Computer Mouse Heading for Extinction
How many times have people predicted the end of the mouse as we know it? Well, you can add the research firm Gartner to the list of people predicting the end of the computer mouse. The kicker? They've even give it a timeline of five years.
Steven Prentice, vice president and Gartner Fellow, told the BBC that devices such as Nintendo's MotionPlus for the Wii and Apple's iPhone point the way to the future, offering greater accuracy in motion detection. "With the Wii you point and shake and it vibrates back at you so you have a two-way relationship," said the analyst.
Why would an office user want feedback from his interface device? Can we get mice that issue a 240v shock to people who put word documents with three lines in them in emails? Or even extend it - a proximity device on the tech support quickdial on their phone that shouts "Press F1, dickhead!".
But the Wii remote- MotionPlus or not- isn't pixel accurate, nor is it designed for prolonged use. And it's only useful on large screens at a distance.
Touchscreen is rarely pixlel perfect either, which is why you have a big-ass chunky interface on the iphone. It's so you can still see what you're doing while your fat fingers are jabbing at the screen.
Using touch screen only would require a complete re-think in desk layouts, you wouldn't want to have to reach up to the screen for every "click". You'd want it where the keyboard is or something.
Although all modern screens should have touch screen capability really.
Computer Mouse Heading for Extinction
