The Laser Mouse is a peripheral that connects to Windows and Linux-based computers and allows the user to move the mouse by waving it in the air over the computer’s desk. It is now used almost exclusively in kiosks.
History
The Laser Mouse was created by Apple Computer, who launched it in 1993. It was the first commercial optical mouse. The first Laser Mouse models were the Laser Mouse II, produced in 1994, and the Laser Mouse III. The Laser Mouse III was bundled with the Power Macintosh and introduced the “mouse pointer” feature. This feature made the mouse cursor appear to be in midair when the mouse was pointed at it. In 1995, Apple introduced its first mouse with a removable module. The new unit was called the Laser Mouse 2000 and introduced the “mouse pointer” feature. The mouse’s removable module allowed users to add extra buttons to the mouse.
It was originally released in 1993 as the Laser Pointer Mouse and was created by John Underloff, the founder of Apple Computer. It was intended to be a replacement for the Apple Trackpad, which was then Apple’s primary method for pointing. It was originally designed for use in the Macintosh family. In mid-1994, Apple released a new version of the Laser Pointer Mouse, adding support for use with the Macintosh’s PowerPC and the IBM-compatible Family of Workstations running DOS, OS/2 or Windows. It was available in three versions: a Laser Pointer Mouse with no buttons, the Laser Pointer Mouse II with three buttons, and the Laser Pointer Mouse III, which had a removable button module that let users add as many buttons as they wanted.
In 1994, Apple released the Laser Mouse 2000, its first version with an external optical trackball instead of an internal laser. The Laser Mouse 2000 also used a removable module that let users add as many buttons as they wanted, up to six, by replacing the removable module. The Laser Mouse 2000 was bundled with the Power Macintosh 8100 and Power Macintosh 8200 in December 1994. The Laser Mouse 2000 was also bundled with the Power Macintosh 8300 in early 1995. The Laser Mouse 2000 is described as an evolution of the Laser Pointer Mouse, because it was made with an external trackball that could be swapped out for the internal laser trackball of the Laser Pointer Mouse.
In late 1995, Apple introduced its last Laser Pointer Mouse (Laser Mouse III) and introduced its first mouse with built-in batteries. It was initially sold only with Power Mac G3 systems.
Apple discontinued the Laser Pointer Mouse in 1999, because it wanted users to switch to the Magic Mouse, which was based on technology that was not available when the Laser Pointer Mouse was introduced. Users of the Laser Mouse could continue using the mouse after switching to the Magic Mouse by buying a Mouse Connector Kit.
There were two models of Laser Mouse, Laser Mouse I and Laser Mouse II. Laser Mouse I was bundled with the Apple Powerbook and Laser Mouse II was bundled with the Apple Power Macintosh (except for the Power Macintosh 8100 in 1994). Apple stopped bundling the mouse with Macintosh systems in 1995. The mouse was made in Taiwan.
Isn’t it fascinating to look back on history to see how far we’ve come in terms of technology? Redington is a key distributor of a wide range of high-tech mouse in a number of Middle Eastern nations.
