Meditations on scrolling
I've spent hours today lying on my hammock, reading 2001. "Summer monsoon", my ass.
I have absolutely no idea how I survived before the invention of the scroll wheel.
Seriously.
Not a clue.
The scroll wheel, or ball, as the case may be, is such a commonplace thing that it is very easy simply to take it for granted. The Apple Mighty Mouse is a very nice bit of kit but that scroll ball spoils me, to the point where I become incredibly frustrated when it gets dirty and starts to stick a bit.
I notice it most on web pages, where scrolling down, far more often than up, is an essential part of, you know, actually reading the web page. If it weren't for the proliferation of the Internet, scroll wheels as we know them may not exist. And that would be a tragedy.
Take a second to think about what your scroll wheel does for you.
It goes above and beyond the call of duty in not only allowing convenient scrolling, but also being the basis for a third button with which tabs may be opened and fast scrolling accessed. In games, it can be used to select any number of things, from rocket launchers to pikemen, not to mention the zooming of sniper rifles and the control of camera angles.
While watching Farscape in a not-necessarily legal way (I'll buy the DVDs if I like the first few episodes [which I do, by the way; it's a very good show]), I've noticed that using the scroll bar on any other window freezes the streaming video (but not the sound) temporarily. The scroll wheel means that I can surf the web without interruption. I'm not entirely sure why that happens, but it does and I'm glad that there's a way around it.
The scroll wheel is an essential part of technology today, allowing flexibility and laziness that were unknown to the previous generation of input devices. Think about that, the next time you come across a long document or need to move to the bottom of a long list.
On a completely unrelated note, Blink is now one of my favourite Doctor Who episodes ever.
On another unrelated note, I've just remembered that tonight was meant to be my 100th post. And I did it on the importance of the scroll wheel. Kind of sums up this blog doesn't it? Oh, well. I'll do some reflective stuff tomorrow. Seems like commemorating the 101st of things is becoming a tradition by accident around here.
I have absolutely no idea how I survived before the invention of the scroll wheel.
Seriously.
Not a clue.
The scroll wheel, or ball, as the case may be, is such a commonplace thing that it is very easy simply to take it for granted. The Apple Mighty Mouse is a very nice bit of kit but that scroll ball spoils me, to the point where I become incredibly frustrated when it gets dirty and starts to stick a bit.
I notice it most on web pages, where scrolling down, far more often than up, is an essential part of, you know, actually reading the web page. If it weren't for the proliferation of the Internet, scroll wheels as we know them may not exist. And that would be a tragedy.
Take a second to think about what your scroll wheel does for you.
It goes above and beyond the call of duty in not only allowing convenient scrolling, but also being the basis for a third button with which tabs may be opened and fast scrolling accessed. In games, it can be used to select any number of things, from rocket launchers to pikemen, not to mention the zooming of sniper rifles and the control of camera angles.
While watching Farscape in a not-necessarily legal way (I'll buy the DVDs if I like the first few episodes [which I do, by the way; it's a very good show]), I've noticed that using the scroll bar on any other window freezes the streaming video (but not the sound) temporarily. The scroll wheel means that I can surf the web without interruption. I'm not entirely sure why that happens, but it does and I'm glad that there's a way around it.
The scroll wheel is an essential part of technology today, allowing flexibility and laziness that were unknown to the previous generation of input devices. Think about that, the next time you come across a long document or need to move to the bottom of a long list.
On a completely unrelated note, Blink is now one of my favourite Doctor Who episodes ever.
On another unrelated note, I've just remembered that tonight was meant to be my 100th post. And I did it on the importance of the scroll wheel. Kind of sums up this blog doesn't it? Oh, well. I'll do some reflective stuff tomorrow. Seems like commemorating the 101st of things is becoming a tradition by accident around here.
Labels: alasdair, anniversary, musings
posted by Alasdair Corbett at
10:11 PM
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