[hiptobecubic]

It was common for mice not to have wheels. In fact, the mouse that came with the computer shown only had one big button. People needed to be able to actually click on the scroll bar to use it.

[zozbot234]

It's still common for trackpads not to have wheels. "Two-finger" scrolling is clunkier IME than just using tap-and-drag on a scrollbar widget.

[wraptile]

ah, I forgot about that! Though still, it feels like this feature overstayed it's welcome by a decade or so.