We’ve Forgotten How to Use Computers – The mouse is sorely missed.
Original (pay-walled): https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/01/computer-mouse-evolution-trackpad/677228/
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This is the biggest waste of words next to a “Trump-said” article.
Laptop makers once put pop-out mice on laptops. They were horrible. Toting a wired mouse around was a pain in the ass too. There’s a reason touchpads took over. It doesn’t mean people don’t know how to work a computer.
And just because a laptop has a trackpad doesn't mean people don't use them with their laptops. Our office is 90% Macbook pro and of those users only 10% use a trackpad (the external bluetooth one at that, not even the built in one)
Apple sells 0 mice with 90% of their computers, the iMac is the only model that comes with any external peripherals besides a charger. The Mac mini has always been a "bring your own keyboard and mouse" type device, and the Mac Pro/Studio are for people who probably already have a keyboard and mouse.
I like their trackpads a lot, but if you use the MacBook with an external monitor like so many of us do, it’s simply not an option. I stick with Logitech for mice though. Even their crappy mice are good, and their high end mice are great.
I also have to disagree with the author’s take on the evolution of the mouse. I like having buttons to navigate forward and back when browsing the web, I like the multifunction scroll wheels, and I even like the sideways scroll wheels when looking through large charts or tables of data. When I used to game more on services like WoW, I had a mouse with a ton of buttons mapped to all kinds of macros and skills.
The only people I don’t see using mice or external trackpads are PM types who don’t use external monitors and spend 80% of their days moving from meeting to meeting.
I still use a mouse with my laptops. The button-less track pads are junk. Most programs are not optimized for touchscreen use and I don't want fingerprints all over my screen anyways. The Thinkpad trackpoints are OK, but they are not usable in CAD software that needs 3 buttons and a scroll wheel to navigate.
I use a MacBook Pro at work, and supposedly it has a fantastic touchpad, yet I use a mouse when I can. I don't even do CAD, I just don't like trackpads. I use a Logitech Master MX 3 at work, which has two scroll wheels, back/forward buttons, and a thumb button, and it works well. At home, I have the Triathlon, which I actually prefer because I seem to constantly hit the side scroll wheel on accident.
I love my personal ThinkPad with a TrackPoint though. It's great for pretty much everything except CAD. There are three buttons, so it can scroll, it's just awkward to switch between scrolling and rotating. When I mess with modeling, it's on my desktop with a proper mouse anyway.
The Apple trackpad has remained in my opinion the best one ever developed and continues to improve generation to generation. They lost the script on keyboards for a hot minute there, and their mice have always been horrible to the point of deliberate non-functionality, but those trackpads are amazing. Their external trackpad has also come a long way in the past few years.
FreeCAD has a navigation method specifically for trackpads
Back in something like 2003 the computer I had at work had a trackball instead of a mouse. I hated it, until I finally replaced it with mouse and found myself really missing my trackball. Still use them 20+ years later.
My wife still only uses Logitech track ball mice on her desktop. On the rare occasion I need to use her oc for something, it's always an interesting time haha. Only takes about 10 seconds to be 'calibrared' to it now.
I'm too sensitive for a trackpad. I hate touchscreens.
Look, early Android phones had a tiny trackballs, some buttons and even physical keyboard.
👀
My go to smartphone keyboard is MessagEase. A few larger buttons instead of many small. You can get quite fast on it, and larger buttons means fewer mistakes.
Sir, this is Lemmy.
"We've forgotten how to use computers - The hex keypad is sorely missed"
Did anyone everr do that though ?