Re: ::scr Dressing up the computer

[Arvid Gidhagen <arvgi575@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> why haven't touch screens become prevalent?

Another reason (besides the purely hand-ergonomic ones) why I
personally would never want a touch screen for my computer is that
it makes the screen smudgy with fingerprints... I'm REALLY anal
about this. I hade dirt on my screen. Especially greasy dirt.
(But this is an ergonomic reason too, dirty screens are harder
on the eyes).

> Whenever I use a trackball for some time, I get bad wrist pains

The scroll wheel on my new mouse is a nice idea, but it kills my
middle finger. 

I was toying with the idea of a version of the "clitoris" [0]
that IBM use on their notebooks, ie. a small analogue joystick
placed somewhere on the keyboard. Not in the middle of it,
rather placed somewhere where the numeric keypad is now.

like this: http://www-und.ida.liu.se/~arvgi575/joystick.jpg

Perhaps constructed like the PlayStation analogue joysticks
so that you could press on the entire joystick as a "click".
(hm, so that's where I got the idea from... it's basically a
rip-off then.) Don't know what the optimal sensitivity or size
would be, but I imagined it large enough that you would be
able to place the palm of your hand on it without discomfort.

Not a million miles away from a mouse or a trackball, but
it would enable you to have the keyboard in your lap without
having to reach for the mouse. And it's less fiddly than a
keyboard-mounted trackball.

I'm not sure as to exactly what the benefits of relative vs.
absolute pointing devices actually are, though.


- Arvid

[0] funny in Swedish, where the word for mouse is "mus" - but
    "mus" is also slang for "vagina". Hence, the bright red
    little knob that IBM use is obviously the most sensitive
    part of the "mus"... Well I think it's slightly funny
    anyway. When mice were introduced, people actually
    seriously recommended that they should be called "råtta"
    ("rat") instead of "mus" so as to avoid any naughty
    associations. That never caught on, however.