qRe:_=BF_Origin_of_scrolling_mouse=3F

Yes, when I was working on PEX (PHIGS Extension for X) at IBM, we had a few unusual input devices for X to test with. There was one of those "spaceball" 3D input devices - a sphere suspended by a curved bracket from a base, with piezoelectric sensors (I buttume) for sensing pressure along x, y, and z axes; it let you move a 3D cursor around a virtual volume on screen. There was also a "lighted button and dial set" that had, well, lights, buttons, and dials (thumbwheels along the edge).

Agreed, though I think the Mac is a bit worse in this respect. At least you can write "Alt" in ASCII characters and pronounce it - you don't have to say "that key with the squiggly thing on it that's like a square but with loops at the corners". Inventing new glyphs for keycaps strikes me as a really bad idea. (Insert rant about Apple's penchant for style over substance here.)

I do sometimes wish my keyboard had a Compose key, though, so I don't have to keep looking up the codepoints of letters with diacriticals.

--

O sometimes, nevertheless, The labourer at his instrument or tractor, Bending into a state of merge with objects, Finds the same love that, from a machine of love, Steps down as Venus to her invoker. -- George Barker