The Mice That Didn't Make It 202
Harry writes "For every blockbuster of the mouse world (such as Microsoft and Logitech's big sellers) there have been countless mice that flopped, or never made it to market. Mice shaped like pyramids; mice shaped like Mickey; mice that doubled as numeric keypads or phones. Even one that sat on your steering wheel. I've rounded up some evocative patent drawings on twenty notable examples."
Not Reading It (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm not reading this article because it's on 20 different pages. STOP THAT SHIT.
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I found it interesting, though it would have been a little easier in larger doses.
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What??? Larger chunks??? And lose out on ad impressions? NEVER!
1. Build Website
2. Sell ad space on it
3. Write Article
4. Split it into 90 pieces
5. Post article to said website
6. ???
7. Profit
Re:Not Reading It (Score:5, Funny)
because clicking on the word "next" 20 times is too laborious? You, sir, need a better mouse.
Come to think of it, perhaps your current mouse is listed in the article...
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At 3 minutes to load each page, no-one is going to click through 20 times.
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Well, the thing most people do if they don't want to wait is, open in a new tab! I saw 23 links along the bottom, one for each page (except the first), doesn't mean you can't middle-click them all and while they load, you read the first one.
Most browsers should handle 24 open tabs quite easily.
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No! Wrong, all of you!
If it takes that much effort to read what is essentially a fluff piece, I for one will not read it. Not preloading the pages in different tabs, not clicking next 20 times. Stupid web developers. grumble grumble. No sense of usability. grumble grumble grumble.
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Even simpler to just post it as a single page.
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I'm not reading this article because it's on 20 different pages. STOP THAT SHIT.
Seriously. There really needs to be some way to administer a small electric shock to both the submitter and the editor for things like this.
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>There really needs to be some way to administer a small electric shock to both the submitter and the editor
Why "small"? I say give'em a Dr Emmett Brown 1.21 jiggowatt sized shock.
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So just tie them to a cable, climb up and connect it to a clocktower, and wait for a storm? Too much work. Think Indiana Jones, where you simply shoot the guy and walk away, machete or not.
Re:Not Reading It (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Not Reading It (Score:5, Funny)
<Zybl0re> get up
<Zybl0re> get on up
<Zybl0re> get up
<Zybl0re> get on up
* nmp3bot dances
* nmp3bot dances
* nmp3bot dances
<[SA]HatfulOfHollow> i'm going to become rich and famous after i invent a device that allows you to stab people in the face over the internet
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No, great minds just think alike. Or annoyed ones anyway.
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I knew I shouldn't have bought that face stabbing peripheral. Now I make a whistling sound every time I breath out.
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There's an RFC for that!
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It does not solve the problem. It works around it.
Unless it ahs an option to slap the developer in the back of the head.
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Hey, I am designing a mouse to find and click 'next' to read long inane articles you insensitive clod!
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I love to read in a lot of different media. I can enjoy reading a novel in a web browser without any problem at all. I have done it.
However, for every user like me there are thousands who cry: 'Wall of text!' everytime they encounter some text that's more than 10 lines long.
So, complain to these lazy users that can't read, instead of complaining to the webmasters. The webmasters are simply doing what the masses ask.
Also, the game.
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An interesting theory, but no. Webmasters do it to increase ad views.
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it will stop soon. Big ad companies are already changing their rankings from page impressions to unique users.
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If I go to read an article, and find that there's only a paragraph or two on the first page with large pictures and ads and a "NEXT PAGE" link, I stop reading and make a mental note not to visit that site again.
Technologizer dot com is now on my black list. I just don't need whatever information is at their site that badly.
On the other hand, I've seen sites that break up long articles, especially hardware reviews, into several pages, with ads on each page. But at least there's a significant amount of inf
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Have some care for whomever is paying for the upbound bandwidth... if you ball out midway through, having each item on separate pages means they don't have to send what you don't look at.
Interesting theory. But how would doling out 4 more paragraphs per page, and making a 20 page article 4 pages break the bank? In fact, I'd argue that on the vast majority of sites all the 'structure' (javascript, html tables, classes names, ids, spans, menu items, etc) that goes with each page makes it take far more bandwid
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Are you blind?
