Thursday, March 17, 2011

Two Silly Questions

My first silly question is linguistic. Is the plural of a computer mouse still "mice"? It feels kind of weird to call a store and ask them if they sell computer mice. For some reason, it just feels funny.

My second silly question is technology-related. Why is it that my computer mice - just say it out loud and see if it doesn't sound really weird - keep breaking down within weeks of being bought. I tried cheap ones, I tried expensive ones, they all break down almost immediately. And it's not like I do anything to them. I don't carry my computer around. It is always stationary, always located on one clean surface. Yet, the mice die one me. Today, a very recently purchased one started acting funny. The cursor jumps all over the window and is completely out of control.

Does anybody have any idea why that happens? Has anybody ever been in possession of a mouse that worked fine for at least a year?

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

One silly answer: I think the plural of mouse remains being mice. It's just people will avoid it whenever they can. If you go to a store you'll ask for a mouse, even if you only wanted one.

My mouse: a black, optical, usb Logitech has at least 3 years. Never had a problem. I had issues previously with a wireless. The batteries ran off so quickly, and they usually chose to do so the day I most needed the computer.

What kind of mouse do you have know? what OS? What problems do you have?

-Lear

Clarissa said...

Logitech optical mouse is one that I never managed to make work. The company would send me one, then recognize it was falty, then send me a new one. After 3 tries, I gave up on the brand. Is it me?

Right now I have a really cheap optical mouse. Today the cursor started suddenly to shake uncontrollably and I can't get it under control. I could go and buy an expensive one, but something tells me it will break down in a couple of weeks too.

Anonymous said...

Not to be a prescriptivist, but the plural of "mouse" for a computer should really be "mouses."

In English, when a word is cloven from its original meaning, it usually defaults to standard form. For instance, the past tense of "fly" is "flew," but in baseball if someone gets a certain kind of out, we'd say that the player "flied out" and not "flew out."

I think the plural of mouse has high cognitive weight for people, so it gets turned to "mice" even for the computer variant.

As to why your mouses malfunction, my guess is the surface they are on is marginal for the sensor and as it gets slightly dirty, the performance degrades. Try a different surface that is matte and non-reflective.

-Mike

Anonymous said...

Poltergeist events? Perhaps is the USB port of your computer. Have you tried the mouse on a different computer? I have had problems on several laptops with USB ports, not with mices though. USB disks and the like would disconnect and connect again on their own accord.

-Lear

Clarissa said...

The surface is quite reflective, which I never even thought about. Hah. I guess we have found the cause of the problem.

And I knew that something was weird about computer mice. This must mean I have very good Sprachgefühl. (An intuitive feeling of how a language works.)

It's very nice to have IT specialists and linguists hanging around the blog. :-)

Clarissa said...

It's a good idea to try it on a different computer. I should do that.

Anonymous said...

Indeed, a reflective surface is very bad for optical mouse. It doesn't damage them, just they don't work very well on there.

-Mike

Rimi said...

Mike, I had the same problem and my surface wasn't reflective (the first tech who came by checked that first and foremost). What used to happen to my successive mouses was that single clicks became impossible. We cleaned them, we checked for sensitivity, we checked if there was anything getting 'stuck' so one click became two, but nothing could solve the problem. We finally gave up on it, and got my parents used to the touchpad and keyboard shortcuts.

Any possible explanations?

Anonymous said...

Rimi, that one I'd probably have to see in person, but it sounds like the double-click speed settings might've gotten changed/altered, especially perhaps if the manufacturer-specific drivers were loaded, which often have extra features.

Hard to say in this case, though.


-Mike

Tom Carter said...

I've been using a Logitech wireless mouse and a Logitech wireless keyboard for a long time. Logitech is pretty much my default brand for all kinds of devices, and I've never been disappointed.

Your mouses (!) might live longer if you stop bashing the desk with them every time you read something you don't like.... :)