A lot of people think I am weird for liking trackballs, but those people very obviously have never really tried using a trackball for their mousing needs.  In fact, except for specific purposes, like gaming, I consider trackballs to be the superior way of mousing.

I’ve been using a trackball regularly for almost twelve years now.  It all started for me with the Logitech Marble Mouse.  Which amazingly is still sold today, with some minor improvements as the Logitech TrackMan Marble.  The ambidextrous shape of the Marble allowed it to be used for hours comfortably, and because you let your fingers do the work, it is almost effortless to use.

After awhile though, I did miss the ease of having a scroll wheel, so I upgraded to the Logitech TrackMan Wheel.  Amazingly, my nearly decade old TrackMan Wheel is virtually identical to a new one you would find on the shelves of your local big box electronics retailer.  That is how perfect this design is.  They really have need to ever improve it.  Like I said before, I am not making the argument that trackballs should replace all mice, but I do find them great for standard computing.  For everyday tasks, you do not need the extreme precision or adjustable dpi resolution that hardcore gamers or graphic artists demand.  For run-of-the-mill jobs, the trackball provides significant ergonomic improvements, and that is something that anyone who spends a great deal of time on the computer can appreciate.

Unfortunately, as you might have guessed from the age of the trackballs I have mentioned, there has not been any major improvements in the functionality of trackballs in quite awhile.  However, Kensington has tried to up the style and cool quotients of trackballs recently though.  The red ball of their Slimblade Trackball looks like some orb of power out of a science-fiction movie.  The Kensington SlimBlade Trackball is not just a pretty face though.  The single ball can serve multiple functions such as scrolling, zooming, volume and media playback controls.

While my trusty old TrackMan Wheel shows no signs of giving out, when it does someday (hopefully in the distant future), I hope that there will be at least some improvement made to trackballs so I will be able to replace it with something better, because that is what it would want me to do.  I hope peripheral manufacturers are out there listening, because trackballs are not a dead market and they should see at least some innovation after 10 years.

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