Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

The Secret Behind the iPod Scroll Wheel

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the didn't-know-there-was-a-secret dept.

Grump sent in a story saying "Ask any iPod user what they like the most about their device, and most will probably mention the scrollwheel. Here is the story behind the company that makes it (hint: it's not Apple). Great not just for the history, but insight as to both how Apple's design process works, and how the scroll wheel itself works."

3 of 350 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Nothing really new there... by pmc · · Score: 5, Funny

    And, to bring scolling to the audio world, I have a very old (15 years) Sony Tuner that has a scroll wheel for choosing between the preset stations (up to 30). And it does the cute trick of the faster you spin the faster the choices go by. I don't think this was particularly innovative then either, but I think it's the oldest device I have with such an interface.

  2. Thank you for this story! by teamhasnoi · · Score: 5, Funny
    I've been changing songs on my iPod by rotating the entire thing around my stationary finger. I sure was having doubts about Apple until I read this - I mean, that's a ton of work.

    Thank you for revealing the secret!

    I'm wondering if there isn't a secret behind other things too, like my TV's remote control. It works alright, but it's tough to push the little buttons on the TV with it sometimes.

  3. Re:Nothing really new there... by Bio · · Score: 5, Funny

    And I had a telephone, that had a scroll wheel to dial numbers. There were 10 holes in the wheel with digits printed underneath. There was even a mechanism to rotate the wheel back into its rest position, after you moved it.