SCHMIDT@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA (03/17/84)
From: Christopher Schmidt <SCHMIDT@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA> I find that the best mouse traps for mechanical mice are the "self healing" cutting bases sold in art stores. I buy a brand called Charvoz. They are the only material that I've found that works at all well with the LM-2 Kinetronics mouse, and are the best (albeit not the only) that work with the 3600 mouse. They work fine with the Xerox Hawley mice too, but other, cheaper, mouse traps work just as well because the Hawley mice (most of them, at least) are pretty tolerant of the surface. I have a Radio Shack mouse on my Commodore 64 at home (using a home-grown adapter). A sheet of typing paper is all the mouse trap it needs! I've used both the 2 button mechanical mouse for the 1108 and the 3 button optical mouse for the 1108. The former tracked adequately on the Xerox provided mouse trap, but the missing middle button was a real loss. The "Center" key on the star keyboard is equivalent to the middle button, but just doesn't cut it. Too much software relies on its convenience. The optical mouse (which we got a month after using the mechanical mouse) was a dream by comparison. I think Xerox does itself a disservice by pricing this mouse so high. If it is cheaper to manufacture (which I am told is true), it should be the standard product at the standard price. The mechanical mouse only gives buyers of the standard product the impression that Xerox can't make a decent mouse any more. --Christopher -------
wmartin@brl-vgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (04/04/84)
The only mouse I have used has been the old NLS/Englebart/SRI type which didn't use a ball but used two potentiometers set at right angles to each other, with wheels mounted on the shafts. Moving the mouse turned the wheels and the circuitry in the terminal measured the resistance changes in the pots to move the cursor. It had some drawbacks -- you reached the end of the limits of movement and had to roll it back to the center settings. But it worked on anything -- grungy desktops, pants legs, the pile of junk on the desktop, or in midair, if you tuned the wheel with a thumb or spare finger. (A smooth projection provided the third point for a stable support.) I guess it was heavy and bulky compared to the ones that have been discussed here, but it was sturdy and never needed cleaning. Maybe improvements aren't always progress... Will