Computer mouse may go extinct

I am sorry but looking through smudge marks is out of the question on my computer screen....

I love potato chips and surfing...touching the screen would cause grief...

To be practical and unsmudgeable...it will have to be a high res bright virtual screen with virtual feedback (to give surface feel)....then the mouse will be moving to the clutter box in the basement.

And Microsoft is adding more bloat to Windows 7 apparently adding touch screen software...instead of working out existing OS bugs..like in Vista which they plan to abandon in 1 year or so.

thats my .02 cents

I've seen this coming for a while. Especially with products like Surface making waves like they are.

Ultimately it will be an almost purely voice interface...with the possible execption of gaming (although Tom Clancy's Endwar has an impressive voice interface).

Why touch or talk when you can just think? These novelty interfaces are interesting stepping stones, but a brain/computer interface is what I'm vying for.

Meh, I tend to think that the mouse is an important computer tool, and for anything not 3D related, is extremely useful compared to trackpads/multitouch. I'm actually much faster/more efficient with a mouse, buuut that might be because I grew up only using a mouse..

God you people are lazy, j/k.

Touch screens require lifting your hand constantly to the screen, how dreadful, what are we cavemen?,... now eye tracking coupled with keyboard buttons replacing mouse buttons for selecting would make the mouse seem archaic.

Voice is not a new technology, so since its not widely used now, it just isn't practical.

Ok, everyone who believes that you can operate your computer continuously via a touch screen go ahead and hold your arm / hand / finger up for 10 straight minutes and tell me if you like it.

I use an arm-rest for my mousing and some of my friends use thumb trackballs... i don't have to move my whole arm to do everything i need to do.

Touch screens are OK for grocery checkout, ATMs, or small handheld phones where the thumbs are the main moving part. Imagine writing a 100 page document and having to go from keyboard to vertical touch screen to format and edit it...

"I am sorry but looking through smudge marks is out of the question on my computer screen...."

I agree. My PC/Xbox360 rig up is my entertainment center. The last thing I'm doing is smudging up my moniter because I want to swap from music to movies.

And forget useing Blender for hours with a touch screen. Sory the mouse is waaay too useful when compared to touch surfaces and track pads.

I also am awaiting brain computer interfaces that let me move the mouse w/o using my hands. Using a mouse is not good for the wrists and causes me great pain.

In terms of voice recognition, maybe something that sits next to your lips and can listen to your whispers to execute commands. You could probably replace 25% of your work with this. In terms of programming though, you would still need to type!

Ok, everyone who believes that you can operate your computer continuously via a touch screen go ahead and hold your arm / hand / finger up for 10 straight minutes and tell me if you like it.

I use an arm-rest for my mousing and some of my friends use thumb trackballs... i don't have to move my whole arm to do everything i need to do.

Touch screens are OK for grocery checkout, ATMs, or small handheld phones where the thumbs are the main moving part. Imagine writing a 100 page document and having to go from keyboard to vertical touch screen to format and edit it...

Who says the screens will be vertical?

mind control,dammit ....!

Why would we want to change away from the mouse? It's not like this stuff hasn't been around for quite some time. I suppose we could use more of those stupid WiiMotes for games, but for REAL games they will not be fast or precise enough.

Take Crysis MP for example. I can't even imagine trying to play it with a WiiMote - I would get crushed. The same is true for nearly all console controllers - they are very slow and imprecise. The mouse is the opposite, very fast and very precise.

Why should I change? Give me something better, I dare you.

PS: I don't want a mind interface, the next thing they will make is a thoughtlogger (like keylogger). Scary huh?

No, not scary...it would force people to be a lot more honest though!

There already IS a "mouse" controlled by the brain, not perfected as of yet. I believe PhysOrg has an article on it somewhere...
As far as voice recognition software goes, my experience with it has not been very good. Misspelled words(and some words that I never even said), and heaven forbid that you should have the TV on while you are trying to type something!

The computer mouse will go extinct eventually, but I doubt it'll be any time soon. Almost certainly not within the five year period this article sets.

The mouse has been in use for so long for a reason: it's a simple, perfected design that works. Trackpads and other alternatives are fun (and certainly sufficient when you can't use a mouse), but otherwise they're generally difficult to use and somewhat clunky.

Touchscreens offer a nice alternative for mobile devices, but for a desktop it would just get tiring after the first ten minutes.