From: davidk@mcil.comm.mot.com (David Kramer)
Subject: Summary: Trackball vs. mouse
Organization: Motorola Communications Israel Ltd., Tel Aviv
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 01:13:31 GMT
Keywords: trackball, track ball


The following is a summary of the responses I got to my question about users
experience in using a trackball vs. using a mouse.

I tried to send a personal thank you to each person who responded but there 
were two or three of you who my mailer couldn't locate - so I thank you here:
Thank you very much!

As you will see, a small number of respondees indicated a preference to a
trackball and pointed out some advantages to it - chiefly it's stable position
and the ability to use it in on a small desktop area. I should add that there
is another advantage in some applications that no one mentioned and that is the 
ability for 'ruggedization'. It is much easier to 'ruggedize' a trackball than 
a mouse. For those of you who have never heard this term - it is a well known 
term to DOD contractors (the few that are left!) who need to make their 
hardware rugged to withstand extremely adverse conditions in the field.
On a ship or submarine, for instance, where tossing and turning are part of 
life it would be quite inconvenient to constantly have to chase your mouse that
keeps falling off your desktop.

However, in general there seems to be pretty broad consensus that for one reason 
or another the trackball is more difficult to use for normal applications - 
especially if you use it for extended periods at a time.

There were a number of acute insights into what it is that makes the
trackball difficult to use that I found enlightening.

So here they are (slightly edited to remove blank lines headers and trailers):

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: ceh@cadre.com (Celia E. Humphreys)

I've used trackball and mouse on both apollo and sun. The trackball is basically
the same on sun and apollo (except for default button positions, which follow
platform default. I'm a technical writer (was a s/w engineer for 24 years) and use
the mouse/trackball extensively with Interleaf desktop publishing.

Generally, I find the trackball superior to the mouse from the standpoint of
avoiding hand injuries. My hands have never fit well on any mouse and tend to
cramp up after a period of time.

The trackball has the same disadvantage as the mouse, namely wrist placement.
I don't have a problem with my wrists when typing because I use a wrist
support. Although the trackball has a place to rest the wrist, it is too low for
me. I have to consiously be aware of wrist placement. But that's true of using
the mouse as well.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: Anant Kartik Mithal <akm@skinner.cs.uoregon.edu>

See MacKenzie, I.S. et al., "A comparision of Input Devices in
Elemental Pointing and Dragging Tasks." in Reaching Through
Technology: CHI 91 Conference Proceedings. 

They found that the trackball was significantly slower than the
mouse, and surmised that it was because of the kinds of movements that
the trackball required from the thumb and fingers. My research leads
me to believe the same thing, though I haven't actually done an
experiment with a trackball yet.

My suggestion would be that if you have the option, and if workspace
is not a major problem, go with the mouse. The mouse provides a *very*
direct mapping between pointing and the cursor.

I would be interested in getting copies of other responses you get, as
this is my area of research.

cheers,

kartik

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: mf@dancer.cc.bellcore.com

I use a Kensington trackball with a Mac and a SupMac 21 inch monitor.
I have rather long fingers/hands and the ball helps me move around
the screen much faster than the mouse (i've developed a fairly accurate
technique of just spinning the ball to move the cursor around  - probably from
the days of video game-playing.) I also find it much easier controlling
the cursor with a finger or two on the ball rather than having to use
my entire upper arm to move a mouse around. Others have experienced trouble 
with the trackball (from what I have seen), so I think its a matter of design,
coordination, and exposure.

marc

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: noelie@apollo.hp.com (Noelie Alito)

[Disclaimer:  I hatehatehatehateHATE mice! ;-) ]

I am a software engineer who had learned touch-typing
in high school.  I type very fast, and with my cursor-
positioning key bindings can move from context to context
very quickly (including Motif-based appls with key-driven
interfaces).  Believe me that the milliseconds that
it takes to "find" the mouse does have a noticeable
effect on the flow of my work.  A trackball's position
is fixed relative to my "home key" position.

Also, mice take up too much valuable real estate
on my desk top.

BTW, frequent click-and-drag operations leads to 
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) and Repetitive Motion
Injury (RMI) faster than most keyboard and trackball
operations.  (Of course, if you spend a lot of time
hammering away at a couple of keys in a keyboard-based
computer game, this will probably have a more noticeable
effect than mouse dragging.  This is a variant of what
is called Nintendonitis.  :-)

Essentially, mice are responsible for the end of life
on earth as we know it.


               Objectively yours,

               Noelie Alito, Chief of Sales
               Acme Trakball

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: spady@bcstec.ca.boeing.com (Robyn Spady)

The only experience I have to report is that my right hand (my mouse/trackball
hand) gets very sore if I use a trackball . . . I typically "splay" my hand
to better use the ball . . . I use the palm of my hand . . . which I think
may be different from some people.

I prefer a mouse . . . probably because that's what I started with and have 
used for over years.

Robyn Spady
spady@bcstec.ca.boeing.com

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: bernd.meyer@fernuni-hagen.de (Bernd Meyer)

Hi,

three weeks ago I replaced my original apple mouse by a logitech
three-button track-man (trackball), because I thought I would like to have
a stationary device, i.e., one which can always be found at *exactly* the
same position on the desk.

What I like about it is that you dont have do make such big movements.

What I dislike about it (so much that I will trash the thing) is that I did
not learn to navigate exactly and quickly in three weeks though I use it
all day long and moreover that the strange painful feeling in my thumb
(which operates the ball) reappears everytime I use the trackball for more
than two hours because the trackball requires bigger angles of movement
from my thumb than it is used to if I dont want to take the other fingers
off the buttons.

