Why I'm cheesed off with the mouse

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Sorry, I’ll switch off this voice recognition software. What I said into the microphone was: “The weak point in any computing workflow is the interface between the machine and the human.”

About a decade ago, I sat on a panel of a user-level tech conference, blurting out off-the-cuff responses to questions from the audience. Inevitably, someone came up with the perennial favourite about whether the humble computer mouse will ever be replaced by something better. The responses from the panel were the usual silliness about virtual reality gloves, as seen in many movies.

Most of us expressed a frustration with having to interact with what we can see on-screen using just one hand, while the other, one assumes, withers away from atrophy. However, panicking under the harsh stage lights, we had forgotten that one of the panellists had only one arm. A friend of mine, he lost his arm as a teenager in a road accident.

Not only does he cope with one arm, he is a 3D modelling designer. If you have ever worked with 3D software, you will appreciate how difficult it is to interact in virtual space using a mouse pointer that only moves in two dimensions.

But his take on the topic had nothing to do with dexterity or dimensional space. His frustration was that mice only let you do three things: point, click and drag. Compared with the manipulative capability of the human hand, a computer mouse interface lacks versatility. As well as wanting to point, click and drag, my friend wanted to push, pull, insert, peel, stretch, flick, reach out, shake, grip, chop and more.

Ten years and thousands of repetitive strain injury (RSI) sufferers later, not a great deal has changed. Sure, there have been big improvements in the technical design of mice, most notably the introduction of optical tracking and Bluetooth connectivity. But what happened to the alternatives? If anything, because of the demise of trackballs and the sheer idiocy of those uncontrollable touchpad things on laptops, the mouse is more entrenched than ever.

Look back 20 years, and it’s clear that rather than supporting the development of desktop operating systems, the mouse has actually defined them to fit its own limited capabilities. To allow a true next-generation of client systems to develop, we need to invent a more manipulative device that will redefine how humans interact with computers.

The nearest thing to what my friend suggested a decade ago is the controller set-up for Nintendo’s Wii game console.