DailyDirt: Input Devices Beyond The Mouse

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Computers have used the keyboard and mouse combination for several decades now, so it seems like it's about time for some new input devices. It looks like gaming consoles have introduced some interesting alternatives that are a bit more useful than the joystick. The mouse and QWERTY aren't going anywhere anytime soon, but here are some quick links on some other kinds of input devices. By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: hmi, input devices, mouse, touchpad


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    Lawrence D'Oliveiro, 27 Jul 2011 @ 5:19pm

    Mouse+

    I like this one.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    fb39ca4, 27 Jul 2011 @ 5:27pm

    I like the touchpad...

    That one seems pretty cool. It solves the problem of how hard it is to use those little nubs in the center of laptop keyboards. It would also be neat if we could put the touchpad on our finger using anything we want to swipe on as our mouse.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. icon
    The Mighty Buzzard (profile), 27 Jul 2011 @ 6:36pm

    Seriously lose the keyboard/mouse combo already

    And while we're at it how about we do something about that archaic wheel invention.

    Sometimes, not often but sometimes, inventors get something so right that it's all but impossible to replace it with something that's actually an improvement for an extremely long time. The wheel, the nail, beer, women (I keep hoping but no luck yet), the keyboard, and the mouse all fall into that category.

    Having different input methods for things that can't readily make use of a keyboard and mouse doesn't mean they've been replaced any more than having non-water-flush toilets on the ISS means flush toilets have been replaced.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    fb39ca4, 27 Jul 2011 @ 7:18pm

    Re: Seriously lose the keyboard/mouse combo already

    The small touchpad is just another mouse form factor and the other two are useful for disabled people so these aren't pointless inventions. I do agree that the keyboard and mouse won't be going away anytime soon, though.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    Ed C., 27 Jul 2011 @ 9:15pm

    I think the mouse will only be useful as long as the GUI is treated as a 2D plane. They'll get tossed by their USB corded tails when GUIs move into the 3rd dimension. Keyboards however have been around since the first modern PCs, and for about a century on typewriters. Voice recognition is fine in an isolated setting, like at home, but it would make the average office sound more like a stock exchange. (Really, just try working in a call center, surrounded by 200+ conversions at the same time.) Experienced typists can type faster than they can speak away, so I don't see keyboards going away anytime in soon.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Ed C., 27 Jul 2011 @ 9:18pm

    Comment issues

    And why are my replies not under the person I replied to? I clicked "reply to this" first.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. icon
    Michael Ho (profile), 27 Jul 2011 @ 11:14pm

    Re: Comment issues

    Hmm. We'll have to check into that bug...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    testbug, 27 Jul 2011 @ 11:15pm

    Re: Comment issues

    ... does this comment become nested like it should?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 Jul 2011 @ 5:34am

    "upupdowndownleftrightleftrightbastart..."

    Really? How can you possibly forget to hit the select button? I'm disappointed.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. identicon
    Rekrul, 28 Jul 2011 @ 9:01am

    People have been trying to introduce new input methods for decades and there's a reason most of them haven't become mainstream; The current input methods work fine.

    Keyboards - If you're going to be entering text, there's nothing better than a keyboard. Even if they can perfect speech recognition systems to be 100% accurate, they still have major problems. For example, what if you have the radio or TV on? Will it "type" the words from those sources? How will it know the different between words that sound exactly the same? There are many times you may not want others to know what you're entering, such as account numbers or passwords. Not to mention that it would make workplaces much noisier if everyone was talking to their computers all day. Speech recognition would be great for things like information kiosks and such, but it will never work as a complete replacement for the keyboard. Beyond that, I don't see any other new input method that can enter text as easily as a keyboard.

    Mice - There are three main alternatives to the mouse; Touchpads, trackballs and touchscreens. Touchpads are used for laptops because it would be awkward to attach an actual mouse and having to carry one with you kind of defeats the purpose of having a self-contained system. I can't recall ever seeing a USB touchpad for desktop computers. They probably exist, but judging by the fact that I've never seen one, I don't think they're very popular. Trackballs are popular with some people, but they're basically just an upside down mouse and are hardly new. Depending on the design, it can be harder to move the pointer while holding down any of the buttons. Touchscreens have their uses, such as in ATMs, cell phones and such, but as a general replacement for mice, they suck. They require more and larger arm movements, plus if the screen is mounted vertically, like a tradition monitor, you're going to get tired of holding your arm up, very quickly. There's also the issue of fingerprints & smudges on the screen.

    Joysticks - Although there are novelty controllers like the Wii Fit pad, the only serious competition for joysticks are gamepads. This is one development I honestly didn't see coming. The Intellivision had a form of control "pad" in its disc controller and everyone hated it. Then a few years later Nintendo puts out a left-handed control pad and suddenly everyone (myself excluded) loves it. Now you not only have to use your non-dominant hand to control direction and sometimes complex movement combinations, you have to do it by pressing individual direction buttons. How these ever became so popular with right-handed people is still a mystery to me. Now most gamepads include at least one mini-joystick, and sometimes two. Of course, directional movement is still hardcoded to the left side controls though...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. icon
    lrobbo (profile), 12 Jun 2012 @ 10:36am

    1mm, er, why . . .

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.