Table of Contents
Using A Track Ball Mouse
| Field | Computer |
| Went Obsolete | In the future? |
| Made Obsolete By | Nothing yet, except maybe touch screens or neural interfaces in the future. |
| Knowledge Assumed | How to use the trackball correctly, and how to utilize a trackball. |
| When useful | A few computers today still use trackballs, like the one I am using. When faced with a computer such as mine, it is necessary to know how to use one. Also, track balls are more precise (which is amazing, because mice are very precise) and do not suffer from jerkiness when Circle Strafing (in video games). |
Track balls require the movement of your fingers rather than your wrist moving the entire device. The rotation of the tracking ball with your fingers allows the cursor to move into any direction without ever lifting the device, which regularly happens on mice and trackpads have similar shortcomings due to the limited size of the pad.
Trackballs are not obsolete. Trackballs are still preferred over regular mice and trackpads by computing professionals for their superior accuracy, ergonomy and infinite X/Y axis dimensions. They were never mainstream, because regular mice were cheaper and what was regarded as “standard”. Modern trackballs are optically tracked.