It's on 24
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Timothy, as a person in a slashdot sized and popular site, can you tell if it is really "ad impressions" they are looking for or is it "omg too long, can't read" to be prevented?
I think what will make everyone happy is, "Print" function of site but on that particular site, it doesn't exist. As it is "proudly powered by Wordpress", someone should fix or enhance the "kernel" of these technology blogs.
The functionality you talk about has been implemented on Opera for a long time. It is at View/Toolbars/Navigat
Split article (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Split article (Score:5)
Haha! And I got modded troll for saying 30 page articles are common and make me want to throttle someone. ;)
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You should mod up as underrated. That way it keeps the troll tag, but more people will see it. :P
And I was serious - it was just a couple days ago!
Re:Split article (Score:5, Funny)
Did you see the subtracts?
Next.. Next.. Next... (Score:4, Insightful)
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20 pages for 20 smallish pictures? Really? The site must be desperate for ad revenue.
AdBlock Plus claims it is actively blocking four scripts when I land on the first page, all of them from static.fmpub.net
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Not to say that any of these reasons of-necesity warrant this sort of design, but it isn't always simply revenue. My biggest complaint is where there is a complete lack of a "printer-friendly" option.
Next worst thing to lack (Score:3, Insightful)
My biggest complaint is where there is a complete lack of a "printer-friendly" option.
Do you also complain when a web site makes printer-friendly versions of its articles available at a low, low price per month?
He forgot one (Score:4, Informative)
.
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I assume you're talking about the hockey puck mouse [wikipedia.org], rather than the ADB Mouse II that's pictured on the top of the page. The former was a disaster, of course; the latter was actually quite a good mouse and very pleasant to use.
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Yes, the most god awful mouse ever made and sold in "large" quantities. Why would you ever make a mouse that had no tactile feel to let you know which was was up, make it really light, and then put a really heavy cord on it so that the cord was always trying to make it rotate? Not to mention it was too small and just uncomfortable.
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I assume you're talking about the hockey puck mouse [wikipedia.org], rather than the ADB Mouse II that's pictured on the top of the page.
How's this [soothbrush.com] for a replacement?
I got one of those for free, but "painful" doesn't begin to describe it...
np: Orbital - Lush (Herve's Tree And Leaf Remix) (2Orbital (Disc 2))
Re:He forgot one (Score:5, Insightful)
On a system designed with it in mind, yes it was. I'm possibly a rare individual who grew up starting with an Atari ST (two buttoned mice that were made out of bricks it seemed), moved on to a Mac (the famous ACB one button mouse), and then to the PC (cheap as shit multi-button mice).
While having more buttons in the Windows world was definately a must, back in the System 7 days and before, having one button was not an issue and given most PC mice in the day were made of plastic that felt as if it would shatter if sneezed at forcefully, having a mouse that had 'heft' meant I actually felt as if I had better control on those rare few games that were worth playing than I did on the PC games that came later.
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Your first computer had a mouse? Get off my lawn!
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My very first computer was actually a Timex/Sinclair ZX81 with a membrane Dvorak keyboard and a port for 16K ram upgrades. However given the games for it consisted of things that would make a WarioWare minigame look complex, I chose not to mention it. ^_^
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Back in the day (Score:2)
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And then we have the SpaceNavigator [3dconnexion.com] and it's siblings, but that is actually used by a lot of CAD users. And if you use Google Earth you will love it.
The sad thing with it is that the default drivers doesn't allow it to be used as a joystick. There are thirdparty drivers but I haven't been able to make them work.
I'll stick with my blue M&M mouse . . . (Score:5, Funny)
. . . http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/5921266/Blue-MandMs-mend-spinal-injuries.html [telegraph.co.uk]
. . . poor critter . . .
Did one of them actually make it? (Score:2)
Is it just me, or does the mouse on page 4 [technologizer.com] bear a striking resemblance to Logitech's current line-up of ergonomic mice?
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I used to have a trackball mouse that also looked familiar. (90s) I think it was a logitech. Complete and utter POS. I got it figuring it would be better for graphics, but the lack of fine detailed control made it useless.
As much as I despise Microsoft, I still love their mice, in particular the 5 button versions, which are handy for throwing F and G grenades in Team Fortess Classic. (and yes, I still have a couple of servers for this 11 year old game...)
