Thursday, July 24, 2008

Who killed the mouse?

After the passing of the DOS stone age and with the advent of the Microsoft bronze age, there was the witnessing of the birth of a gadget called the "mouse". This little gadget faithfully tagged along with the computer and prevailed even though his siblings like the trackball and the touch pad tried to gain attention. He was always the preferred one!

But now a recent report on a BBC website is saying otherwise. Even though the computer mouse is 40 years old, an analyst from Gartner is saying that its days are numbered. In fact, he goes on to say that we will see the demise of this little gadget in 3 to 5 years' time.

This is due to the appearance of innovations in consumer electronics which emphasize on human interaction. Touch screen gadgets by Apple and motion sensor equipped Nintendo Wii consoles are taking the world by storm. Could this be the birth of a new era? Would laptops and computers in future come equipped with touch screens? Most important question of all, is this even ergonomically safe for long hours of use?

Frankly speaking, I don't see this happening. The mouse is still my best companion even when I'm working on my laptop with all its bells and whistles. I think its still the best option especially when you are working on the computer for long hours. Can you even imagine moving your objects around or replacing your mouse with a touchscreen right now? And the other thing about the mouse is that you only need to move the mouse a couple of inches to move the pointer across the screen. You can't do that with a touch screen. It just seems to me that this analyst has exaggerated his report a tad too much. What do you think?

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6 comments:

boo said...

It's sad to say I'm a cripple without a mouse on my laptop. I'll end up staring at my screen and...and...just stare...haha! How dumb!

But, hey, if you see the touchscreen thingy like those you see on CSI, those things are super uber cool. If our laptops are replaced with such desktops with cool "minority report" thingy. I'd say YES to touchscreen.

Raj said...

Its 1-1 now... anymore comments?

Anonymous said...

I prefer the mouse

Raj said...

2-1 to the mouse now!!!

Ravi said...

GR,
i havent used a mouse with my laptop for the last 2-3 years. so its 2-2 now!

Raj said...

wow ravi... i think i could never survive without my mouse especially for those boring presentation slides. 2-2 it is!!!