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notWell69 OP t1_j9ks1tk wrote

Reply to comment by 66smeg in 90's Wireless Mouse and its "dongle" by notWell69

Yes, trackball. Don't really remember battery life but it takes 2 AAA. Going to see if it still works later.

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Happy-Candle6694 t1_j9lhab7 wrote

This isn’t a trackball. It’s a regular non optical mouse with scroll wheel. Trackballs have an exposed ball on top that you move with your thumb.

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Happy-Candle6694 t1_j9lr2u4 wrote

This isn’t a trackball. It’s a regular non optical mouse with scroll wheel. Trackballs have an exposed ball on top that you move with your thumb.

EDIT: I should have been more specific. Mouses were just referred to as a mouse back when they were mechanical and used a rubber coated steel ball.

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notWell69 OP t1_j9lq9pq wrote

Agreed, that's what trackball means to me too. Had one for years. But I wasn't going to argue semantics and I knew what 66smeg meant.

tbf, it wasn't called 'non optical mouse' back then either. It was just a mouse. 🐁

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Happy-Candle6694 t1_j9lqhu6 wrote

Obviously not. I remember when optical mouses came out. It was so new and unexpected. Of course a mouse was just a mouse back in the day.

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BasilNorthern t1_j9lm5wp wrote

Trackball mice had a ball underneath that rolled when you move the mouse with rollers on the inside tracking its movement. It's what they used before optical mice. RSI mice are completely different.

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Happy-Candle6694 t1_j9lnqbu wrote

I’m very familiar with old mice. That’s just the way it was back then. Google ‘trackball mouse’. Maybe this is like me calling the original Xbox the 180.

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haijak t1_j9lpzop wrote

No those were just called 'mice'. Trackballs weren't mice. They didn't move on the desk. You're hand rolled a ball that was exposed on the top. You can still get trackballs today.

When optical mice came out, the old ones were called 'ball mice' or 'rolerball mice'. But that's still not trackball mice.

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Happy-Candle6694 t1_j9lnw8q wrote

If you would have taken a look at the results for trackball mouse you probably wouldn’t have responded to me

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