© 1997 Lawrence I. Charters (writing as Washington Apple Pi Labs)
Washington Apple Pi Journal, Vol. 19, no. 1, January-February 1997, pp. 29-31.
This is a tale of a world-class computer peripheral (sorta), the 3M Precise Mousing Surface, that has been almost completely ignored. When it arrived at Washington Apple Pi Labs (WAPL) the peripheral was overlooked for a time as a press release, stacked with other press releases in the Recycle pile (along with such gems as “We are sure all the Macintosh users at Washington Apple Pi will be delighted with our new release of Toenail Clipping Tracker, newly released for Windows NT!” and ”You, too, can make millions of dollars in real estate through contract fraud!”).
After a couple of days someone noticed that Precise Mousing Surface was not a funny press release, but an actual computer peripheral (sorta), and three different individuals agreed to write a review, and all three found it delightful. And didn’t write a word.
WAPL has an exacting process for screening items for review in the Washington Apple Pi Journal. New items come in, mostly unsolicited, and are sent out to subject matter experts (“That looks neat! I’ll write about it!”). This process works fairly well. But not for the Precise Mousing Surface.
One reviewer reported, verbally, that it was “the best mousepad I’ve ever used. And it makes a nice indoor Frisbee.” Another begged to keep it for another few years for test and evaluation; “I can’t live without it; I’m spoiled.”
The most brazen offered to buy it: “How about I just give you $10?” “No deal; they run between $12.95 and $19.95.” “Yeah, but it’s used.”
All these reviewers were sacked.
This person, who normally thinks a trackball is the only way to control a computer, loved it. And could even explain why:
- It is flat. Really flat. So it doesn’t bend your wrist back.
- It is easy to clean.
- It keeps the mouse ball clean, too.
- The mouse never “skids,” but always goes where you point it.
- It is really
small, and takes up little desk space.
“After a couple of days someone noticed that Precise Mousing Surface was not a funny press release, but an actual computer peripheral (sorta), and three different individuals agreed to write a review, and all three found it delightful. And didn’t write a word.”
Let’s take the first claim: flatness. When it arrived in WAPL, the Precise Mousing Surface was dismissed as a press release because it ships in a thin cardboard envelope that looks like it might hold a sheet of paper or two. While not exactly “paper thin,” the Precise Mousing Surface is close: it would take a stack of 20 to 50 of them to match the thickness of more conventional mouse pads.
Many mouse pads build up a coating of grime after a while, but not the Precise Mousing Surface. The textured surface doesn’t attract oils from the hand and other more unidentifiable things that seem to coat mouse pads. If you do spill something on it, just rinsing it with cold water seems to take care of any problems.
The envelope for the Precise Mousing Surface is also an advertisement and instruction manual of sorts. It explains that the textured surface also helps keep the mouse ball clean, and this proves true. The surface of the pad is formed from thousands of tiny pyramids, and since only the “peaks” of the pyramids touch the mouse ball, there is far less chance of gunk coating the mouse ball or the internal rollers. Cleaning a computer mouse is about as emotionally uplifting as cleaning an oven, so anything which helps eliminate this chore is a definite boon to civilization.
Mouse performance on the Precise Mousing Surface is outstanding. Those little pyramids, as 3M puts it, make sure WYPIWYG (Where You Point Is Where You Go). Movements on screen match movements of the mouse, without skips or “skids.” On a conventional mouse pad, if you run off the pad the mouse falls off into oblivion, and the pointer on the screen appears to freeze because the mouse ball is suspended in air, trapped between the high plateau of the mouse pad and the lower elevation of your desk. This never happens with the Precise Mousing Surface; the pad is so thin that the mouse is still functional ifit runs off the pad; you never even consciously note that you’ve adjusted by pulling it back where it belongs.
Two things about the Precise Mousing Surface are peculiar, besides the name. First, there is the color, a variegated, irregular pattern of deep purple, lighter purple and black. WAPL assumed there might be other colors, but a quick search of retailers revealed no other colors. The color scheme is inoffensive and unobtrusive, especially since you never look at a mouse pad while you are using your computer. If someone comes by and asks, “What’s that purple thing on your desk” (and someone will), lie creatively.
The shape is also unusual. Completely abandoning the idea of square or rectangular mouse pads, 3M made the Precise Mousing Surface an unusual shape that looks sort of like that of a painter’s wooden palette, only without the finger hole. The odd shape turns out to be ideal, matching as it does the normal tracking motions, curves and arcs of an active computer mouse. This shape also permits 3M to trim off all the square comers, greatly reducing the size of the pad and the amount of desk space it requires.
3M claims the Precise Mousing Surface is “the biggest improvement in computer mousing technology since… the mouse itself.” WAPL tried to dismiss this as nothing but hype. We failed.
If you must mouse, get a Precise Mousing Surface. Both you and your rodent will be delighted. If you don’t mouse, take a look at 3M’s Web page for the pad; it has the funniest URL we’ve seen in weeks.
Precise Mousing Surface $12.95 to $15.95, at the whim of the retailer
3M Consumer Stationery Division P.O. Box 33594 St. Paul, MN 55133-3594 http://www.mmm.com/market/consumer/pms/