Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!ncar!husc6!lloyd!kent
From: kent@lloyd.camex.uucp (Kent Borg)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Why can't we speed up the mouse?
Summary: because there is not enough resolution to the mouse
Message-ID: <288@lloyd.camex.uucp>
Date: 20 Dec 88 15:58:16 GMT
References: <8855@ut-emx.UUCP>
Reply-To: kent@lloyd.UUCP (Kent Borg)
Organization: Camex, Inc., Boston, Mass USA
Lines: 29

In article <8855@ut-emx.UUCP> osmigo@ut-emx.UUCP writes:
>kind of precision. Having used a Mac almost daily for nearly 5 years, I feel
>that I could comfortably adapt to a cursor that would cross the screen with
>say, 1/2 to 3/4 inch of mouse movement *without* jerking. The current 2 to 3
>inches required is way, way too slow. Anybody interested? Can you hear
>me, Apple?   (drops to knees, begs....)   (-8

You have forgotten something: Mice have a physical resolution.  The
mouse has to move a smidge for the mouse to spit out a `micky'
(mouse's smallest quantum unit).  If the mouse doesn't have many
hundreds of mickies to the inch (and Apple mice don't) you simply
can't map many hundreds of pixels into a half inch and still be able
to address every pixel on your screen, unless you do something like
adjust your micky to pixel mapping depending on mouse speed, which is
what they do.  If you move the mouse slowly you currently get one
pixel to one micky, if you move quickly you will get more than one
pixel to a micky.  It works pretty well, try a Sun sometime for
contrast.

If you really want a mouse that does what you describe, look for a
much higher resolution 3rd party mouse (optical mice can have their
resolution extended by using a mouse pad with finer lines and more
lines on it, but the optics will eventually limit you there too), or
try that puck-like thingie that got big press a few months ago.  (I
got my hands on it once and thought it was terrible...)

Kent Borg
kent@lloyd.uucp
or
hscfvax!lloyd!kent