5 ms·

The Optical Mouse (1981) [pdf]

51 points by dangelov 13y ago

userbinator 13y ago
There's also the fact that an upward-pointing (or any other 90-degree direction) pointer quite strongly evokes direction instead of just pointing, while other not-aligned directions evoke pointing more than direction.
hoektoe 13y ago
Relevant Question regarding this in UX Stackexchange, http://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/52336/why-is-the-mouse-cursor-slightly-tilted-and-not-straight/52338#52338 http://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/52336/why-is-the-mouse...
- beaker52 13y ago
  The guy stole my answer :(
gojomo 13y ago
Skimming the referenced PDF, it discusses the optical mouse peripheral, not the onscreen pointer. (There is one illustration of an onscreen pointer in the classic tilted-arrow form, but as an example of something already extant.) The alleged "turn it 45 degrees, making it easy to see" rationale is only in surrounding modern text (at these blog posts and the StackExchange answer). It might be right, but if so, it's not supported in the linked 1981 document.
- dangelov 13y ago
  You are right. I just read the whole PDF (admittedly should've done it before posting, instead of just skimming) and there is no mention of how the pointer displays on the screen.
- dangelov 13y ago
  "The mouse cursor itself became a bitmapped image, and for the first time took the familiar diagonal-pointing arrow shape we know today, as well as morphing into other shapes depending on the task being performed." From ArsTechnica's article. Though it doesn't say WHY either. http://arstechnica.com/features/2005/05/gui/3/ http://arstechnica.com/features/2005/05/gui/3/
CmonDev 13y ago
This is not an explanation. The only thing you can say is that the first mouse pointer was _also_ tilted. The motivation can be different while result is the same over time. Please don't upvote that superficial answer on SO UX.
krisgee 13y ago
Completely spit balling here but wasn't the abstraction of your cursor originally a finger? If so the 45 degree tilt with the 'finger' pointing to the left makes sense if you just reach out with your right hand and point at something on the screen. At least for me when I'm pointing at a regular computer monitor my hand is tilted not strait up and down.
chiph 13y ago
I thought it was tilted so you could get the maximum "tail" length in a smaller bounding box, because you are using the hypotenuse.
nicesanta 13y ago
There has recently been a discussion about this here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7251987 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7251987
tracker1 13y ago
Wow, just how many concepts from Xerox PARC have made other companies (MS, Logitech, etc in this case) insane amounts of money.

51 points by dangelov 13y ago

There's also the fact that an upward-pointing (or any other 90-degree direction) pointer quite strongly evokes direction instead of just pointing, while other not-aligned directions evoke pointing more than direction.

hoektoe 13y ago

Relevant Question regarding this in UX Stackexchange, http://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/52336/why-is-the-mouse-cursor-slightly-tilted-and-not-straight/52338#52338 http://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/52336/why-is-the-mouse...

beaker52 13y ago
The guy stole my answer :(

gojomo 13y ago

Skimming the referenced PDF, it discusses the optical mouse peripheral, not the onscreen pointer. (There is one illustration of an onscreen pointer in the classic tilted-arrow form, but as an example of something already extant.) The alleged "turn it 45 degrees, making it easy to see" rationale is only in surrounding modern text (at these blog posts and the StackExchange answer). It might be right, but if so, it's not supported in the linked 1981 document.

dangelov 13y ago
You are right. I just read the whole PDF (admittedly should've done it before posting, instead of just skimming) and there is no mention of how the pointer displays on the screen.
dangelov 13y ago
"The mouse cursor itself became a bitmapped image, and for the first time took the familiar diagonal-pointing arrow shape we know today, as well as morphing into other shapes depending on the task being performed." From ArsTechnica's article. Though it doesn't say WHY either. http://arstechnica.com/features/2005/05/gui/3/ http://arstechnica.com/features/2005/05/gui/3/

CmonDev 13y ago

This is not an explanation. The only thing you can say is that the first mouse pointer was _also_ tilted. The motivation can be different while result is the same over time. Please don't upvote that superficial answer on SO UX.

krisgee 13y ago

Completely spit balling here but wasn't the abstraction of your cursor originally a finger? If so the 45 degree tilt with the 'finger' pointing to the left makes sense if you just reach out with your right hand and point at something on the screen. At least for me when I'm pointing at a regular computer monitor my hand is tilted not strait up and down.

chiph 13y ago

I thought it was tilted so you could get the maximum "tail" length in a smaller bounding box, because you are using the hypotenuse.

nicesanta 13y ago

There has recently been a discussion about this here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7251987 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7251987

tracker1 13y ago

Wow, just how many concepts from Xerox PARC have made other companies (MS, Logitech, etc in this case) insane amounts of money.