There is a currently ongoing debate in the neuropsychology world about how we relate to the tools that we use. The theory of “tool embodiment” says that when we use some tools frequently enough, our brain recognizes them similarly to how it recognizes our own hands, for instance. There is evidence and counter-evidence from experiments with prosthetics, trash-grabber arms, and rubber dummy arms, just to name a few. It’s fair to say the jury is still out.
All I know is that today my trackball broke, and using a normal gaming mouse to edit the podcast was torture. It would be an exaggeration to say that I felt like I’d lost a hand, but I have so much motor memory apparently built up in my use of the trackball that switching over to another tool to undertake the exact same series of hundreds of small audio edits – mostly compensating for the audio delay across continents, but also silencing coughs and background noises – took an extra hour.
Anyone who has switched from one keyboard to another, or heck even from emacs to vim, knows what I experienced. My body just knows how to flick my wrist to make the cursor on the screen move over to the beginning of that “umm”. It’s not like I don’t conceptually know how to use a mouse either, and it does exactly the same job. But the mouse wasn’t my tool for this application. And saying that out loud makes it almost sound like I’m bordering on embodying my trackball.
I probably should have taken the trackball apart and replaced the bad tact switch on the left-click – that would have taken maybe twenty minutes – but I completely underestimated how integral the tool had become to the work. Anyway, as I write this, tomorrow is Saturday and I’ll have time to fix it. But today, I learned something pretty neat about myself in the process, even if I don’t think my single datapoint is going to rock the academic psych world.
I’ve been using a Logitech Marble trackball for about 25 years and it does feel like part of my nervous system now. I can use other pointing devices but they don’t feel at all natural. I hope you manage to fix yours!
I’m a Logitech Cordless TrackMan FX (T-RA17) person myself, also for the ~25 years. I have a small collection of them. I’ve always got a working spare on hand in case something breaks. Also a bunch of parts, including replacement ceramic “bearings”/beads, which seems a common failure point.
they say you never forget how to ride a bike so i suspect it’s simply a general trackball skill, not tied to a specific peripheral. imo trackballs have an unfair advantage when using button scrolling, but for general cursor usage they are much the same as a mouse.
You might never forget but there is certainly a familiarity you build up with your specific input device that will take time to really match on another model. For instance similar as the Steamcontroller (original) and the Steamdeck trackpads are in use the square edges vs round and the deflection of your digit to put it one the trackpad at all are so different you can’t take a control scheme you loved on one straight to the other seamlessly (with my large hands without a case that seriously pads out the grip I can’t actually get comfortably on them at all). To the point I tend to create entirely different control schemes for each device.
I had an ’86 Corolla for over 15 years (86-02) and I’m still occasionally trying to operate my Ford as if it were my Corolla.
After we remodeled a bathroom and closet, it took me ~6 months not to reach for a pull switch to turn on the closet light and use the new wall switch instead!
I’ve used a trackball well on 30 years now. My use case is for cad. I can use a standard mouse but it just feels awkward, not to mention tiring. I’ve been looking at space mice but it’s one of those things I want to try before buying. I also suffer from rheumatoid arthritis and I find the trackball much less painful. Cheers to the Logitech Trackman Marble!
I got my 3D mouse 20 years ago for CAD work. Now that both my hands have arthris I can confirm it helps a lot. I still use a regular mouse in my right hand, but I have it in my left hand and it feels natural to use them together or switch between the two if one hand stops working for a while. I highly reccomend.
Knipex 86 feels like Deus Ex-style augment for my hand, both for repairs and for casual vandalism. Unfortunately the finish quality and materials took a dive after Knipex moved their entire production to China so I’m looking for a replacement.
Do you have a source for Knipex moving their production to China?
Why are you spreading FUD? They manufacture all their main tools in Germany. Some of the peripheral stuff (tweezers, leather punches) are made by contract manufacturers in places like China.
I’m not spreading anything. In February I ordered another pair of Knipex 86 05 180 from TME along with some other stuff (incl. dev boards and passives).
Unlike my previous Knipex pliers that indeed have “Made in Germany” stamped on their metal parts, the new ones had “Made in China” printed with black ink on their plastic handles.
If it was bought on EBay or Aliexpress – whatever, but I really doubt TME is selling knockoff Knipex stuff under “Knipex” brand in their catalogue.
Knipex still says those (and their other pliers) are all made in Germany. Either they are blatantly lying, or you got sent a counterfeit tool. I would bet on the latter. I recommend contacting TME about it. Even reputable dealers even up with counterfeits sometimes.
Claiming that Knipex has moved all production to China based on a single tool purchase is a bit ridiculous.
TME also has a branch in HQB China :p
Fully agree… and its fascinating, how fast one can adapt to ergonomic keyboards, different speeds of mouse cursors or the UI to your cruise control in the car. Even fighting with lane assist becomes a fun habit at some point.
