5 ms·
Perhaps ironically, I agree that Microsoft had some good keyboards and pointing devices -- but that was about ten years ago. Since then, they've trended downwa
by apotheon 17y ago
Perhaps ironically, I agree that Microsoft had some good keyboards and pointing devices -- but that was about ten years ago. Since then, they've trended downward in quality. I'm not so impressed in even the mice and keyboards these days.
Since we don't know what questions they asked Google -- all we know is some of the response -- I'm hesitant to just go with the assumption that Google refuses to answer the posed questions.
- dfranke 17y agoThe heavy, cream-colored two-button serial mice were the best on the market at the time, and the Sidewinder Pro was a very nice joystick. The mice they sell today are simply ordinary, and no keyboard of theirs has ever held a candle to the old IBMs or the current DAS keyboards (among others). On the other hand, Windows 7 is the first Microsoft OS since 3.11 that I can use for a full day without doing unhealthy things to my blood pressure.
- apotheon 17y agoMy all-time favorite pointing device was an optical trackball from Microsoft (I forget the model name). I haven't found one of those since the last I had one was stolen (yes, really) back in 2003ish. The IBM Model M [1] (and certain imitators), the Das Keyboard [2], the HP Wireless Elite [3], and even the keyboards on Thinkpads [4] are among my all-time top-five favorite keyboards. The original run of Microsoft Natural keyboards [5] (back before they became bulbous "multimedia" train wrecks of UI design [6][7]) were a very distant fifth place, though. 1: http://sob.apotheon.org/?p=61 http://sob.apotheon.org/?p=61 2: http://sob.apotheon.org/?p=1193 http://sob.apotheon.org/?p=1193 3: http://sob.apotheon.org/?p=865 http://sob.apotheon.org/?p=865 4: http://media.laptoplogic.com/data/reviews/images/73/keyboard.jpg http://media.laptoplogic.com/data/reviews/images/73/keyboard... 5: http://images.tigerdirect.com/skuimages/large/M17-1806-main.jpg http://images.tigerdirect.com/skuimages/large/M17-1806-main.... 6: http://www.pctechguide.com/images/51NaturalKeyboard.jpg http://www.pctechguide.com/images/51NaturalKeyboard.jpg 7: http://tinyurl.com/na5pos http://tinyurl.com/na5pos
- greyboy 17y agoYou mean one of these? Yeah, Microsoft could make some good money bringing these back. I know I'd worry less about mine biting the dust. http://cgi.ebay.com/New-SEALED-RETAIL-PACKAGE-Microsoft-Optical-Trackball_W0QQitemZ260462385106QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCA_Mice_Trackballs?hash=item3ca4c497d2&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14 http://cgi.ebay.com/New-SEALED-RETAIL-PACKAGE-Microsoft-Opti... http://cgi.ebay.com/SEALED-BULK-RETAIL-PACKAGE-Microsoft-Optical-Trackball_W0QQitemZ270442159660QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCA_Mice_Trackballs?hash=item3ef79bde2c&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14 http://cgi.ebay.com/SEALED-BULK-RETAIL-PACKAGE-Microsoft-Opt... http://cgi.ebay.com/Microsoft-TrackBall-Optical-Mouse-PS-2-USB-refurbished_W0QQitemZ130325738876QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCA_Mice_Trackballs?hash=item1e5804f57c&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14 http://cgi.ebay.com/Microsoft-TrackBall-Optical-Mouse-PS-2-U...
- apotheon 17y agoYes! That's the one. . . . and no, I'm not willing to buy a trackball off eBay. Maybe I should start searching for old stock of these things again, though.
- lallysingh 17y agoI don't have a photo, but there was a version of the natural keyboard earlier on that didn't screw up the block of keys above the arrows. I had one of those, saw the new ones, and thought to myself: "They're embracing and extending the keyboard now, nothing is sacred."