Phil Speak: Clickety Click
Greetings and a Happy 2012 to all my wonderful readers out there! I have returned once again from the immense expanse known as the Internet (*cough* and work *cough*) to bring you some useful and interesting info on a peculiar device that we use every single time we use with our electronic workhorses. I’m talking of course about the mouse! The computer mouse, not a real one. That’d be gross 😛
The mouse was invented around the late 60s-70s and it was made of wood. Interesting eh? Anyways, it had no practical application in those days, so it was shelved along with plenty of other brilliant ideas that at the time many thought would just be a waste of people’s time and money. Then comes an interesting man and his team of fellow geeks and programmers called Steve Jobs, and acquires this idea from Xerox (that’s a story for another day hehe). Needless to say, in the 1980s, Apple released to the masses the Apple Macintosh, the first “affordable” personal computer for the masses. And of course, it included a mouse. This was an amazing revelation! And it stuck.
Fast forward to today. The mouse is as common with technology today as butter is to bread. It’s the primary tool we use to surf the Net, play games, design, draw and so on. It’s our modern day hammer.
Since I eat, breathe and sleep technology, I’ve had A LOT of mice. They come in all shapes and sizes and many are tailored for specific functions like gaming, design, ergonomics for those with Carpal Tunnel, and the list goes on. Since the list is so long, I’m going to recommend a few I’m using nowadays.
If you’re a PC gamer (high five!) you want to go with a gaming mouse. These are generally a tad more expensive than your run-o-the-mill optical, but the
features you get to give you the edge make it worthwhile. They come with extra buttons, use laser sensors (don’t look at ’em) instead of optical, and they allow you to change the density of the mouse by adding or subtracting weight in the form of little metal pellets or discs. Gaming not your thing? I recommend the Logitech G-500 or the  Microsoft Sidewinder X5. Gaming not your thing? No problem!
Ever heard of a trackball? No? Well I’ll tell you. It’s a sort of mouse that instead of moving it about on your desk, it has a ball that you move with your thumb or index finger. It may seem strange at first but trust me you’ll feel the difference after several hours of surfing the web without your wrist hurting. I use the Logitech Wireless Trackball M570 and if you’re willing to give trackballs a shot, go for this one.
There really is no limit in what you choose here. Feel free to drop me a line if you have any suggestions!
Take care and have fun! (but be safe eh?)