The most impressive adaptation so far was teleoperating a humanoid (yes, the G1 ;oP ) via VR goggles, where it took the brainz less than a minute to make it its own. Guess n the end we are just xLM agents float… uhm… operating in the Matrix.
My biggest complaint is the inconsistency in all the user interfaces that surround us.
In a normal editing process, clicking the mouse places the cursor, click and drag selects text, and so on…
except click on the address bar automatically selects everything. To place the cursor I have to do something different depending on what type of text field it is.
Will Tab will get you to the next UI item, or the next text field, or the next “clickable” item such as a link? Two days ago I was filling out forms for a complicated purchase and asked the salesman if I could just type in the data for him (name, address &c)… and I couldn’t. The UI interface on their web app implements none of the keyboard shortcuts such as tab (you must use the mouse), and if you brush against the touchpad it automatically scrolls off to an unused corner of the page.
Mousewheel will scroll the page, unless the cursor is on a scrollable item, in which case it will scroll that, and the scrollable item can have an embedded scrollable item and it’s sometimes not clear where one ends and the other begins, so that you have to hunt around for an area to scroll in. (For example: Yandex image search.)
Many examples of programming IDE’s and writer’s decks and other software that includes an embedded editor (OpenScad, Arduino, and on and on) that map familiar editing functions to different places on the keyboard. Fortunately, cut/copy/paste has been taken over by ^X ^C ^V so you can mostly get by, but this interferes with the emacs mappings.
I purchased a programming editor once that listed “emacs compatibility” as one of the editor modes (which is why I bought it), after it was installed the compatability mode use ^X as cut always, but it’s OK because we moved ^X over to ^P, so just use that!
My bank online interface has menu items for portfolio, bill pay, and so on… that dropdown on hover, and not dropdown on click, because of course click closes the menu. It’s annoying every time I use it.
And ChatGPT has some weird implementation of copy (and click-drag for select) that sometimes allows you to copy the selected text, and sometimes only allows for “ask ChatGPT” of the text so you have to clear the selection and try again.
When I was younger, the company I worked for used to have people in and watch how they used our computer system doing typical tasks and note whenever they would stumble on some action, then analyze the action and see if there was some UI inconsistency or some other reason that could be adjusted for a better experience.
No one does that any more. No one even considers the burden of their UI choices on the end user.
And I don’t think it will get any better.
We can’t standardize on stuff because somebody will claim their first rights etc. and the fashion makeover has to be on top of anything old. Remember the “double click” claims of years ago?
Was it a Kensington Orbit? I also have one with a bad left-click tact switch
It’s actually a (2018) “Clearly Superior Technologies” trackball. Honestly really great, I think it cost $100, but the scroll roller thing is worth half the price of admission.
8 years of constant clicking before the switch failed. I wonder how many cycles that was.
Looking it up, they’re out of business, and the switches are a strange form factor. This might be more than a weekend project after all…
I believe they got bought by piengineering (dot-com); I used to use the identical one and have the L-Trac replacements, which are pretty identical, if not exact (I seem to recall them saying they bought the remaining stock out.)
Absolutely amazing trackball, they’re up to $160, but I rely on it so much I have a backup, just in case.
First thing I did with my replacement X-Keys L-Trac (only bought it because I cracked the housing on my original one) was replace the switches with Kailh GMs. Also replaced the stock steel rollers with steel pins + super smooth bearings, and the ball with an Aramith 8-ball. Best pointing device I’ve ever used, bar none. The weight is perfect, the “fling” is there, smooth as glass and nice and clicky.
Im another lifelong trackball user. In the 90s I would get weird looks pulling out my trackball in the campus computer lab. Ive rarely ever used a mouse. When Ive had to, it feels like Ive taken a giant leap backwards and am using a toddler computer. Waving my arm across the table where normally I would reflexively twitch my thumb. I keep a spare trackball in case mine breaks. It slows my work down too much to have to attempt to use anything else. Muscle memory has certainly turned it into an extension of myself.
Im a little concerned about my Elegato stream deck XLuse. Ive pretty much stopped using hotkeys and replaced them with program specific layouts on the stream deck. While it speeds my workflow, I worry that its a device that might not have the same market longevity the trackball does. I have 2 spares in a closet, so Im probably covered, but the day I lose that tool will probably mark the start of a serious adjustment period.
My daughter is in a different boat. She is an artist. When she was 6 I bought her a netbook and a graphics tablet. When she was 8 I got her a lease return Fujitsu T3010. She had upgraded from that every year or two. She is almost 30 now. SO she has spent MOST of her life with a wacom digitizer screen equipped computer. She does resort to using a trackball as a sort of “remote control” for her Microsoft surface studio’s 28 inch screen when not actively drawing, but for her computing is primarily a Pen driven experience.
Its interesting how our chosen tech becomes so integral to our lives,
Fantastic artwork for this story. Love it!
