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New Microsoft Mouse Scrolls Both Ways
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?
Isn't this pretty much the same idea that Apple had some time ago?
Follow your Euro bills at EBT
From Jakob Nielsen's Top Ten Web-Design Mistakes 2002:
3. Horizontal Scrolling
Users hate scrolling left to right. Vertical scrolling seems to be okay, maybe because it's much more common.
Web pages that require horizontal scrolling in standard-sized windows, such as 800x600 pixels, are particularly annoying. For some reason, many websites seem to be optimized for 805-pixel-wide browser windows, even though this resolution is pretty rare and the extra five pixels offer little relative to the annoyance of horizontal scrolling (and the space consumed by the horizontal scrollbar).
So now why do I want this mouse?
John.
I want webpages to be designed like they currently are. For people that use 800x600 or 1024x768 (like they should) there is little need to scroll horizontally.
Let's not allow this to become commonplace. I would prefer that all information is easily seen on a single page.
i already have an ibm mouse that does this. have had it for 3 years
Well, can you, or do we need yet another button?
this sure will help me keep one hand free while looking at these 1600x1200 "pictures."
Introducing, the Microsoft BiMouse. That Mouse that Scrolls Both Ways (tm)
Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder.
I was browsing thinkgeek and ran across this mouse. Sounds like this is old news.
.. I can bind the new controls to lean left/right in FPSs. :)
Say you have a folder filled with, I don't know, mp3s. Many of them.
Notice how the window's contents are arranged HORIZONTALLY? Seems a horizontal scroll-thingie would me mighty useful in this situation.
Or how about wave editing? It would be nice to mouse-scroll across the waveform HORIZONTALLY.
Just some thoughts.
GeekNights!
Late Night Radio for Geeks!
MAN AT BAR: [coughs conspicuously, smiles]
WOMAN AT BAR: [politely but nervously smiles back]
MAN AT BAR: My, uh, mouse goes both ways, if you know what I mean.
WOMAN AT BAR: [begins to quietly edge away]
As the average time we spend on these machines increases so does the damage to our fingers and wrists.
Also a zero decible CPU and a monitor least stressful on eyes would be nice.
for the last time people, I am "frodo from middle eaRTH", not "middle eaST".
...You mean like the Tecstorm TSOTS1?
= PROD&Store_Code=HO&Product_code=MI14032
http://www.tecstorm.co.uk/tsots1.htm
Another link - http://www.hardwareoptions.com/merchant.mv?Screen
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
I used to have a mouse that had two scroll wheels on it, and that was 5+ years ago. I used it for both horizontal and vertical scrolling (though it was configurable what you could actually do with it).
Also, in some linux toolkits (gtk I believe, possibly others), you can scroll any scrollbar (no matter what direction it's in) just by putting the mouse over it and scrolling.
For example, in gaim, if your buddy list has a horizontal scrollbar, you can scroll horizontally by putting the mouse over the horizontal scrollbar and scrolling. Even better, it doesn't even have to be a scrollbar: on the experimental bittorrent client, you can scroll the little frob that controls the maximum number of uploads this way.
Fun stuff! I see little point in providing a hardware solution to a problem that was solved with software long, long ago.
The innovation means that users will be able to scroll vertically as well as horizontally without using on-screen navigation bars.
Need I say more? This is a hardware solution for a software problem.
Whats next? WWW and email buttons on my computer? How about a Windows key to get in your way every time you go to use the left control?
When I was a windows developer (I've reformed), I got really loaded on coffee and hot chocolate mix and actually pulled the damned windows key off of my keyboard, drilled a hole in my office wall, and shoved it in there.
OK, what is this mouse for?
my fingers dont do horizontal bending when on a mouse. its that simple. they bend sort of front to back when on a mouse, which is convienent for a vertical scroll, not a horizontal one.
i do think it would work for the thumb, tho...
i sell illegal drugs
Another bonus feature of this new mouse is that is only clicks Microsoft programs and products.
For your safety, the mouse will not open any programs that Microsoft doesn't make money off of. It could be a virus.
Furthermore, whenever you do click a Microsoft product, the mouse will waste your bandwidth be automatically connecting the internet, contacting Microsoft, and checking all your serial numbers to make sure your licenses are up to date.
Then, if you have old software that has an update release from Microsoft, the mouse will open a browser where you can download updates (for a fee of course).
Then to save you the hassle, the mouse will move the cursor over the Download Updates link and click for you, automatically charging your credit card.
We hope you enjoy your new Microsoft mouse with added features. And don't forget to sign your EULA before opening the package.
Slashdot Syndrome: the sudden, extreme urge to correct someone in order to validate one's self.
A ballsy mouse!
HEY!!! ....
SCO has the exclusive copyright on the multi-scrolling mouse. Prepared for exortion!!!!
Oh, wait, is that you Mr. Gates? Sorry, we didn't mean to.. eh.. we just got a bit carried away, yes, we do remember, oh please let's still be friends.. it'll never, ever happen again.... sorry
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.
I've been asking for a trackball in a mouse for a long time. It'd make working with large OrCAD and AutoCAD files alot easier.
If you think education is expensive, you should try ignorance -- Derek Bok, president of Harvard
Wouldn't it just be easier to use a trackball?
