What is a computer mouse and types of mouse

 
Introduction
In this article, am going to discuss with you what is a computer mouse and types of mouse as well as shows images of the discussed mouse.

What is Computer Mouse?
Mouse is a portable computer handheld device used for controlling the movement of system cursor on the computer display screen. It also allows the selection, dragging, opening, moving of files from one location to another in the computer.
When in used, it is normally placed on flat surface where it can be moved freely by the user. It has two buttons and a scroll wheel in between the two buttons. It derived the name mouse due to its small size.
Mouse can be connected to the computer system either through USB, Bluetooth technology or radio frequency.

Who is the Inventor of Mouse
Over the years, many scientists have contributed to the invention of mouse. The first mouse was released in 1946 by Ralph Benjamin. Thereafter, another was invented in the year 1963 at Xerox PARC by Douglas Engelbert during his working time with Xeros PARC and so and so forth till date. The first application of mouse was used in Apple Lisa computer due to the fact that Alto's couldn't succeed.

To learn more about the history of mouse check 

What are the Uses of Mouse
The uses of mouse are;
1. It can be used for files selection
2. It can be used for dragging and dropping of files from one location to another 
3. Used for controlling the cursor on the system screen 
4. It can be used for opening of files and folders
5. It can be used for scrolling a document, web browser, folder e.t.c up and down
6. It can be used in combination with keyboard to perform specific task e.g Ctrl+Mouse Click will activate the hyperlink pointer in order to open the URL.
7. It is used for sending commands to computer games.
8. It can used for refreshing of the computer system 

Parts of a Computer Mouse
There are different parts of mouse and these are listed and explained as follows:

Circuit Panel
The mouse just like every other electronic device, has a circuit board that is covered by the chassis. This circuit board contains other components that enables the mouse to function as expected. In this circuit, components that are used to transmit information from the mouse to the system are installed.

Buttons
All mouse has two buttons used for clicking and right clicking on a file, folder or refreshing of the computer system. When any of the buttons is clicked, the mouse will send signals to the computer system about the desired action you intend to perform. Meanwhile, any of these buttons passed different signal depending on the mouse driver configuration. For instance, double clicking on the left button  will select and open the affected file while right clicking will pop up menu.

Scroll Wheel
The mouse scroll wheel is located between the two buttons of the mouse. It is used for scrolling web browser, document editing software e.g MS word page up and dow.

Ball, laser, or LED
This part of the mouse varies. In a mechanical mouse, ball and rollers are used for tracking the cursor movement in x-axis and y-axis on the computer screen. While in optical mouse, the LED or laser is used for the cursor direction tracking.

Wireless Receiver Device or Cable
A mouse can be connected to the computer system in two forms i.e through cable or wireless. In wireless connection, there is a device that is installed in the mouse which facilitate the wireless connection. In addition, the wireless device connects the mouse and the system using either Bluetooth technology, radio frequency e.t.c. While non-wireless uses cable for its connection.

Microprocessor
This is the brain of the mouse that is embedded on the mouse circuit board and other components relied on it for their functionalities.

What are the Types of Computer Mouse
There are different types of mouse which are:

1. Mechanical mouse
Mechanical mouse is a mouse that has a metal or rubber ball at the underside of the mouse. It has two wheels inside and whenever the mouse is moved, this rubber or metal ball makes a contact with these wheels and causes the cursor or pointer to move towards the direction of the mouse.
In order for the mouse to know the direction to move the pointer or cursor on the screen, it uses sensor to detect the direction the mouse is facing.

2. Trackball
It is a computer input device that functions same way a mouse function. It has a ball on the top that allow user to direct or move the cursor to any direction of his choice. In order to move the cursor, you have to roll the ball trackball on the top of the mouse and the cursor position will change and moved towards the direction you specified.

3. TrackPoint
A TrackPoint also known as nub, pointing stick or style pointer is a computer input device used for controlling cursor of the computer system. It is usually located between the "G, H and B" keys in the center of the keyboard and allows the user's hand to remain on the keyboard and also control the mouse without any interruptions.

4. J-Mouse
This mouse is obsolete due to difficulty in its usage. It was once used in older systems. It has two buttons known as the left and right click under the spacebar just as other mouses. The name J-Mouse was given to it because it uses "J" key of the keyboard to carry out its operation.

5. Microsoft IntelliMouse
It is a brand of optical mouse that was first invented in the year 1996 by Microsoft Corporation on July 22. It has two buttons and a wheel in between the two buttons. This wheel is what allows users to scroll up and down. When the mouse user hover on a link and press and hold the mouse wheel, it opens that link on a New Tab.

6. Laser Mouse
It is a type of mouse that uses laser light to detect the motion of the computer mouse. It is 20x greater in sensitivity and precision and appropriate compared to other optical mouse.

7. Optical Mouse
This is a type of mouse that uses a light source like the light detector such as photodiodes array (light of semiconductor) and Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) to track movement of the cursor across the screen. 
For more about optical mouse, check 

8. Joystick
The joystick is another computer input device that is used for controlling the direction of the cursor in the computer system. Unlike the mouse that stops the movement of the cursor once it is not in used, the joystick pointer will continue to move unless it is placed upright .

9. Wireless Mouse
As the name suggested, it is a type of mouse that does not require any wire to connect to the computer system. Rather it uses wireless technology like Bluetooth technology, infrared technology, radio frequency e.t.c. to connect to the computer system.

10. Footmouse
As the invention of technology become more advanced, consideration was also given to invention of foot mouse for handicapped and others suffering others suffering from other health challenges. These are mouse that are controlled using the foot. This type of mouse gives the user ability to focus his hands on the keyboard and used his foot to control the mouse if there should be any need for mouse.

11. Touchpad
Touchpad also known as a trackpad or glide pad is a cursor control panel mostly found on laptops and usually used as replacement for external mouse. The touchpad is designed to be operated using finger.
Just like the mouse, the touchpad has two buttons known as the left and right click buttons and are used to support the operations of the touchpad. 
A single touch on the touchpad means click while a double touch means double click.