I said goodbye to my mouse last month. It was time to advance, I thought, to a higher plane of input, a trackpad that works like a tablets screen. Instead of point and click, Id swipe and flick.上个月，我和自己的鼠标勒令了别。我原以为，是时候用于Ultra的输出设备了，我所指的是触控板，它的工作原理和平板电脑的屏幕类似于。相比于用鼠标页面，我更加偏向于在触控板上用手指扫动和轻点。

A few weeks in, I was missing my mouse. Moving a folder across a 27-inch iMac screen with the trackpad was like lugging a grand piano across the Sahara -- I had to keep taking breaks along the way, as I ran out of pad.意味着过了几个星期，我就缅怀起我的鼠标来了。用于触控板在27英寸的iMac屏幕上移动文件夹就样子拖着一架极大的钢琴穿过撒哈拉沙漠――我在这个过程中必需要不时地睡觉，因为我的触控板过于大。This cant be progress. Determined, I rustled up a dozen of the latest input devices, regular mice and trackpads, but also vertical mice, pen- and knob-shaped mice, a touch-screen stylus, even a controller that lets you wave your hands around without touching anything, a la Minority Report.这觉得谈不上变革。

毅然决然地，我搜罗了十几款最新型的输出设备，其中不仅还包括普通型鼠标和触控板，还包括横向型鼠标、笔型鼠标、球型鼠标和触控笔，甚至一个不必须触碰就能感应器你双手动作的控制器，感觉就像电影《少数派报告》(Minority Report)中的场景一样。What I discovered: Thirty years after the Macintosh took the mouse mainstream, I couldnt find anything more precise or comfortable for operating a computer. More important, I found the mouse has managed to reinvent itself over the years -- its like the Madonna of PC peripherals.我找到：从30年前Macintosh电脑奠下鼠标方向的那一天起，以后今日，我依然无法寻找可以比鼠标更为精准和舒适度地操作电脑的设备了。更加最重要的是，我找到，鼠标在多年中仍然在大大构建创意――可谓电脑外围设备界的麦当娜(Madonna)。One reinvention stood out during my testing, a mouse whose unconventional look belied its natural grip: the Sculpt Ergonomic Mouse by Microsoft. Other standouts I tested were Apples Magic Mouse, the Penclic Mouse and Logitechs Ultrathin Touch Mouse.在我的测试中，一款革命性的鼠标干颍而出有：那就是微软公司(Microsoft)的Sculpt人体工学鼠标(Sculpt Ergonomic Mouse)。

这款鼠标外观特立独行，同时又具有大自然舒适度的手部感觉。我测试的其他几款出类拔萃的鼠标还包括：苹果公司(Apple)的Magic Mouse、Penclic鼠标和罗技(Logitech)的超薄触控鼠标(Ultrathin Touch Mouse)。Picking a control device is kind of like choosing shoes -- some go for Air Jordans, others for Christian Louboutin heels. Everyone has their own size and physical fit -- sometimes even a medical need. (My right-handed editor swears by a trackball mouse in his left hand.)自由选择操纵设备就像自由选择鞋子一样――有些人偏爱耐克空中飞人(Air Jordans)运动鞋，有些人则注目克里斯托鲁布托(Christian Louboutin)高跟鞋。

每个人都有自己的尺码和脚形――有时候人们还拒绝鞋子不具备医疗功能。（躺在我右手边的编辑于是以责怪着他左手用着的轨迹球鼠标。）Though PC sales have declined in recent years, mouse unit sales slipped only 3% in the past 12 months, according to industry research firm NPD. In other words, a good chunk of laptop buyers are adding mice to their productivity ensembles.尽管最近几年PC电脑的销量有所下降，但是据行业调查公司NPD称之为，在过去的12个月中，鼠标设备的销量仅有下降了3%。

换句话来说，很多便携式电脑买家为提升整体效率都购置了鼠标设备。To test my efficiency using a mouse and other input devices, I used a program scientists developed to study the speed-accuracy trade-offs in human muscle movements, called Fittss Law. My scores, based on clicking scattered dots on a screen, were at times nearly twice as fast with a mouse as with a trackpad. Most hands are more relaxed on a mouse, so starting and stopping are easier, say the ergonomists.为了测试我在用于鼠标和其他输出设备时的效率，我用于了一款科学家研发的用来测试人类肌肉在速度与准确性上协商程度的程序：菲茨定律(Fittss Law)。

我的分数按页面集中在屏幕上的点来计算出来，我用于鼠标时的分数完全是用于触控板时分数的两倍。人体工程学家回应，大多数人的手在用于鼠标时更为放开，因此收到页面动作和中止页面动作更加非常简单。

Of course, for flipping pages or pinching to zoom, finger gestures on a touch screen or trackpad are the more efficient way.当然，在继续执行翻页或屏幕图形的动作时，用手指在触摸屏或者触控板上展开操作者更为高效。Both Apple and Microsoft have integrated finger gestures into their latest computer operating systems. Apple sells iMacs with a trackpad option. Microsoft built the latest Windows version in the hope that users touch the screen itself.苹果公司和微软公司都早已把手势掌控统合到了各自近期的电脑操作系统之中。苹果公司在销售iMac电脑时获取了自由选择触控板的配备选项。

微软公司在建构近期一代Windows操作系统时期望用户可以展开屏幕触控。A touch-screen monitor on a desktop or laptop sounds good, but it invites what some call gorilla-arm fatigue. After forcing myself to use only the touch screen on a Windows 8.1 laptop, I found myself propping it up at an angle in my lap so my hands could rest on the side. (Microsoft says the touch screen is meant to supplement, not replace, other inputs.)台式电脑或笔记本电脑的触碰显示屏听得一起不俗，但是它不会带给一种人们称为“大猩猩臂”的疲劳感。

