A better mouse, or just trying too hard?
As our previous blog notes, Microsoft has done its share to advance the mouse. A new patent application discloses a mouse with a ring-shaped scroll wheel. Wait, don’t we already have that you ask? Well, sort of. We have a scroll wheel, but it’s typically a solid wheel, and not hollow in the center as the “ring-shaped” signifies. Here’s Microsoft’s explanation:
Prior scroll wheels are generally solid circular wheels with a hub positioned at the center. These prior scroll wheels are rotatably mounted to a mouse body by an axle extending through a center hub of the scroll wheel. The center hub, axle, and associated support structure for the scroll wheel occupy valuable space inside the mouse, and their shape are accommodated by the mouse body, resulting in a relatively standardized appearance, including height profile, among many prior computer mouse designs.
Patent application 11/938,798 may provide marginal improvement for the mouse, but the true significance may be with other controllers. As the patent application points out, a gaming controller with a ring-shaped scroll wheel may be next.