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Phone [cheap-battery.com] mice [plsbuy.com] did. [anypromo.com]
And so did many a car mouse. [amazon.com]
Article that didn't make it (Score:3, Insightful)
Spread across 24 pages and about as interesting as a dry dog turd. When you submit to slashdot and it gets rejected then some story about loser designs that didn't make it for good reason winds up as front page news it's quite an insult. What's the next article going to be about? Drug addicts that didn't make it to CEO of large tech companies? How about abacus designs that didn't sell? Not inane enough for you? Let's try pocket protector manufacturers that went broke.
Pocket Protectors (Score:2)
Let's try pocket protector manufacturers that went broke.
We cannot allow such a travesty to occur. They are too big to fail.
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While the formatting sucked, the actual content was pretty good. Good quality images, simple text describing, to the point. I gave it a 5 star rating for the content.
As for being spread over 20+ pages, Tom's and everyone else has been doing this for years, albeit, not as drastically. Gaming sites are just as bad, or worse. I expect it. Fortunately, my mouse just clicked next a couple dozen times, no worry.
Perhaps the next article submitted and accepted by /. editors will simply have one paragraph per p
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You could have provided the article in question you submitted along with your summary.
Otherwise, it just reads as bitter criticism.
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You could have provided the article in question you submitted along with your summary.
Otherwise, it just reads as bitter criticism.
Yeah much better to be accused of off topic bitter criticism, than just bitter criticism. I'd actually argue if I'd provided a specific article, it'd be grousing. I was speaking generally.
Slow news day? (Score:4, Insightful)
For every blockbuster of the X world there have been countless X that flopped, or never made it to market.
No. Shit.
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The point here is the guy actually collected the images from the original patents, which took a little work (and a lot of weeding out). The concept wasn't original (and the formatting over many pages sucked) but the actual content was pretty good, and yes, interesting.
24 fucking pages for 20 mice? (Score:4, Informative)
Seriously, 24 pages for 20 nice is a flipping joke.
I wish this one made it... (Score:2, Interesting)
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There IS no mouse that could deal with the clutter of my desk. Moving from the bottom of the screen to the top requires PUSHING crap out of the way, and still it takes three or four pushes to get to the top.
Logitech, PLEASE start making these again!
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why don't you clean your desk?
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As a side note, I think console systems would be improved if the right analog joystick on the controller was replaced with a trackball. Aiming is next to impossible with a joystick.
Your thumb would hurt after a while. A joystick has a mostly flat top, a trackball is more curved so it has less contact area and more pressure. The idea would be perfect if not for that.
Here I come to save the day (Score:2)
I think console systems would be improved if the right analog joystick on the controller was replaced with a trackball.
But how big of a trackball? Look at how thin the Wii Classic Controller is. Wouldn't a trackball have to be as small as the trackball in the middle of an Apple Mighty Mouse in order to fit?
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The Trackman Marble FX was indeed a very nice trackball. Mine also broke, I'd buy one again if they still sold them (especially a left-handed version).
Best mouse... (Score:5, Interesting)
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I have used this for 10 years and continue to be amazed that its not the standard in computing.
Hrmm... At $220, i too am surprised that it isn't the standard in computing...
pfft.
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You know, that's what I've always thought about pointing sticks.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointing_stick [wikipedia.org]
Unlike the rollermouse, I think the price would be pretty marginal to add to a regular keyboard, but I've only ever seen one external keyboard design that incorporated a pointing stick. (Lenovo/IBM design.)
Personally, having a trackpoint was a deciding factor in choosing my laptop.
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meh, i had a Thinkpad for a couple years and i really ,really miss the trackpoint. id damn near kill to have one in the middle of my wireless logitech keyboard. i found a few that were wired (ps/2? no fucking thanks, bud) and overpriced. half the time when i was on my thinkpad, even if i had a mouse handy, id just use the trackpoint. its such a wonderful input device and one of the main reasons i went with thinkpads. i *hate* touchpads, the multitouch ones are ok but nothing compared to a trackpoint for me.
Sturgeon's law in action (Score:2)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturgeon's_Law [wikipedia.org]
What do you really expect? The light bulb wasn't perfected on the first try either.