When I was a teen I eventually made the switch from the xbox 360 to the pc, my first few games were valve titles i was familiar with and it took me what felt like ages to re-coop the dexterity and quickness in reflexes from going from controller to kbm. Getting portals placed just so, and in urgency was so strangely difficult.
I switched to a HUGE trackball because I had gotten used to a Logitech one (Kim Jong Il was seen using it) in theater tech booths where there is little space for a mouse pad. Really I just didn’t want to screw up the arm of my gaming recliner. There was a period of adjustment but I can’t imagine going back. It reminds me of the ancient arcade football game with its massive trackball.
by HUGE do you mean a ELECOM HUGE? They released an even bigger HUGE Plus with 10 programmable buttons. Kinda tempting
the UI of an automobile is amazing in that it translates so well between wildly different makes and models but always feels (to me, anyway) like the car is an extension of my body. I haven’t driven a Cybertruck, where the steering wheel interface is, I am told, very different. but my daily driver is a Chevy Bolt, an all-electric car whose UI feels roughly the same as my other vehicle, a Subaru Forester (yes, I’m a male lesbian!)
as someone who has used every kind of pointing device to do every kind of work. idk how trackball people live. i mean i like the contraptions, they are nice. i put those blackberry mouse modules in everything, use them to replace hat switches in joysticks (ive tried printing them, but with out some kind of metal parts for the stem they tend to break), they are good for navigating mfd displays in flight sims without taking your hand off the stick. but ive never liked them enough to use them to edit text (which i have gotten good at doing without my hands ever leaving the keyboard).
of course i understand to a degree, i guess the guy who wrote the article feels about trackballs the way i fgel about joysticks. stop taking away our toys in favor of screen tapping.
My Microsoft Trackball Optical has been used daily for 24 years. I’ve replaced bearings and buttons but it’s still the same sensor and ball gliding away. The few times a year that I have to use a push-mouse feel bizarre, like writing with my left hand.
I suspect many Lenovo owners have similar feelings, about the TrackPoint.
I had just finished writing the following when I noticed your comment, so I’m posting this as a reply instead:
That’s why I can only use Lenovo laptops unless I’m willing to use a mouse. I’m proficient enough with a Trackpoint that I can and do use it with both Kicad, and an ancient 2D CAD program called Autosketch. With a touchpad I have no hope – even when I’m in practice with one I find them annoying even for regular browsing and file manager use. I’m probably still better with a mouse than with a Trackpoint, but not by a huge amount.
On a related note, sometimes I purposely use the ‘wrong’ tool for a job. Occasionally I do it just from laziness, but at other times it’s a deliberate choice to challenge myself. That flexibility comes in handy in those situations where a ‘wrong’ tool is the only one available.
~20 years ago a few buddies from school went to a computer fair/exhibition and IBM had a stand there with keyboards with TrackPoints – normal full sized USB keyboards for the table WITH TRACKPOINTS(!!!!).
One buddy asked where he could get one – didn’t get a positive reply unfortunately (he very much liked the TrackPoint because he didn’t need to move any hand to any mouse, touchpad or trackball to move the cursor).
Nah, but still a better backup if you have no mouse than those awful trackpads. And also not always in the way. Why is designing the keyboard around the trackpad cheaper for the vendor than for a nipple?
ok… apparently my account has been HACKED. on HACKaday, no less. NONE of the comments above are ME.,
NOT a HACK!
No security protocol to break.
Just click submit
I use both a trackball and a typical mouse equally (one at home one at work) so no issues there, but… I have been reading an ebook for so long that the other day, while reading a physical paper book, I actually found myself tapping the page to try and turn it! And more than once I’ve had to stop myself from trying to click on a word to get the definition! 🤣
I once had consumed some psychedelics and felt totally lost when I went to adjust my playlist and clear the queue, but spotify had moved the “clear queue” button. I remembered tool embodiment, thought of how it might extend to UI elements, and proceeded to resent Spotify AB for cursing me with removed digits, at least the very tips of the extensions of my digital hands.
Whoah.
The Elcom DEFT PRO Trackball Mouse is the greatest pointing device ever made.
I used and loved a Logitech trackball for many years, but it finally expired (and the ps2 to usb adapter was a nuisance). Since then, I’ve gone through about 4 Logitech trackballs in 2 years because the switches wear out. They just don’t make them like they used to!
4 trackballs in 2 years? Thats not manufacturing defect. thats user fault. You must be hard hammering those buttons. I have a 4 year old logitech that I use 10+ hours a day. It replaced a 7 year old one that was dropped on concrete and broke. Ive got 3 daughters and a wife who all use logitech trackballs. they are all using 8-10 year old models. I think Ive had 2 switch fails in 20+ years of using them. You do realize that pressing harder doesnt speed or emphasize your click at all. Lighten up buddy.