5 ms·

The Optical Mouse [pdf] (1981)

27 points by ustad 3y ago

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
NaOH 3y ago
Previous discussion: The Optical Mouse - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7304183 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7304183 - Feb 2014 (11 comments)
hedgehog 3y ago
This might explain why early optical mice used a grid patterned mouse pad. I had one from Mouse Systems and the mouse pad it came with was a metal plate printed with a fine grid pattern.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- efilife 3y ago
  What does a fine pattern mean in this context?
  - bostik 3y ago
    About the density of a technical drawing paper, IIRC. Our school had those metallic optical mouse mats back in 1990. I distinctly remember that some of the lines were blue, but there were silvery lines in a finer pattern between them.
    - nonrandomstring 3y ago
      I remember. They were amazing. Sun SPARCs came with those. Really pleasant to use. I wonder whether you can still get mouse mats like that and whether they improve (or even work with) modern camera based optical mice?
  - zimpenfish 3y ago
    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Sun_optical_mouse.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Sun_opti... IIRC it was about 0.5mm but it's been decades since I saw one in real life.
    - hedgehog 3y ago
      Yes, looked just like that colors and all. The latency on those mice was really low in comparison to ball mice.
      - zimpenfish 3y ago
        Super annoying in a computer lab when someone has nicked one of the mouse pads though. Happened on a regular basis back when I was in Uni.
  - gattilorenz 3y ago
    very fine lines: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Sun_optical_mouse.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Sun_opti...
KingOfCoders 3y ago
"The first rolling-ball mouse" https://www.e-basteln.de/computing/rollkugel/rollkugel/ https://www.e-basteln.de/computing/rollkugel/rollkugel/ So 13 years from balls to optical.
- triyambakam 3y ago
  > from balls to optical
PeterStuer 3y ago
Degunking and delinting the rollers for the mouse balls was a daily preventive maintainance routine for the Macintosh computer rooms we operated on campus in the 80's. The MS-Dos PC rooms had no mice yet. There we had to turn off the machines in the morning as praksters loved to set the whole room looping explicit ascii imagery on the greenscreens over night.
ajxs 3y ago
Slightly related: I still use a Microsoft Wheel Mouse Optical (WMO) 1.1a, from the early 2000s. It's become a bit of a cult-classic in the online-FPS scene, due to being a real game changer for Quake and Counter-Strike players when it was released. I still love its shape, and the 2000s aesthetic.
- smilespray 3y ago
  It's just a really good mouse, gaming or not. I've still got one.

27 points by ustad 3y ago

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

NaOH 3y ago

Previous discussion: The Optical Mouse - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7304183 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7304183 - Feb 2014 (11 comments)

hedgehog 3y ago

This might explain why early optical mice used a grid patterned mouse pad. I had one from Mouse Systems and the mouse pad it came with was a metal plate printed with a fine grid pattern.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
efilife 3y ago
What does a fine pattern mean in this context?
- bostik 3y ago
  About the density of a technical drawing paper, IIRC. Our school had those metallic optical mouse mats back in 1990. I distinctly remember that some of the lines were blue, but there were silvery lines in a finer pattern between them.
  - nonrandomstring 3y ago
    I remember. They were amazing. Sun SPARCs came with those. Really pleasant to use. I wonder whether you can still get mouse mats like that and whether they improve (or even work with) modern camera based optical mice?
- zimpenfish 3y ago
  https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Sun_optical_mouse.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Sun_opti... IIRC it was about 0.5mm but it's been decades since I saw one in real life.
  - hedgehog 3y ago
    Yes, looked just like that colors and all. The latency on those mice was really low in comparison to ball mice.
    - zimpenfish 3y ago
      Super annoying in a computer lab when someone has nicked one of the mouse pads though. Happened on a regular basis back when I was in Uni.
- gattilorenz 3y ago
  very fine lines: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Sun_optical_mouse.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Sun_opti...

KingOfCoders 3y ago

"The first rolling-ball mouse" https://www.e-basteln.de/computing/rollkugel/rollkugel/ https://www.e-basteln.de/computing/rollkugel/rollkugel/ So 13 years from balls to optical.

triyambakam 3y ago
> from balls to optical

PeterStuer 3y ago

Degunking and delinting the rollers for the mouse balls was a daily preventive maintainance routine for the Macintosh computer rooms we operated on campus in the 80's. The MS-Dos PC rooms had no mice yet. There we had to turn off the machines in the morning as praksters loved to set the whole room looping explicit ascii imagery on the greenscreens over night.

ajxs 3y ago

Slightly related: I still use a Microsoft Wheel Mouse Optical (WMO) 1.1a, from the early 2000s. It's become a bit of a cult-classic in the online-FPS scene, due to being a real game changer for Quake and Counter-Strike players when it was released. I still love its shape, and the 2000s aesthetic.

smilespray 3y ago
It's just a really good mouse, gaming or not. I've still got one.