i guess some people are too young to remember wired mouses
this post was submitted on 17 Mar 2026
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I still use them exclusively lol
Same. The mouse is always something I’m going to use on the desk next to the computer. I don’t understand the advantage of making it wireless, that’d just be one more battery for me to keep charged. Honestly, if I had a wireless mouse I’d probably just leave it plugged in to the charger as I use it. (And don’t get me started on Apple’s mouse charge port on the bottom.)
These generations of wireless mouses are fine. The advantage, as small as it is, is less drag from the wire and not having to juggle with wires when working with a laptop. Given the batteries these days I’m fine with wireless.
Now I do not have the same view on wireless keyboards as these are pretty much stationary by default.
The batteries are my main issue.
12 hour battery? I charge every night.
4 day battery life? I forget to charge until it dies, and then it dies in the middle of using it.
The mouse I have is only wireless for the "less drag while gaming" aspect but the cable is actually super nice, so I dont even mind the cable... I just leave it plugged in now.
My laptop's wireless mouse has used the same AAA battery for months, and it gets used regularly. It's not daily, but it's at least a few times a week for an hour, and usually a lot more.
My wired mouse on my PC gets used about the same amount, but the cable occasionally catches under the corner of the keyboard. It's not helped by the fact that I move the keyboard around depending on what I'm doing. That's also the reason I'm considering a wireless keyboard as well though.
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I think the main selling point was less the mobility and more that the cord didn't get caught on things. Still not a huge concern, imo.
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I bet you still have a mousepad and have to clean your balls on occasion
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Wired vs. wireless is whatever works for you, but no one misses balled mice. No one.
Whoops! Big mistake buddy, you said something on the internet. Now we’re gonna fight! I miss balled mice. How ‘bout them apples? Nothing is as satisfying as cleaning the lint out of those things was
I will concede only in the fact that it made me look like a miracle worker to my parents when I "fixed" their mouse that had stopped working with my magic.
On the other hand, the Christmas I gave them an LED mouse was peak level for all of us.
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Relying on batteries is for suckas
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I did had one support call, a long time ago, where I told the guy to use the mouse and click on the start button. Then I heard the sound of something tapping on glass.
"Sir, please keep the mouse on the table and then move it. You'll notice the arrow moving too. Move the arrow to ..."
Yeah, that was still when everybody had CRT screens. That should give you an indication how long ago it was.
I did a support call in the 90's where "clicking the left mouse button" was stumping her. After trying a few variations of instructions, I decided to take a step back and better assess the situation.
Me - Ma'am, are you left or right handed?
Her: right
Me: Lift your right hand, and look at the mouse. It should be a palm sized white plastic device with two buttons, one on the left and one on the right where your fingers rest. There should also be a small cable that extends from the far side and plugs into your computer. The underside of it has a little grey ball in the middle. Do you see it?
Her: You mean the doohickey on the floor?
Me: Pardon me?!? Well, it should be on your desk, not the floor. Why would it be down there?
Her: You mean the foot pedal?
Me: *light bulb clicks on. Are you really familiar with sewing machines?
Her: yes, but this doesn't work anything like that.
Me: ok. We have found the problem! This is great. First step is to take the foot pedal off the floor and place it on the desk, under your right hand when you are sitting comfortably.
From there everything went smooth as silk.
Dear god…
To be fair, some mouse designs back then really did look like a foot pedal, albeit rather small for a foot.
Props on figuring it out and being able to help her.
This is gold!
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I once had a support call where I told the customer to click the Start button and they didn't know what it was. I clarified by saying that it was the button in the corner of the screen. They did it and then said that their entire screen turned black.
Apparently they'd pushed the power button on their monitor.
When I was young, older people thought the monitor was the computer and had no idea there was a chassi under the desk connected to it. :)
When I was young people thought the keyboard was the computer. And they were right.
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To the guy a few weeks ago that said I wasn't being fair to users not reading error messages and comparing it to a doctor reading your charts. Read this fucking thread.
A ton of power users who never worked in service desk don't understand how incompetent the average user is. It is quite something.
I'm laughing my ass off reading this threat because I can imagine every single one happening.
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A call for some support on Mac came in one day and I told the cx to go to the Finder. Cx said “Mac doesn’t have a ‘finder’. Sounds like windows talk to me. You sure you know what you are doing?” So I said “You called me. You see the icon on the dock with the smiley face? What name did you make up for it?” Cx said “Apple actually calls that the task master.” So I said “Sure they do. Click the task master.” Proceeded to fix cx’s issue for him (PEBKAC issue) and then got a one star customer survey back.
It's been a while since I used a mac but doesn't it literally say 'Finder' at the top of the screen when you open that?
You think all long time apple users know that the application name is up there, or that there is even a menu for the app at the top of the screen? No, sometimes telling people to click on the apple in the top left, so that they can go to restart, blows people's minds.
I honestly still find it such a weird UX decision to decouple the menu from the application window. Especially when you have multiple windows open on a large screen, the menu is on the opposite corner of the screen. Makes no sense
it's a really interesting decision because while it makes the menu positioning consistent, it also creates a hard link between the active window and the desktop, which means that things like "hover to focus" and "click button in background window" fundamentally cannot work.
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yes
It sure does.
Oh, the Master Control Program?
The mainframe. When you click it you have to say “I’m in”.
I'm guessing that the user did eventually figure out it's labelled as "finder" and got pissy at you for being all pedantic and not just calling it what they call it because really, is the correct name so important?
(Or is your standard-issue "read customers' thoughts to know what exactly they mean" device broken? Really, how can you call yourself support without crucial equipment to spare customers from having to be clear?)
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Hamsters do have tails though. /UmAckchually
It doesn't have fur so it's a naked mole rat
I asked my hamster yesterday if he has a tail and he told me no. Are you saying my hamster's a liar?
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i had a colleague at one of the jobs who was very conspiratorial regarding all things bluetooth and he wouldn't talk to me or anyone else unless we turn it off.
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Computer mice is an area where females have completely displaced males.
I've not seen a male mouse at work in a long time.
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