Winn L. Rosch Hardware Bible, Sixth Edition

Mice

The computer mouse was the first computer pointing device, developed concurrently with the graphic environment—the problem and solution created together. Through its near 40 years of evolution, the mouse has changed surprisingly little. Today's mice take the same basic form as the original—made to fit the hand—with the same control layout of buttons at your fingertips. Over so long a period, however, species naturally diverge, and so have mice. Where once there was only one breed of computer mouse, a mechanical creation wearing a single switch, now there are several.

Mice can be distinguished by five chief differences: the technology they use to detect motion (mechanical or optical), the number of buttons they have, the presence of a scroll ...