Logitech Makes 1 Billionth Mouse

Smivs writes "Logitech has hailed as a major landmark the production of their one billionth computer mouse. The news comes at a time when analysts claim the days of the mouse are numbered. 'It's rare in human history that a billionth of anything has been shipped by one company,' said Logitech's general manager Rory Dooley. 'Look at any other industry and it has never happened. This is a significant milestone.' The computer mouse will achieve a milestone of its own next week when it turns 40. It was 9 December 1968 when Douglas C. Engelbart and his group of researchers at Stanford University put the first mouse through its paces."

Comments

Good Job Logitech!

[purpledinoz]

I've pretty much used Logitech mice exclusively since I've stared using a computer. They've consistently provided high-quality, low-priced products. My mouse I use at home is a simple $12 Logitech optical mouse, and it works perfectly. Unfortunately, I'm using a MS mouse at work. I think I will buy another Logitech mouse to replace this one.

Re:What about Microsoft?

[TheRaven64]

Logitech have been shipping mice since 1981, giving them almost a two decade head start on Microsoft. Their early mice used balls and so needed replacing after a few years. Over the last 26 years, they have made mice that have been rebranded and shipped by numerous OEMs, including Apple, HP and Dell. For most of the '80s and '90s, any serious computer user had a logitech mouse (and less serious ones often had a cheap Logitech mouse with their computer maker's brand on it). Calling them a minority player is like calling Microsoft a minority player in the desktop OS market.

Re:1 billion is not uncommon for some things

[seanellis]

Don't know about Intel, but ARM shipped 1 billion processors last quarter, according to their Q3 results statement.

Other things that must ship in the billions: screws, nails, paper clips, thumbtacks, staples, sweets (candy), baked beans, soda, LEDs (actually almost any discrete electronic component), copier paper, post-it notes, coins, pens, pencils, bin liners ... it's too easy.

Re:You'd need fewer mice if they were built to las

[MBGMorden]

I too am a big fan of Logitech mice. My main computer rig actually sports a Razer Diamondback these days, but my laptop mouse is Logitech, as are the mice on my workstation and server rack's KVM at work. Over the years I've had countless ones. Like you, I mostly have upgraded to keep pace with technology: moving to one with a scroll wheel, moving to an optical, moving to USB, getting a mouse with more buttons, etc.

Like all heavy use devices I've had a few failures (I've had 2 Logitech mice wear out on me), but overall compared with other mice I've still noticed them to be of a pretty high quality. When I used to work as a tech at a college many years ago, I can't count how many Microsoft Intellimouses had a scroll wheel that was jammed where it couldn't be moved anymore.

Death of the Mouse?!

[Androclese]

FTFA:

But sounding the death knell for the device is Gartner analyst Steve Prentice who said "the mouse will no longer be mainstream in three to five years."

Yeah... right... it won't be mainstream in 3-5 years... sorry, but I call BS.

Touchscreens and facial recognition software will not replace the mouse in an office environment. It won't replace it for gaming. Hell, it won't replace it period.

Take gaming as a simple example. When I'm playing WoW, I'm often looking elsewhere, eating a snack, drinking a beer, or talking to my wife who is sitting on the other side of the room... the last thing I'm going to want to do is stare at the screen and make funny faces at it to move the mouse. Sorry, ain't gonna happen.

Don't get me wrong here; touch screens are a huge boon and will have a place in specialized industries; auto interfaces, shared spaces, Cell Phones, etc.

But making the claim that it will no longer be mainstream and large companies, lets say HR Block, will drop the mouse and replace everything with a touch screen and facial recognition software is the biggest load of crap I've heard in quote a long time.

Re:You'd need fewer mice if they were built to las

[egomaniac]

You are incorrect. The click detection is indeed done by detecting the capacitance of your fingers. I accept that there may be more than one physical microswitch inside the device, but that has nothing to do with left/right-click determination. The only thing that matters is whether your finger is resting on the left half of the device or not.

Re:Douglas Engelbart 1968 mouse demo video

[maxume]

Clicky:

http://sloan.stanford.edu/MouseSite/1968Demo.html

Unless you really, really like using tags (or it isn't available...), "Plain Old Text" works pretty well.

Re:What about Microsoft?

[Lumpy]

their first mouse was a rebranded logitech.

Re:Any othetr industry?? neve happened?

[sukotto]

"A billion hours ago, human life appeared on earth. A billion minutes ago, Christianity emerged. A billion seconds ago, the Beatles changed music. A billion Coca-Colas ago was yesterday morning,"
  -- Robert Goizueta, CEO (1980-1997) Coca-Cola Company

Re:Not to be celebrated

[molo]

While I do agree that mass-disposal is wasteful, the mouse has changed significantly in the last 20 years:

1. computer interface: RS-232, PS/2, USB
2. number of buttons
3. scroll wheel
4. mechanism: ball mouse with moving parts that wear out, optical mouse with special grid mousepad, modern optical mouse
5. wireless mice: IR, RF, Bluetooth

So its not like there hasn't been reasons to upgrade.

-molo