I mean, with this new mouse you still have to move the thing around in order to move the pointer. You get full X and Y axis movement using a trackball now and it remains in the same place on your desk. You don't even need to clear your collection of empty RedBull cans in order to use it.
Plus, its easlier to play FPS using a trackball.
Cruising the internet on my TI-99/4A @ a whopping 300 baud!
Because it's done by M$? Because it's done via "tilting"? 4-D mice are not new.
2 wheels
1 wheel (presumably via kybd modifier)
a trackball
Move along, people, nothing to see here. Please, go back to slamming Real or something much more important.
I know you were joking, but I want my Karma, so I'm going to reiterate your post in a serious tone.
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
I have two of them. It's my favorite by far....instead of a wheel, it's got a trackpoint (eraser-thing like on some laptops) there. The trackpoint doesn't move the cursor, but it does scroll. And it works vertically and horozintally.
If it had a 3rd button, it would be the best mouse ever.
Wheels suck.
teeker
/.ers lucky enough to use IBM Thinkpads can use the third mouse button to activate scrolling capability for the keyboard mounted TrackPoint. Interestingly, this works better than mouse mounted TrackPoint because you don't have to work to keep the keyboard still as you scroll.
As others have noted elsewhere in this discussion, there isn't nearly as much use for the side to side scrolling as the up/down. It is useful for navigating spreadsheets and large graphics files.
PS I know there is no such mod as CORRECT. However, that doesn't mean that there shouldn't be.
Lasers Controlled Games!
That's it, Microsoft is gay.
No, really. Their mouse goes both ways, their products have lots of loose back doors...
Somebody get that guy an ambulance!
I've seen mice with two wheels, one for horiz and one for vert at Best Buy.
The mouse will come in 2 flavors:
Genuine leather and vanilla plastic
Check my site: http://pixel.pagina.nl
If you hold ALT and scroll up and down you will move through your browsers history, at least on the Mozilla family.
These IBM mice are called ScrollPoint and they are still being made. I am using a recent optical version right now. These are my favorite mice and I had to order mine from US (those are only available here in Europe with a complete system from IBM)
What force to counteract? When I am using a mouse, the back of my hand still touches the tabletop, so pulling this hand away by moving the same is equivalent to pulling yourself up by the ears.
I find those mice a much better idea than the Microsoft-style wheeled mice, because:
1. You can also scroll horizontally.
2. If you want to keep scrolling, just push the stick into desired direction and hold. With a wheel, you have to keep scrolling. The harder you push the stick, the faster you scroll. Wheeled mice are only good for contant-speed scrolling.
3. I still have a full-width middle button. Your typical mouse wheel is not really a very convinient button for prolonged use (say, paste in X)
The mice are very well made and look cool, especially that blue LED backlight inside the little stick. (which is quite a bit larger and more comfortable too than the little clit they put onto laptop's keyboards)
Overall, I'd rate the ScrollPoint as one of the most significant advancements in HCI, to which effect it also won some awards. As usual, IBM can neither hype it properly themselves, nor make the related patents properly accessible to other manufacturers.
Why not just program the existing scroll wheel so that when held down, it behaves like the "hand" tool in Photoshop. Press down the middle button, and then drag the document around the window.
...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
I want a mouse with one of those laptop eraser head thingys in it.
Mouse moves the cursor, eraser head moves page underneath cursor.
Also make the eraser head a button click when pressed down. Don't know what for... but sounds neat.
Jono
4D Optical Web Cruiser by iogear. Granted, it's not the exact same thing... it's far superior. Wonder why IOGear didn't get a BBC feature?
LilMikey.com... I'll stop doing it when you sto
We just say it the "incorrect" way in English because "approaches infinity" and "approaches three" look pretty much the same when written in math. That doesn't make "approaches infinity" correct though; the correct terminology is "increases without bound".
It's always a long day... 86400 doesn't fit into a short.
Before the world goes and congratulates Microsoft for putting the entire damned keyboard on the mouse, let's stop and think a bit...
I've been using a trackball for years, and will never go back to a mouse. Recently I tried a new trackball that had a scrollwheel. It was so damned superflous it wasn't even funny. Why not just use the trackball? A little side button to click to put it into scroll mode, and then use the trackball to scroll vertically, horizontally, diagonally, or any other direction you can manage to contort.
Frankly, today's mice have too many controls. And this is coming from a guy who demands three buttons! Don't put funky little doodads between the buttons. Don't hide wierd clicky thingies on the side or put them below the regular buttons. If people want them, sure go ahead and market them. But keep the standard pointing device simple. With a trackball and three buttons, all the controls you need are there already.
A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
The Knob is a wheel, about 3cm in diameter, on a vertical axis, flush mounted on the keyboard. It turns very smoothly, probably on ball bearings. It controls either vertical or horizontal scrolling, depending on whether you're holding down the Shift key.
There are two major advantages to having a whole side of The Knob exposed, rather than just a quarter of the rim (as on mouse wheels).
First, you're making a smoother movement for long distance scrolling, because you don't have to keep moving your finger off and back onto the device.
Second, there is an intuitive way to vary your scrolling speed: touch The Knob near its axis to go faster, or near its rim to go slower.
Scrolling devices don't necessarily belong on the mouse!
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Microsoft says they invented something...
/. believed them!!!
...and
What, you mean this old thing?