessary to me at first, but it soon
became an indispensable way to browse the web, letting me quickly jump forward
and back between sites. (Tabs hadn't been invented yet.) It didn't take long
for Microsoft's competitors to follow with optical mice of their own. Apple's
arrived the year after in 2000, and in 2004, Logitech introduced a mouse
powered by lasers. Extra buttons -- lots of them -- would eventually become the
industry norm, and companies would soon find themselves competing with each
other to see who could introduce the most accurate optical tracking technology
to appeal to picky PC gamers. I can count on my fingers the number of times a
technology has thoroughly improved my life -- more often than not they tend to
complicate things as well. (I'm looking at you, iPhone.) But 20 years later,
the IntelliMouse Explorer is an upgrade that changed everything without any
downside.

[image 2][2][image 4][4][image 6][6]

Read more of this story[7] at Slashdot.
[image 8]

Links:
[1]: http://twitter.com/home?status=20+Years+Ago%2C+Microsoft+Changed+How+We+Mouse+Forever'%3A+http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F2V0ltye (link)
[2]: https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png (image)
[3]: http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fhardware.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F19%2F04%2F29%2F0347231%2F20-years-ago-microsoft-changed-how-we-mouse-forever%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook (link)
[4]: https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png (image)
[5]: http://plus.google.com/share?url=https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/19/04/29/0347231/20-years-ago-microsoft-changed-how-we-mouse-forever?utm_source=slashdot&utm_medium=googleplus (link)
[6]: https://www.gstatic.com/images/icons/gplus-16.png (image)
[7]: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/19/04/29/0347231/20-years-ago-microsoft-changed-how-we-mouse-forever?utm_source=rss1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed (link)
[8]: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/dc0x6Lj_XB8 (image)


--
Burger? You burger, you brought'er.

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#17897

RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> wrote:
> From the ?good riddance, dirt sucking roller ball? department:
> Title: 20 Years Ago, Microsoft Changed How We Mouse Forever'
> Author: help@slashdot.org
> Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2019 04:34:00 -0400
> Link: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/dc0x6Lj_XB8/20-years-ago-microsoft-changed-how-we-mouse-forever
> 
> I can count on my fingers the number of times a
> technology has thoroughly improved my life -- more often than not they tend to
> complicate things as well. (I'm looking at you, iPhone.) But 20 years later,
> the IntelliMouse Explorer is an upgrade that changed everything without any
> downside.

Meh, I never cared much either way. I think the main difference is
that it's much easier to design a bad ball mouse, than a bad optical
mouse. The author obviously found a very bad one if they had to clean
the ball every 15min (or maybe they were using it on a surface that
didn't grip). The one I'm using now hasn't had its ball cleaned since
it replaced the previous one that had an electronic malfunction about
a year ago (rather frustrating because I'd gone to the trouble of
replacing the microswitch under the left button a few weeks before).

I do applaud the invention of the mouse wheel though, not life
changing, but it's nice to have.

Here you go (though I'm tempted not to post the link because they
appear to be blocking Dillo):
https://blog.codinghorror.com/meet-the-inventor-of-the-mouse-wheel/

-- 
__          __
#_ < |\| |< _#

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#17898

not@telling.you.invalid (Computer Nerd Kev) writes:

> Meh, I never cared much either way. I think the main difference is
> that it's much easier to design a bad ball mouse, than a bad optical
> mouse. The author obviously found a very bad one if they had to clean
> the ball every 15min (or maybe they were using it on a surface that
> didn't grip). The one I'm using now hasn't had its ball cleaned since
> it replaced the previous one that had an electronic malfunction about
> a year ago...
> [snip]

Never had to clean a mouse ball.  But numerous times I had to remove
the ball and clean the little wheels the ball drove, using
magnification and a dental instrument.

Over a period of months, each wheel accumulated an irregular band of
scum impregnated with fine lint around its circumference.  As the
wheels were no longer uniformly round, pointer movement became choppy.
Optical meeses are a greaat leap forward.


-- 
Mike Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada

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#17918

On 2019-05-01, Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> wrote:
>
> not@telling.you.invalid (Computer Nerd Kev) writes:
> Never had to clean a mouse ball.  But numerous times I had to remove
> the ball and clean the little wheels the ball drove, using
> magnification and a dental instrument.
>
> Over a period of months, each wheel accumulated an irregular band of
> scum impregnated with fine lint around its circumference.  As the
> wheels were no longer uniformly round, pointer movement became choppy.
> Optical meeses are a greaat leap forward.
>
I totally agree.  I used to scrape those little lint tracks with a swiss
army knife until inevitably i accidentally gouged the wheel, and had a
jumpy mouse ever after.  Optical was a huge improvement.  I'm nostalgic
for lots of old tech, but not mice-with-balls.

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#17924

RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> wrote:
> On 2019-05-01, Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> wrote:
>>
>> not@telling.you.invalid (Computer Nerd Kev) writes:
>> Never had to clean a mouse ball.  But numerous times I had to remove
>> the ball and clean the little wheels the ball drove, using
>> magnification and a dental instrument.
>>
>> Over a period of months, each wheel accumulated an irregular band of
>> scum impregnated with fine lint around its circumference.  As the
>> wheels were no longer uniformly round, pointer movement became choppy.
>> Optical meeses are a greaat leap forward.
>>
> I totally agree.  I used to scrape those little lint tracks

As did I, they were always fun to get "all" of them to prevent the 
'sticky mouse' syndrome.

> with a swiss army knife until inevitably i accidentally gouged the 
> wheel, and had a jumpy mouse ever after.

Never used a knife, so never gouged the wheels.  That was a most 
unfortunate outcome.

> Optical was a huge improvement.  I'm nostalgic for lots of old tech, 
> but not mice-with-balls.

What if it were mice-with-big-balls :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6amRqbEj4rs

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#17899

I loved the Intellimouse with the side buttons but I’m addicted to the
Trackpoint now and almost never play 3D shooters (or any games except Dwarf
Fortress) any more so it’s been ages since I used mine.

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#17919

On 2019-05-01, Oregonian Haruspex <no_email@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> I loved the Intellimouse with the side buttons but I’m addicted to the
> Trackpoint now and almost never play 3D shooters (or any games except Dwarf
> Fortress) any more so it’s been ages since I used mine.

I just realized you can buy a portable Thinkpad keyboard with the little
red trackpoint nub on it - Thinkpad keyboards are pretty nice, might add
one to a non-Lenovo desktop! As external keyboards go, you can do a lot
worse!

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#17902

Optical mice have been available for over 35 years.

-- Richard

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#17911

In comp.misc, Richard Tobin <richard@cogsci.ed.ac.uk> wrote:
> Optical mice have been available for over 35 years.

Yeah. s/the optical/a particular style of optical/

I recall using Sun systems with optical mice more than twenty years ago.
They required special printed mouse pads, which the Microsoft version did
away with.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouse_Systems

Elijah
------
nearly used "MS" for Microsoft, but realized possible Mouse Systems confusion

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#17913

Eli the Bearded <*@eli.users.panix.com> wrote:
> In comp.misc, Richard Tobin <richard@cogsci.ed.ac.uk> wrote:
>> Optical mice have been available for over 35 years.
> 
> Yeah. s/the optical/a particular style of optical/
> 
> I recall using Sun systems with optical mice more than twenty years ago.
> They required special printed mouse pads, which the Microsoft version did
> away with.
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouse_Systems

I also used these on Sun systems (going on nearly 30 years ago now for 
me).

They were very finiky and not always report mouse movement, even with 
their special pad (at least as compared to what is now considered an 
"optical mouse" which almost always works on nearly any surface).

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