3 ms·
The stipple pattern always reminded me of the pattern on Sun workstation mousepads. For those of you who don't remember: Sun workstations had optical mice, but
by bitwize 2y ago
The stipple pattern always reminded me of the pattern on Sun workstation mousepads. For those of you who don't remember: Sun workstations had optical mice, but they're not like the Intellimouse-derived ones we enjoy today that can track on any suitably textured surface, even your pant leg. They had to go on a special mousepad with a clear, slick glass or plastic surface and a special dot pattern underneath that the optosensor would use to reckon movement. I think even getting the upper surface dirty or fingerprinted could negatively mess with the tracking (like smudging a CD could affect playback).
- drfuchs 2y agoThe Mouse Systems mouse used on Sun workstations had two LEDs (and matching sensors) of two different colors, and the solid mouse pad had vertical bars of one color ink, and horizontal of the other. You can take it from there. Inventor / founder Steve Kirsch used some of the proceeds to fund Frame Technology, which then went on to be sold to Adobe. And then Infoseek (a search-engine also-ran), sold to Disney; and then Abaca (anti-spam), sold to Proofpoint.