Talk:Pointing stick
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Damned trademarked stuff...
To my dismay, the TrackPoint is by far what I think to be the best pointing device ever. Plus it saves space on the keyboard. I was looking for this kind of pointer to appear on ultra-slick laptops, but after reading this article I guess that there is only little hope it can happen.
Was it on a JVC laptop that I saw such a TrackPoint ? Now I wonder if this technology is disappearing because it was patented and nobody wants to pay royalties, or if ergonomists concluded that the touchpad is more convenient.
Any ergonomist around ?
- Toshiba has their AccuPoint, Dell and HP/Compaq have their own implementation.
- Toshiba's pushed it off of their non-business models, though, and Dell and HPaq never did have it on consumer models, unfortunately.
- --Bhtooefr 23:02, 24 October 2005 (UTC)
-
-
- I love it. I find it a bit harder to learn using it than touchpad, but it is my only reason why i will never own a PowerBook. Track point is far more ergonomic for me!
-
Contents |
[edit] trackpoint in other languages
Shouldn't we start a section called "trackpoint in other languages", a la "@ in other languages"? I'm quite sure trackpoint has some charming names in other languages, just like @ does...
- Best name I ever saw for it was Magical Red Nipple of Mouse Control. The person who coined that one was indeed a NetHack fan...
- Believe it or not, but many people refer to it as "clit". I've heard it so many times in so many languages that I think it's worth mentioning on either the Pointing stick page or the "Clit (disambiguation)" page or better yet: Both. On the other hand, some second opinions might be desired before changing the article(s).
[edit] So is this actually trademarked?
It seems that very few laptops nowadays incorporate trackpoints, even in the ultraportable market where a trackpoint is optimal. Does IBM/Lenovo have a patent on a trackpoint design, or do we simply have a case of betamax/vhs on our hands? --Qviri (talk) 04:47, 25 June 2006 (UTC)`
- I'm pretty sure it's patented by IBM --Froth 19:16, 7 August 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Let's keep this article on topic
When I ran across this article last night, I was dismayed by some of the offensive and irrelevant content. I've cleaned it up, and I would like to ask other editors to refrain from adding such material in the future.
That said, I apologize for my note in the edit comments for this talk page, "Removed offensive and idiotic content." That comes close to being a personal insult, and I did not mean it that way. "Removed offensive content" would have been sufficient.
Michael Geary 17:03, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Moved other pointing stick definition to a disambiguation page
Since this article covered two completely different topics, and by far the most incoming links to this page are about the TrackPoint, I moved the non-TrackPoint content to a disambiguation page.
Could we now keep this article to the TrackPoint and similar pointing devices only?
Thanks,
Michael Geary 03:03, 12 July 2006 (UTC)
[edit] "It has also been observed on computer mice"
The current article says this, no documentation. Really?
- Really. Follow the link to the IBM TrackPoint page, then the TrackPoint Mouse link. (SEWilco 05:11, 14 July 2006 (UTC))
- That is cool! Also the idea of two cursors is brilliant, though personally I would miss the scroll wheel --Froth 19:17, 7 August 2006 (UTC)
- I had one of these about eight years ago. It was called the ScrollPoint mouse. [1] New versions here: [2] [3] It wasn't an additional cursor, but it took the place of the wheel. It wasn't any harder to pick up than a scroll wheel, and sometimes I with I still had it.
[edit] Home row
Sharcho, I'm curious about your edit that changed:
- It is especially liked by touch-typists because it is the only pointing device which does not require the user to remove their fingers from the home row.
to:
- It is especially liked by touch-typists because it is one of the few pointing device which does not require the user to remove their fingers from the home row.
Is there another pointing device that you can use without moving your fingers from the home row? I am not aware of one, but I'd be interested to know about it.
Thanks! --Michael Geary 05:18, 13 September 2006 (UTC)
- I didn't make that change, but there are pointing devices which are used with the thumbs (which do not use the home row). A head-movement pointing device also does not affect hand positioning. (SEWilco 15:39, 13 September 2006 (UTC))
