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by intsunny 888 days ago
Sadly they aren't continuing Microsoft's Surface Arc Mouse. As far as I know this is the only non-Apple mouse with a scroll surface, and not a physical scroll wheel.

Apple's patent on touch sensitive mice (8279176B2) doesn't expire until 2026.

One day physical scroll wheels will be a thing of the past.

9 comments

> One day physical scroll wheels will be a thing of the past.

God I hope not. I want more tactile feedback in my interfaces, not less.

Would love for the scroll wheel to be replaced with a trackball for 2D scrolling. A touch surface, though? Please no.
>One day physical scroll wheels will be a thing of the past.

And this is good?

Seriously, the clickable scroll wheel was one of the best things to ever happen to mice. Ones with a side-to-side toggle action are even better.
I still miss, and wish I could find a contemporary replacement for, the original Apple "Magic Mouse" with scroll ball.

Until then, I get by w/ a Logitech G600 (and a couple of spares).

Every article about this deal mentions that Microsoft will continue to make the Surface branded products. Including mice.
The Wedge Touch Mouse, which has a weird wedge shape and runs out of a single AA battery also has touch sensitive (vertical only IIRC? haven’t used it in a while) scroll as far as I can tell.
I didn't know that model. It looks like the cybertruck got it's insipration from it.
It’s definitely not ergonomic, but very portable. I have it as a backup pointer just in case.
I replaced my MS Arc mouse with Lenovo X1 presenter mouse. I prefer it overall (esp the price), but the haptic scroll was better on the MS mouse.

https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/accessories-and-software/keyb...

Weirdly enough, touch scrolling caused problem to my wrist, but not the scroll wheel, so I hope it doesn't go away
Was the arc mouse good? I’ve often wondered about buying it, last I saw they were still available for about €45.
Some people really love them. For me, since there isn't anything to grasp on the sides, it induced cramps to where I'd have to take a break.

If they built something on the chassis of the Intellimouse, but with the Arc's touch surface, that could really be something.

The ergonomics were awful, so I gave up on mine.
I will miss them, but I won't miss how dirty they get.
Washing your hands helps.
I can't edit my post anymore but since this was downvoted I want to elaborate that I meant this seriously. I wash my hands before using my computer, and my peripherals don't get dirty. I also don't eat at my computer desk.
Absolutely, but only to an extent.