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New Microsoft Mouse Scrolls Both Ways

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the yes-i-said-it dept.

Library Spoff writes "The BBC are reporting that Microsoft are bringing out a mouse that will use the scroll wheel to tilt as well as roll. The innovation means that users will be able to scroll vertically as well as horizontally without using on-screen navigation bars." How long before I get a trackball embedded in my mouse?

8 of 736 comments (clear)

  1. umm by tralfamador · · Score: 4, Informative

    i already have an ibm mouse that does this. have had it for 3 years

  2. I saw this on thinkgeek just today. by rangek · · Score: 5, Informative

    I was browsing thinkgeek and ran across this mouse. Sounds like this is old news.

    1. Re:I saw this on thinkgeek just today. by Mean_Nishka · · Score: 3, Informative

      I bought a bunch of these cheap for work.. I've never experienced anything more annoying than that center ball, especially when you're scrolling downward. All too often downward becomes diagnal, and the scrolling stops.

      I rarely have to scroll side to side since I run my monitor at a fairly high resolution. Just another gimic!

      --
      www.lonseidman.com

  3. Mouse with trackball in it by Serk · · Score: 4, Informative

    ...You mean like the Tecstorm TSOTS1?

    http://www.tecstorm.co.uk/tsots1.htm

    Another link - http://www.hardwareoptions.com/merchant.mv?Screen= PROD&Store_Code=HO&Product_code=MI14032

    I'd honestly never heard of it before this article, but after reading the idea of a mouse with a trackball in it, the idea seemed intriguing, so I did a quick Google for "trackball in mouse" and found that one... Looks interesting... Anyone ever used one?

    --
    Never ask a geek why, just nod your head and slowly back away. -Rob Malda
  4. Re:Apple had a similar idea! by saskwach · · Score: 5, Informative

    IBM had this before Apple, my roommate's IBM Athlon 800 (800MHz was a new thing to Athlons when he bought it) came with one of these things.

  5. It's out of joint. by stomv · · Score: 5, Informative

    One of the reasons the scroll wheel is successful is because it's comfortable.

    Why? Your knuckles allow your finget to curl with your finger remaining parallel to the side of your hand.

    However, a side scrolling wheel requires either
    (i) an awful lot of play in your knuckles, allowing you to curl them to be non-parallel with the side of your hand, or
    (ii) bending the wrist to move your entire hand side-to-side.

    Neither is particularly comfortable, and both result in sore hand parts quite quickly. I predict that this will never be used much... too tough on the hands.

    --
    Support a few technologists in Washington.
  6. ./ers missing the point... by int2str · · Score: 5, Informative

    Hey guys!

    I see many replies about other mice with second scroll wheels or a built in trackball.

    This mouse let's you TILT the scroll wheel. That is the innovative part here. And personally I think that's gonna be much more usable than a second scroll wheel or a trackball on your mouse.

    Cheers,
    Andre

  7. Ok, I got off my lazy ass by Atario · · Score: 3, Informative

    ...and looked it up. Turns out they call it "ScrollPoint". You can see one here. Mine is an older model, and so doesn't look like that, isn't that color, and isn't optical. Still, looks like they do still make them.

    Just for the record, for a general laptop mouse, I don't particularly like those TrackPoint ones; I prefer the touchpad kind. But as a scrolly deal, it's pretty neat. I just wonder when someone will try to put a touchpad on a regular mouse.

    --
    "A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy." --Theodore Roosevelt