在强制自己只用于Windows 8.1笔记本电脑的触摸屏后，我发现自己不由自主地把笔记本电脑以某个角度撑在了大腿上，这样我的手就可以搭乘在边上睡觉了。（微软公司回应，触摸屏的设计想法是对其他输出工具包含补足，而并非无意代替其他输出工具。）Then there is a problem of universality: Designers havent yet come up with a common language for touch on computers. In Windows 8.1, a swipe from the left lets you switch between apps, while on a Mac trackpad, three fingers, moving in the same direction, open a widget dashboard. And neither movement is particularly intuitive.除此之外，还有一个关于通用性的问题：设计师们仍未制订出有电脑触屏方面的统一标准。

在Windows 8.1系统中，从左向右擦过屏幕可以让你在有所不同的应用程序间展开转换，而对于Mac触控板而言，三只手指划向同一个方向可以关上应用于面板。并且，这两种动作都不是人类的大自然动作。The emerging world of touchless computing confuses things more. The Leap Motion, which tracks the movement of hands, lets you do cool tricks. But every compatible program comes with its own set of new moves you have to learn. And the accuracy of floating fingers is low. Leap Motion says its device isnt a replacement for the mouse, just an accessory for software that benefits from 3-D controls.日益成型的无触触电脑技术把一切显得更加简单了。需要感应器手部运动的Leap Motion可以让你体会变戏法的感觉。

但是，每一款相容的应用程序都必须你通过自学掌控其特定的手法。此外，Leap Motion对正处于运动状态中的手指的感应器灵敏度也较低。Leap Motion公司回应，这款感应器设备并非鼠标的替代品，它只是3-D掌控类软件的一个附件。

Mouse designers have made leaps in ergonomics. Many are now more vertical, better mimicking the posture of a hand in its natural resting state. Your fingers are curled into your palm, but not all evenly, says Edie Adams, an ergonomist at Microsoft.鼠标设计师在人体工程学上早已构建了突破。现在，很多鼠标都更为趋向于横向型，以便更佳地仿真手部在大自然状态下的姿势。微软公司的人体工程学家伊迪亚当斯(Edie Adams)回应：“你的手指向手掌倾斜，但并不是每根手指的角度都完全相同。”My favorite mouse was one she worked on, Microsofts wireless Sculpt Ergonomic Mouse ($60 or less). It looks like a plum, with an overly ripe area where you rest your thumb. It is comfortable enough to use for hours, the mouse equivalent of orthopedic shoes. And props to Microsoft for apparently getting it to run on one pair of AA batteries for a whole year. Ill even use it on my Mac.我最喜欢的鼠标就是伊迪的团队研发的，即微软公司的无线Sculpt人体工学鼠标（售价为60美元或更加较低）。

它看上去看起来一个李子，享有一个可以让拇指获得睡觉的宽阔区域。这款鼠标舒适度到可以同义几个小时，可谓鼠标界的矫形鞋。

这款微软公司鼠标还有一个显著的优势，那就是它可以依赖两节AA电池运营一整年。我甚至在我的Mac电脑上也用于它。The runner-up was the even more vertical $90 Penclic. That familiar pen shape gave me a sense of control I wasnt expecting.位列第二的是极具垂直性的Penclic鼠标（其售价为90美元）。这款鼠标运用了大家熟知的笔型设计，它给我带给了意想不到的操纵感觉。

Todays mice also do a better job at adding features through gestures, so they dont get overloaded with extra buttons. Apples $70 Magic Mouse may be less comfortable to hold over extended periods than the ergonomic options, but it does the best job of integrating touch commands on its smooth, flat surface -- such as swiping with two fingers to advance through pages or browse photos. Logitechs $70 Ultrathin Touch Mouse puts similar gesture functionality into a body small enough to travel with a laptop.当今的鼠标在通过感应器触控手势来减少设备功能上展现出得更加出众了，所以它们不必须再行设计额外的按键。与人体工学鼠标比起，苹果公司售价70美元的Magic Mouse也许长时间用于没那么舒适度，但是对于在光滑表面上感应器触控指令这一点上，Magic Mouse的展现出是尤为出众的――比如用于双指轻洗鼠标表面，之后可以网页页面和照片。罗技公司售价70美元的超薄触控鼠标也具备类似于的触控功能，这款鼠标纤巧的体积十分便于随便携式电脑一起装载。

The idea shouldnt be to try to out-mouse the mouse with new kinds of inputs, says Josh Clark, a computer interface designer and founder of the firm Global Moxie. Rather, were moving to a world of technology and input devices designed to fit specific times and places: touch screens on the go, voice activation for TVs, hand gestures to browse a store display with products.电脑界面设计师、Global Moxie公司的创始人乔希克拉克(Josh Clark)回应，试图用新型输出设备“代替鼠标”的理念是不准确的。我们正在转入科技和输出设备的新世界，新的工具将为特定的时间和地点而设计：随处可见的触摸屏、声控电视、用手势网页商店产品等。I spend a growing part of my day with smartphones and tablets, but like many professionals, when I need to get work done, Im still sitting in a chair facing a big computer screen. And there, the mouse remains king.我在一天中用于智能手机和平板电脑的时间更加多了，但是，与很多职业人士一样，当我必须已完成工作时，我仍旧习惯躺在书桌前，面临宽阔的电脑显示器。

此时此刻，鼠标仍然为王。

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