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Maybe you are thinking of that old mouse ball replacement memo at IBM?
Mouse ball replacement[^]
It was a real memo, but not one actually distributed to field service engineers (as the story claims that it was) - it was just an internal joke at IBM.
Another internal IBM joke (which I think is a good one!): The IBM 360 series (of the 1960s) used as a logo a full circle with one radius drawn (sort of like the on/off symbol used on some buttons). So when the 360 series was replaced by the 370 series, what sort of logo did they give it? A larger circle ...  They added a larger circle, around the 360 circle, touching at the bottom where the radius met the circle(s).
This double-circle logo was never used externally in marketing, though.
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Thanks. That memo or something similar I read somewhere. Somehow I thought the discussion was in Codeproject.
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Ah, the good old days. Sometimes they really were good.
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I agree with you - the precision was a lot better.
I also found it therapeutic to clean the mouse - if I was stuck thinking on a problem it was a great way to work on it in the background while cleaning.
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My problem with modern mice isn't ball vs laser, but cordless vs wired. I keep getting told I had just a bad one and I should try again, but every cordless mouse I ever tried had this problem where, because they're so aggressively trying to conserve battery power, they're constantly trying to go to sleep, so if I'm in the middle of trying to do some precision selection, it'll go to sleep mode and I have to give it a jerk to wake it up...but in doing that, the pointer is now at the other end of the screen.
Wired FTW. The same with network connections. I despise Wi-Fi.
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I gave up on cordless for this reason, too. Also, the batteries would die at the worst possible time when you're gaming. Wired for me thanks.
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agree.
I had a wireless mouse chewing batteries. Later I discovered I could remove/reinsert the battery, and it would work again for about the same amount of time. Probably firmware issues. But that left a bad taste. I use one ONLY when I travel. It's cleaner/easier to pack.
Also, I had a slanted keyboard tray for the mouse. And the Wired one falls Elegantly without hitting the ground. The wireless. It's like it's trying out for the Olympics Distance Bounce under the desk. LOL
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I love cordless mice!
Admittedly, they had a long way to go. My first one didn't reduce the cable clutter, though: It also took extra desktop space for the charging cradle that required a 230VAC cable for powering. Then there was one with two plain AA batteries - I don't remember anything about having to replace them too often, but I remember them always running out late at night, when I didn't have any fresh batteries available (or I couldn't find them). Then there was one that could be charged by USB; the cell was AA size but 1.2V, and a strong warning about never using any un-original battery. The battery died after a few years.
Then I bought my current one, a Logitech MX Master 3, which is definitely not a cheap mouse! But it is the very best mouse I ever had. It is sensitive, works on practically any surface, charges fast (via USB-C), and I use it full time ++ for at least two weeks between each charging. It does have an on-off switch, but I never turn it off. I never think of it as being asleep so it must be woken up - it responds immediately when I touch it.
It has the thumb buttons and wheel - when I have to use other mice (at other peoples' PCs), navigating back and forth between web pages is a pain, compared to simply hitting the back / forward thumb buttons. (Maybe it is even more a pain because every time I want go back, I first hit the (non-existing) back button with my thumb, nothing happens, I utter an adult word, and do it the cumbersome way. Also, when I need to enlarge something, with other mice I always rub the left edge for a little while before remembering that this other mouse has no thumb controlled zoom wheel.
I wouldn't trade my MX Master 3 for any other mouse, with the possible exception of a newer version of the same one.
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I used an old rollerball mouse a few weeks ago when my optical gave out. While the optical had no issues panning across 3 monitors, the rollerball required effectively "multiple mouse pads". No matter what I tried (acceleration, etc.), it seemed to think my desktops were only 15 inches when they were at least 27.
"Before entering on an understanding, I have meditated for a long time, and have foreseen what might happen. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly, secretly, what I have to say or to do in a circumstance unexpected by other people; it is reflection, it is meditation." - Napoleon I
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Your memory is bad. Or rather, you're mixing up two things here, namely the quality of the sensor (which, for ball mice, is sh*t) and the tooling around it.
Optical mice are precise, ball mice aren't. Even without lint getting in the rollers (have fun pretending to prevent that), the mechanics ain't precise in the slightest.
But that's what not what you're talking about. You're talking about settings kicking in after reading the sensor, before the results get translated to cursor movements.
It seems, you're fond of mouse acceleration. I don't judge here, not everyone of us has to be a gamer. However, there's absolutely nothing preventing you from enabling mouse acceleration with a modern mouse. It's not the mouse that does this, it's the software! Windows got a mouse acceleration setting (albeit labeled somewhat awkwardly) right in the mouse control panel. So enable acceleration there and enjoy what you're used to with a modern mouse.