WORST. MOUSE. EVER. (Score:4, Interesting)
Sorry, Harry (Score:2)
I took one look at the front page, realized that you created 24 pages to show 20 slides, understood that your main point here was maximizing ad revenue, and closed the tab.
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is it just me? (Score:2)
I find myself really wanting one of those number pad mice.
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Then buy one [monstermarketplace.com] for $30. That was just the first I found, I bet there are others. And 30 bucks aint bad for any optical mouse. It doesn't even require special drivers. Not a bad idea for a laptop, actually.
Logitech iFeel (Score:2)
The real mystery is how Logitech iFeel didn't make it. I got that thing right here but it has no support to OS X.
It is immersion powered which can do little vibrates which everyone goes crazy about these days. "Haptic feedback" is the term I guess.
While I was on Windows, it was a real intutive thing which caused no kind of system instability. I would say "because of software", no it is not the case. Unreal (2?) made use of it and it was the only game I could experience real feedback.
Here is its review from
I can't be the first to ask (Score:2)
Uhh, why?
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hmmm (Score:2)
Other weird mice (Score:2)
I don't have any idea what model it was, but a co-worker used to have a very small HP laptop with a mouse on a little arm that came out the right side of it.
Ok I feel I must respond! (Score:2)
I'm not going to format this so it's easy to read, I'm tired - so I'm getting straight to the point, I pray there's a billion to once chance a mouse manufacturer is listening.
For high end fingertip gamers (google it) this is the best shaped mouse ever made.
http://www2s.biglobe.ne.jp/~yav/comp/pc/mouse/ltmm3u.jpg [biglobe.ne.jp]
Sadly, no wheel, not optical, old as hell (PS/2!)
All the modern laser or optical mice for gamers are absoloutely and utterly ridiculously huge for fingertip grip gamers, they are far too large or odd
"Surfaceless" mouse (Score:2)
I remember selling a few of a device that was a hand held mouse/game controller (for the Atari 400/800, VIC29 and C=64). It was more like a joystick without a base, just a handle with buttons on the top. Inside were mercury switches that detected when it was tilted.
Since it had no tactile feedback nor accelerometer type detection for greater tilt, it wasn't long before the user started trying harder and harder to make it go faster (especially for games) by tilting it farther and farther, until they eventual
You whore out your own website and spread... (Score:5, Informative)
...your "article" over 24 pages? Other submitters go to the trouble of linking a print page to spare us this crap and you link an ad-riddled pos like that on purpose? I don't say that often, but: fuck you.
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Also, the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.
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the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
Fixed that for you. That phrase is supposed to include all 26 letters of the English alphabet. Your version was missing the s.
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Or the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dogs.
Re:Now is the time fob (Score:4, Funny)
the "b" was the typo he was fixing for the demonstration.
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I wonder if that was going to be 'Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country'. I would be amused if it were - that happens to be the phrase I type whenever I'm testing a new (computer or cell phone) keyboard. I don't know why that phrase became my standard Keyboard Testing Phrase, but I've been using it since my early teens.
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s/B/R
"Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country." is a sentence that used to be used a lot in typesetting -- it's exactly 70 characters (including the period), the width of one standard line.
Note that the original quote was "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party", it was part of a typing exercise, not sure if it was originally a political quote...
Why yes, I do have recollection of random factoids from elementary school typing class, why do you
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I think it's an R with an underscore representing what we now recognise as a cursor. Looks like a B though.
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It's a mouse which also serves as a model of the Time Cube and can be hung from a key chain.
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What are you, an idiot? That's the plural of moose.
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But the plural of ox is oxen , not "oxes"
Then one fowl is a goose and two are geese
Yet the plural of moose would never be "meese,"
You may find a lone mouse or a whole lot of mice , ,
But the plural of house is houses , not "hice."
If the plural of man is always men
Why shouldnt the plural of pan be "pen"?
Cow in the plural may be cows or kine .
But the plural of vow is vows , not "vine
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Do you know what the brand/product name is? My previous handheld trackball broke, partly because its design encouraged placing it on a desk in an unstable position, so I'm interested in alternative (and preferably cheaper) models.
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If you make it a multitouch touchpad then I'm sold.