I’m sure you are all familiar with the Ralph Waldo Emerson
quote, “Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your
door.” There is even a book by Graham Barker & Peter Bissell called
A Better Mousetrap: the business of invention.
However, as a computer addict for over 30 years (anyone remember the Commodore Pet) I have suffered from repetitive strain injury (RSI) for many years. The introduction of the mouse
in the 1980s only made matters worse for me. Consequently I have spent
much time investigating new and improved hardware and software.
For over 10 years I have been using my left hand for mousing at work
and my right at home to spread the strain. When the pain was at its
worst I experimented with auto-mouse-click software.
(When the mouse pointer stops moving, the system counts down a fixed
interval and triggers a mouse click.) However this was very tricky to
use, especially for moving items around the screen.
A
more successful approach has been to upgrade my mouse, first from the
type relying on a physical ball for positioning, to infra-red, and more
recently to laser powered. Also the introduction of a scroll wheel
significantly improved the ergonomic experience, especially for those
long hours surfing the web for information.
I briefly experimented with a track-ball mouse but couldn’t get on with it.
However a couple of years ago I saw the the answer to my prayers
(and started saving the £70 required to acquire it). This particular
example is from Logitech
(although I’m sure there are similar ones available now). The key
factors are its ergonomic shape, which comfortably fits into my hand, a
high precision laser beam leading to less hesitation on the screen, and
a wireless USB connection preventing snagged cables. It also has a
scroll wheel with a needle roller bearing
(something of an engineering anachronism in these days of high-tech).
When the wheel is set to ‘free scroll’ (my default setting), I can whiz
up and down fifty screens worth of information with one gentle flick of
my finger.
I understand that thought controlled computer interfaces are being
developed, but until that day I think I will be happy with my digital
mouse.

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