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A little assumptive, there, Member 9167057? Acceleration was enabled when I installed the mouse. I've played with it a few times since then, to see if any other setting worked better, but I've got it tuned as best it can be with the software settings available. But it isn't as nice as the old-style mice. ElectronProgrammer gave what is probably the real reason down below. My old ball mice were more precise than my newer laser mice, regardless of your beliefs.
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If I wanted to be assumptive, I'd go great lengths assuming use cases where mouse acceleration is more precise/better, than a 1:1 translation.
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That behavior can probably be implemented via drivers / settings. I think it would require some getting used to if making that switch.
I don't miss having to clean the mouse.
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I still have to clean my mouse!  Must not be the cleanest person around, because lint gets in them, then they stop tracking when the laser gets confused in the lint!
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I somehow prefer the worst of both worlds, trackballs, they have a ball that gets dirty and are laser tracked 
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I tried a trackball once, but hated the response I got. Tried again. Still hated it. Glad they work for you!
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I don't know if perhaps you just haven't used a really good modern mouse. There are plenty of cheap ones out there. You mention buying Logitech throughout the years, so I'd imagine good mice - tho even Logitech can make some cheaper ones. For example, even my M720 isn't "amazing" - it's just convenient because it can pair with 3 things and can do dongle or BT. But if I compare that with my SteelSeries Aerox - all the things you're talking about missing, with precision and so on - it's all there, but no cord to get in the way. Admittedly, because it's designed to be an uber-light mouse, the battery isn't huge, so I have to charge at least once a week (gaming at max dpi & max refresh (1000Hz) smashed the battery), but it is only 66g - if a bigger battery brought that up to even 120g, that would be lighter than a ball mouse and (imo) way better.
I'd also traditionally been a Logitech guy - MX1000 (x2), MX1100, ergo trackball (wanted to try it out), M720 - but I haven't ever bought a gaming mouse from them, so perhaps their gaming line is equally good. I've definitely heard good things about them.
------------------------------------------------
If you say that getting the money
is the most important thing
You will spend your life
completely wasting your time
You will be doing things
you don't like doing
In order to go on living
That is, to go on doing things
you don't like doing
Which is stupid.
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What we need is expo (exponential) like on RC airplane transmitters. You can set the rate, total throw, and a dead zone. Most importantly you can make the acceleration increase as the movement gets further from the center and adjust the rate of the expo to your liking. Gives you great fine control at first, then lots of throw when things start to go horribly wrong.
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I do not think they are better but they (still) have their purpose.
David O'Neil wrote: Small, short movements, resulted in small, precise screen movements, whereas larger movements resulted in larger screen movements
That was due to software settings (mainly acceleration) in the OS but also due to them being analog and the way they are built. When you move the ball, the movement is transferred to variable resistors (part of a voltage divider) or infrared incremental encoders, both of which do not have a linear scale. The faster you move the bigger is the number reported to the OS (or smaller of someone screwed it when designing the mouse).
David O'Neil wrote: I remember having to clean them regularly
That is a major pain but is minimized if you can keep the surface clean.
Personally, I still use a HP two button serial ball mouse on the field because it works on every surface (even dirt), or use your fingers if you do not have a surface, and that thing is basically indestructible. It has been run over by cars, drowned, fell from considerable heights, etc, and except some scratches it still works 
At home I currently use a Logitech MX master 3 that I alternate with my old Wacom Bamboo Fun pen (I can not use a mouse for long periods because of my RSI).
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I never liked the rollerball--it would get "stuck" at odd times, even when clean.
Optical mice come in three styles: The good, the bad and the ugly. Ooops, wrong thread.
However, most optical mice are made cheap, feel cheap. My personal favorite is the Logitech M510. Has a little weight to it, but it feels solid. And it feels comfortable in my hand.
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rjmoses wrote: My personal favorite is the Logitech M510
That's what I have. Could never go back to a three-button mouse after that.
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Farticus - Visual Studio Marketplace[^]
What do you get when you cross a joke with a rhetorical question?
The metaphorical solid rear-end expulsions have impacted the metaphorical motorized bladed rotating air movement mechanism.
Do questions with multiple question marks annoy you???
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For when the dog's not around to blame 
// TODO: Insert something here Top ten reasons why I'm lazy
1.
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I have a greyhound; their emissions are lethal.
Software Zen: delete this;
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Call me when they get the smell right. 
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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