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Trackball 50 Years Old

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the spherical-insanity dept.

GRW writes "Rachel Ross in a Toronto Star story called The mouse that soared, writes "Fifty years ago, a team of engineers in Toronto turned a simple bowling ball into one of the most influential gadgets of our time. The trackball they created would grow into a mouse." "Tom Cranston and a colleague, Fred Longstaff, thought up the trackball idea while working on a Lake Ontario military project called the Digital Automated Tracking and Resolving System (DATAR)."" I played a bowling game in Boston once that used a bowling ball sized trackball to run a ball through a bizarre 3D bowling lane. I thought a regular trackball messed with my wrists ;)

5 of 120 comments (clear)

  1. fp by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    50 years ago someone decided that it would be nice to interact with a computer by playing with its balls.. must have been Ada

  2. Well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    If your wrists hurt so much, maybe you should stop jacking off into JonKatz's mouth, no?

  3. Re:At least this ends the hatred by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    TrAcKbAlLz r0xX0r j00, faGG0rt

  4. Re:The trackball by Penis · · Score: 0, Troll

    So nice to be able to put the trackball in your lap and not have to hunch over the leetle tray table...

    I dunno.
    If I looked across the aisle and saw some guy staring
    intently at his computer, feverishly twiddling something in his lap, I'd prolly be kinda creeped out.

    Penis

  5. Fixed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Now go suck on yo momma's titties.