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Are you ready to give up your mouse?

Posted in Utterly strange on July 18, 2008 at 11:24 am

A Gartner report - which has been picked up by various news outlets - reckons that the computer mouse’s days are numbered. Apparently, the fact that we’re all into new kinds of human-computer interfaces means that we’ll be getting rid of our mice within three to five years. Instead, we’ll all be using motion sensors (like the Nintendo Wiimote) or touchscreens (like the one in Apple’s iPhone) or even devices designed to interpret facial expressions and eye movements. But I have my doubts about this. I don’t think we’re ready to give up our mice just yet - or at least, I don’t think I am.

If you’ve got a laptop, do you use the built-in touchpad for mouse functions? Or, like me, do you just plug in a mouse and use that instead? I’m used to mice; using one is intuitive now, though I’ve re-taught myself to use various designs of trackball mice over the years before eventually reverting back to the tried-and-trusted model. (Though admittedly I have a rather nice ergonomic laser one, which is miles better than the ancient ones I learned to use at school, which had balls in the bottom that kids would routinely steal. That wasn’t just my school, was it?)

Obviously, innovation is great, and I love playing with all the new sci-fi-esque interfaces that seem to get invented on a daily basis, but I don’t think three to five years is long enough for us to change the way we use computers.

Cue an embarrassed blog post in 2011 when we’re all wiggling our fingers at sensors and blinking to scroll down..!