Will the Computer Mouse be Replaced? What About the Mouse Pad?

-Brent Woodrum

In the article “Analyst: Computer mice could be extinct in 3-to-5 years,” Analyst Steve Prentice states, “The mouse works fine in the desktop environment … for home entertainment or working on a notebook, it’s over.” Prentice uses examples of the Nintendo Wiimote and the iPhone touchscreen to show how far input devices have come. Although mouse maker Logitech has denied any claims of moving away from the mouse, it is something to think about.

After I read this article, I immediately thought of the new hp desktop computer that uses a touchscreen as the main input device. I started seeing commercials for this computer in June of this year.

Do you think future input devices will ever really be able to replace the mouse?


RESPONSES found online:
For palm held devices and games, yes. For desktops, well, that's another story altogether. Ergonomically, it doesn't make sense at all. The mouse is here to stay for awhile.

Utter nonsense....Touch screens make your fingers sore after a day of use...what about photoshop? etc. This analyst says Touch screens will only be a fad and the mouse will stay...touchscreens will remain an option....Nice attention getting headline leading to nothing substantive.

I really cannot see the all helpful and easy to use mouse to be replaced any time soon. I mean honestly it’s had such a long run and with today’s shape/look and feel it just makes it so much easier to use a mouse in comparison to any other device. The field is open to many ideas and there’s virtually unlimited amount of these ideas that could replace our mouse... but no matter what happens, the ever so loved MOUSE will never be replaced in our hearts.

I saw an interesting new take on the mouse at CeBIT earlier this year. Their website is www.futuremouse.com. It will be interesting to see if anything comes of it, or if its just vapourware for now...

Hmm. I don't think this will be the case. Many people don't like touchscreens, and motion devices are a pain to use for pointer input. Perhaps more people will change over after Windows 7, but the mouse will probably stay for a while yet.

Will the mouse really go away? I think the only way it will go away is when it demonstrates that it will give a higher productivity to everyone doing their tasks. That includes most of all in the work/business space. I travel and work alot and I can't even go without my mouse much. I can't see devices like the Wiimote or touch screens increasing my Excel or Word productivity very much to be honest. It'll need to be more innovative if its going to dominate the world over the mouse. For games these devices are definetly good. For everyday life? completely different story.

The mouse will remain, but not in it's current form. Having worked for companies that deliver touchscreen solutions, they are not a replacement for either the keyboard for typing nor the mouse for gaming. Touchscreens are good input devices for switching or turning on/off applications.

In my opinion the mouse will develop into a hand mounted device similar to a Wii controller, wireless and with a button for every finger (and thumb).

I don't think the mouse will be gone. I think we need it to use a desk top computer. The mouse may evolve into something else for hand held devices, but we need a pointing device on our desk top for our computers. Can you think the strain and pain it would create if we had to touch screen on a desk top?

There are too many new innovations coming along in the "computer mouse" world. Look at the heated mouse. It's an USB warm mouse that generates heat to keep cold mouse hand warm. Plus, all the other advancements in desk top computing would not allow the computer mouse and mouse pad to disappear. We need them for ergonomics!

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