Click, click, click-click, click; goes the computer mouse.
- A computer mouse is a technology input device, generally used to move a pointer on a computer screen, although the technology is also used for some game consoles.
- A computer mouse typically has two buttons, one on the left and one on the right, and a small wheel in the middle, known as a ‘scroll wheel’, and in some designs, it can also be pressed like a button, but it is generally used to scroll through information on a computer screen.
- A computer mouse typically fits underneath one’s hand, with a finger on each of the left and right buttons, and was named so, because it originally resembled a mouse, with the cord as its tail.
- The plural of computer mouse is ‘computer mice’, and ‘computer mouses’ is also an acceptable plural, often used by a person to distinguish it from the rodents.
- Computer mice were invented by American Douglas Engelbart, an engineer, in the United States, in 1963, and were proven to be one of the most efficient cursor moving devices, although they were not commonly available for personal computer use until the early 1980s.
- A computer mouse can perform actions via clicks of the buttons, with single and double clicks performing different actions depending on the button, and holding or moving the mouse with a button held activates different responses on the computer screen.
- A computer mouse is typically connected to a device via cord, such as a USB, or wireless, often with a USB or serial receiver that plugs into the computer.
- The outer layer of a computer mouse was originally made of wood, but are now typically made of plastic, and are found in all shapes, sizes and colours.
- A computer mouse movement is measured in mickeys, as in ‘Mickey Mouse’, which refers to the number of pixels the cursor has moved, compared to how many inches or centimetres the mouse has moved.
- A modern computer mouse generally contains optical sensors like light-emitting diodes and photodiodes, and sometimes laser diodes, that track movement of the device.
Bibliography:
1963: Douglas Engelbart invents the Mouse, 2014, Berkley Engineering, http://coe.berkeley.edu/about/history-and-traditions/1963-douglas-engelbart.html
Mouse (computing), 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouse_(computing)
