• Question: Why are computer mice called computer mice?

    Asked by mrsrichards to Andrew, Daniel, Hayley, Natalia, Peta on 15 Nov 2011.
    • Photo: Daniel Scully

      Daniel Scully answered on 15 Nov 2011:

      Because of the cable which comes out… it looks like a mouse’s tail.

      Actually the cable on the first mouse came out towards the user, so it looked even more like a real mouse.

      I guess most modern mice don’t have cables any more… in fact we’ll probably abandon them completely for touch screens, gesture control or voice commands in the next decade.

    • Photo: Hayley Smith

      Hayley Smith answered on 15 Nov 2011:

      I was once told that they also thought about operating a computer using a similar device but by your feet. This was then called a “mole”. I think this would have been quite cool, although I guess it would have been a little harder to control the cursor, but I could imagine people sitting at desks moving a mole with their feet?!

    • Photo: Peta Foster

      Peta Foster answered on 15 Nov 2011:

      Yes i agree that it is called a mouse because it looks like a mouse… and if you use a mac and have a magic mouse then it’s a tailless mouse.

      Also how much better are optical mice as compared to the old ball mice? Another great use of light 😀

    • Photo: Andrew Cairns

      Andrew Cairns answered on 15 Nov 2011:

      Because it has a tail! And people wouldn’t like it so much if it was called a rat, not many people like those.

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