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No-click Mouse?
TheRealZappa writes "For quite a while now I have been looking for a mouse that would not make any "clicking" sound when the buttons are pressed... Does it even exist? So to all you quiet-pc amateurs and hardware hackers... Can it be hacked? Can it be bought somewhere?" Sure it exists, I think they call it a "trackball" or "touchpad". Seriously, I've never had a non-broken mouse that didn't click.
Perhaps you could inject some silicon under the buttons, i guess that would stop the clickdown sound. Anyway, I just listened carefully to my mouse and it makes 2 clicking sounds, one when the button is pressed and one when it is released. Try to examine an old mouse, rip it into pieces and see where the sound comes from ... Another solution is to waer headphones while sitting in front of your computer ...
Life sucks.
The clicking sound is audio feedback that improves usability. Same reason that keyboards click.
I don't know if it's related, but I've seen people with electronic agendas that produce an electronic beep each time they type a key. Once in a bus and once in a library, very annoying to others. I wish they would turn the feature off, but these non-geek users are probably thinking "it has to beep, it's electronic".
Things have been much quieter since mechanical typewritters, I don't want to go back!
Besides, if you've ever used a computer while listening to music with headphones, then you've been using a computer without hearings the clicks. Did you miss them? Audio feedback might not be as necessary as you think.
Maybe the clicking sound late at night keeps his SO awake? It's a good idea not to annoy the SO.
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I don't want to rule the world... I just want to be in charge of mayonnaise.
headphones and being connected - the solution:
When I have to use headphones, I usually connect a mic with some mixing level and play it on the headphones as well. As a result, I'm still connected to the enironment can can hear people around me and key clicks. Lets you enjoy the best of both worlds.
Make even shorter URLs - 8LN.org
My SO does hear the mouse clicking and complains about it. It's even woken our two kids during particulary fierce xpilot battles. Keyboards can have the "keyclick" feature turned off, why not mice also?
The the discussion of *why* is irrelevant. It is a mistake for *any* engineer to think that there needs to be a reason. You should always include an on/off switch no matter what the feature.
Electronic devices (such as printers) that can potentially kill someone (i.e. necktie stuck) if not turned off need to have on/off switches that actually work, and work immediately.
Computers themselves (i.e. identification badge on a metal-bead neclace hitting a power supply) ought to have a better method than yanking the power cord too.
"God is dead." - Frederik Nietzsche