Introduction
When Doug Engelbart introduced the first mouse in 1968, a new industry was born.
Throughout the years since then, Logitech has been at the forefront of innovation in mouse technologies. Now, Logitech with its technology partner Agilent Technologies does it again with the world s first mouse to employ the precision and tracking ability of a laser: Logitech MX!"1000 Cordless Laser Mouse.
Though that original mouse was sophisticated for its time and embraced by forward thinkers, it wasn t until the graphical user interface appeared that the mouse enjoyed widespread adoption as an essential computing tool. That occurred in 1984, when
Apple introduced the Macintosh with a mouse. Connected to the computer by a cable,
this one-button mouse used a rolling rubber-coated steel ball motion-tracking mechanism.
Corded, ball-based mechanical mice worked well but suffered from two insurmountable shortcomings: those annoying cords always seemed to get in the way,
and the tracking ball continually gummed up with dirt, requiring frequent cleaning.
Logitech set out to solve each problem (Figure 1). In 1992, the company shipped
MouseMan® Cordless, the world s first cordless mouse. Three years later, Logitech introduced optical tracking technology with its Marble!" technology for trackballs.
Cordless and optical technologies were finally united in 2001 with the introduction of the Logitech Cordless MouseMan Optical, enabled by the optical engine of Logitech partner and technology innovator Agilent Technologies. During the 90s, Agilent pioneered optical sensing for mouse technology. With their familiar glowing red lightemitting diode (LED) as the source of illumination, optical mice offered vastly improved precision, better tracking, and smoother cursor movement. Elimination of the troublesome rolling ball did away the need for cleaning, greatly enhancing usability and productivity.
Figure 1: Over the past decade, Logitech has solved the problems inherent with corded, ball-based mechanical mice.
With the benefits of LED-based optical tracking technology already clear, Logitech and
Agilent engineers knew that better results could still be achieved. They sought the highest tracking precision possible on the broadest array of tracking surfaces. The answer was discovered in a beam of laser light.
Laser Lights The Way
Now, in 2004, Logitech has taken the first step beyond LED illumination with the unveiling of a true, next-generation engineering breakthrough: laser illumination and tracking with the MX1000 Cordless Laser Mouse. For gamers, graphic artists, CAD
engineers, medical technicians, and business users alike, laser technology is an innovation that delivers a new benchmark in mouse performance.
The culmination of years of research has produced laser technology that delivers astonishingly precise tracking. Laser tracking responds to the slightest hand movement with extraordinary accuracy. And it does so on virtually any surface, white or black,
solid or pattern, shiny or matte. Laser illumination tracks flawlessly on the high-gloss surfaces that LED-based mice simply can t negotiate. These surfaces include lacquered tabletops, glazed ceramic tile, untextured plastic, metal surfaces, photo paper,
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laminate countertops, opaque glass, and more .
Thanks to Logitech and Agilent s groundbreaking laser mouse technology, virtually any surface, short of a mirror or pane of clear glass, will do. Mouse pads, those dustcatching relics from the era of rolling-ball mice, are, at last, no longer necessary for smooth operation.
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