That's it.

I'll get back to a mouse.

Bernd

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: "Kent Nickerson, CRL x3169" <NICKERSO@SSCvax.CIS.McMaster.CA>

I use a trackball and like it because it does not use much space.
There are two problems, however, that I find with a trackball:

 a) Some dexterity is required for "drags", when a button is pressed down
while the cursor is moved.

 b) While a mouse takes wear and tear off your arm, specifically your wrist,
    a trackball transfers this to the fingers.

Let me expand on b). 

 I've experienced soreness in my finger joints after
an intesnsive CAD session using a trackball.  Seeing that carpal tunnel
syndrome is not uncommon, I think that anybody who uses a pointing device
a lot should use a mouse, while a trackball is better for occasional use
(because of less possible finger stress and its unobtrusiveness on the desk).

Kent

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: jartz@maestro.mitre.org (John Artz)

Air traffic controllers use trackballs instead of mice because they don't have
room at there workstations for moving a mouse around.  So, if space is a problem
a trackball is better.  Personally, I like the mouse better for the following reason.
If you do certain repetitive actions with the mouse you develop some sort of
muscular memory so that you can repeat the action without really thinking about
it.  With the trackball you don`t move your arm and the movements of your hand
and wrist are not sweeping motions but choppy motions that are difficult to 
remember.  Consequently you have to concentrate more when you use the
trackball.  (By the way, concentration is not a bad thing for air traffic controllers).
Finally, if you are trying to overload the input device by interpreting the speed of
the movement of the mouse as another dimenstion of input, it is difficult to
replicate on the trackball.  You can control the speed of mouse movement
much more easily than the speed of the trackball.

Hope this helps.  Sorry I don't have any solid empirical data to back it up.

						John M. Artz, Ph.D.
						jartz@mitre.org

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: roberts%flash@uunet.UU.NET (Steven Roberts)

>so it might help if I mention that the one we would be considering is the
>one HP provides as an option with their 700 series workstations.

Sorry, don't know this one...

However, I have hade some experience with the trackballs that can be ordered
with the DEC VAXStation 3xxx, and my experience with these is that they are
horrible!  So you know what I am talking about:

						 ||				^ (up)
				 +-----------------+
				 |                 |
				 |     '-----`     |
				 |    /       \    |
				 |   |         |   | <==Trackball
				 |    \       /    |
				 |     `-----'     |
				 |=================|
				 |   ---  ---  --- |
				 |   | |  | |  | | | <==Mouse buttons
				 |   | |  | |  | | |
				 |   ---  ---  --- |
				 |                 |
				 |                 |
				 |                 |
				 |                 |
				 |                 |
				 +-----------------+

These are laid out such that you have to move the trackball with your
fingertips, then leave the trackball and reposition in order to use the mouse
buttons.  So, for mouse operations, rather than petting the mouse once to move
& click you have to leave the keyboard, find the trackball, move the cursor,
find the buttons, then click.  Whoever thought of this was completely
brain-dead.

Note that I am not a great fan of rodentia; I still use vi when I can because
that way I don't have to leave the keyboard (don't leave home row even!).
However, I've heard that the Logitec-style thumb-activated trackballs are nice
once you get used to them.  No personal experience though.

Good luck.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: "Kent Nickerson, CRL x3169" <NICKERSO@SSCvax.CIS.McMaster.CA>

The main reason to use a trackball, in my opinion, is for cases where space
restrictions or infrequent use make a device which doesn't have to glide 
around a good thing to have.  Trackballs, however, concentrate too much stress
on use of the fingers and this is bad for those who already use them all day.

A personal note:  I am happy with my trackball because I have a free area at
my right hand about 6" square. It fits perfectly.

Kent

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: cryan@prodigy.bc.ca (Chris Ryan)

I've used a Macintosh for years - almost since the first one came out in
1984. I've had the opportunity to use PowerBooks (they have a built-in
trackball) over the past year or so. Though I'm not a frequent user and so
have not developed great trackball technique, I think the reason I find
them more difficult than a mouse is that the hand is required to do two
precise tasks (rolling the trackball and clicking the button), and must be
held 'suspended', in a sense, above the two. With the mouse, you have a
'coarse motor control' action (moving the 'brick' around), and are able to
use the fastest finger (index) rather than the slower thumb, which is
usually used for trackball buttons.

Hope my informal observations help.

Chris
------------------
Chris Ryan
Human Interface Designer
Prodigy Technologies Corporation
Vancouver, B.C.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: infopac!bernard!rwarden@softy.softwords.bc.ca (Ron Warden)

I have had a Trackball attached to my pc for two years and
I have just switched to a mouse.

The trackball is a PC-TRAC from MicroSpeed, good trackball, 2 1/2 inch dia.
ball, supposedly a three button unit, but in reality a two button mouse. The
problem with the trackball is that is sits up above the desk 3 inches, which
puts my wrist at bad angle. If the desk had a hole in which the trackball
could sit, making my wrist stay straight relative to my arm.

The mouse, while it requires more deskspace, keeps my wrist straighter and more
"relaxed" than the trackball. The operation of holding the button and moving the
mouse to define and area, is signifigantly easier with the mouse than the
trackball.

Hope this helps.

Ronald Warden, Research Officer - System
Attorney General, Management Services Branch
Victoria, B.C. Canada, V8V 1X4

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Well - that's it - thanks again to all those who responded.

-- 
[  David Kramer                       |  INTERNET: davidk@mcil.comm.mot.com  ]
[ Motorola Communications Israel Ltd. |  Phone (972-3) 565-8638 Fax 565-8754 ]


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