Justin G. Bautista
Writer
January 06, 2012
Demise of Computer Mouse
Developers must really hate our computer mouse.
Posted on by

First, tablets dismiss clicking and transforms into tapping directly on the screen. Then, they wanted to eradicate the use of hands altogether and make use of our stark eyes to navigate our computer.

 

Tobii, a swedish company, instituted the technology of eye tracking. With just the movement of your eyes, you can switch from surfing the internet to organizing your personal files. You could watch the demo video in Use Your Eyes Instead Of A Mouse.

 

I get it. It is really cool and futuristic. All they want us to do is sit in our computer and let our eyes do the work. Computer then will even be more boring. They are inducing people to be alone since it is a problem when two people are looking in one screen. Personal computers will indeed be per person.

 

I think it is also leeway to further laziness. And since you move your eyes, you are putting more pressure on your two precious eyeballs, leading to increased potential eyestrain.

 

I think there’s nothing wrong with my mouse. I can stick to it. And I like using my hands. But this technology is useful for people with hand problems, such as tremors, or disabilities.

 

Are you ready to let go of your computer mouse?

 

  • http://www.DanRoark.com danroark

    I’m sticking with my mouse. I’m used to it, and it works well for me. Thanks for the visit.

    • Justin G. Bautista

      It works well for us now but we don’t know how much more convenient other technologies will be in the future.

  • http://themofman.wordpress.com themofman

    The mouse isn’t dead yet.

  • http://buddhawoods.wordpress.com buddhawoods

    I feel there is a gap not being exploited by mouse manufacturers here. Why not bring the mouse to the hand? By that I mean a tiny device (or chip) on our fingers that allow you to click a portion of the screen, without actually touching the screen. Or is this redundancy?

    Reblogged this on Buddhawoods's Blog.

    • Justin G. Bautista

      That’s an idea! Then we can move away from the desktop, unlike the touch screen or eye control, it coerced us to be really close to our computers.

    • http://texthistory.wordpress.com Barb Drummond

      I like this – like the touch screens already?

  • http://eideard.com eideard

    I use a mouse with touch built into the top. Gives me the best of mouse + trackball.

    • Justin G. Bautista

      A Trackpad is kind of a better substitute for me.

  • http://wiggledywoo.wordpress.com Kristin Shoolbraid

    Hey, we eat chickens who have been bred without beaks and legs so they will sit still and get fat. What’s good for a chicken could be applied to us. Where to next do you think?

    • Justin G. Bautista

      I really hope we won’t turn to a motionless fat chicken. It doesn’t feel good to not move, or even stretch. Have you tried that?

    • http://wiggledywoo.wordpress.com Kristin Shoolbraid

      No, not really. Moments of real pain can bring you to that place in a hurry. To stay whole we have to tune into the divine, not the TV or papers or anything that someone would like to sell to you.

  • http://wolfiesworld-oz.blogspot.com/ Wolfie Rankin

    The trouble is, a computer is a desk based thing… if we want anything done, we must visit the desk. The mouse, keyboard and monitor are all things which must plug into another thing, so none of it is portable. and neither is a laptop.

    When radios were old, they had the same problem, a huge piece of furniture which had to be plugged in to both the power and the antenna… try listening to Rock N Roll in a very religious home environment.

    Then came liberation in the form of the transistor.

    We always think “we’re there” when we use computers, but generations of the future will laugh at the laptop and tablet.

    They won’t pick up and take a device with them, they won’t even be aware that they have a device on them, it will all just work.

    • http://gravatar.com/texthistory Barb Drummond

      but when something goes wrong with it, it is harder to fix – cars used to be mendable by their owners most of the time. now you need a PhD in electronics anytime the slightest thing goes wrong.

    • Justin G. Bautista

      The trend now is to always buy the newer models, even though the used ones are alright. Case in point, Apple models. You’re right, maintenance is like a separate product that we buy.

  • http://drangedinaz.wordpress.com drangedinaz

    Well if you type for a living like I do (am a programmer) and you blog like I do and you have wrist and hand problems like I do…..then this eye tracking technology could mean the difference between my being able to continue to work making a good living or “retiring” on disability and being poor. So tech isn’t inherently good or bad for us…it is the way we use it that matters.

    • http://texthistory.wordpress.com Barb Drummond

      If you are working hard enough to cause hand injuries, I would be very worried about doing the same to your eyes, which will make you even worse.

  • http://texthistory.wordpress.com Barb Drummond

    Why is so much effort spent on saving effort when we are increasingly obese and clumsy? I soemtimes think i need to get out more, but i think the designers need to. when i used to drive i learnt on a manual, but when i used automatic i used to drift off. we need to keep moving our bodies. wen they move, so do our minds.

  • http://sustainabilitea.wordpress.com sustainabilitea

    At first it sounded pretty weird to me, but it would be incredibly useful for people without use of their hands a/o arms! Personally, I’ll stick with the mouse for now.

  • http://fiercebuddhist.wordpress.com fiercebuddhist

    Makes the phrase “hands off my computer” irrelevant. Could be a real boon for the disabled though.

  • http://lifeinthe05.wordpress.com skischulze

    Love the idea of a worthless future. If they can’t even master speech commands (a.k.a. Siri), I don’t care. Until I am on the bridge of the Enterprise, and can say, “Computer…” it’s all moot

    • http://fiercebuddhist.wordpress.com fiercebuddhist

      Applause. Even then though the what you’d ya better be exact enough. The computer will only do what you ask it to. :)

  • http://ronyaroshauthor.com bigron42

    I’m just a guy with a limerick reply…

    The mouse is a thing of the past,
    Who knew that the click wouldn’t last?
    We’ll just use our eyes,
    That might mean more tries,
    Overall it may not be that fast.

    I’m just a guy with a limerick reply…

    • http://themofman.wordpress.com themofman

      Well done!

  • http://nothingsilent.wordpress.com Andromache

    I wonder if this new technology would decrease the amount of carpal tunnel surgeries associated with excessive computer use?

    Hmm. And on a silly note, You know, if one of the side effects was to get guys to stop taking webcam photos with sunglasses on…

    I am not sure I could snub the idea LOL

  • http://darkofficehumour.wordpress.com Ankur Mithal

    From whatever I have laerned and understiood, I think LAZINESS is the point. Perhaps closely preceded by GETTING RICH QUICK. Man is working harder and harder so that he can be more and more lazy. Someone needs to invent the things u hv written about so that others can be lazy and he can be rich. We work harder between 9 and 5 so that we can be lazy after 5. We work hard till 55 or 60 so that we can be lazy after that…..

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