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>Yes to Tracy's comment there. Ability to recognize jargon words is not a
>good indicator of intelligence.
Throw my name on that pile too because when someone says "pointing
device" I only think of a stick you would use to point at a display or of a
laser pointer like what's used in lecture halls. A mouse would be the last
thing I would think of because the mouse, to me, doesn't actually point at
anything--it moves a cursor around by remote control which itself doesn't
point at things as much as actually do things. Sticks and laser pointers
don't perform actions themselves, they only point at things.
Someone asked how long it would be until we all use Microsoft's
terminology because whatever Microsoft says becomes the de facto
everything. I would argue that that never has to happen at all. Use what
you think works the best for your situation at the time. What Microsoft--or
any other company--says shouldn't matter all that much to you. If you think
"mouse devices" doesn't work, who's compelling you to use it?
We all have had experience with the phenomenon that a "standard" is not
always the best. Sometimes, quality and degree of use have nothing to do
with each other. That's why it's important to use your own judgement.
I remember, by the way, where I got "input devices" from: mail order
catalogs. Joysticks, rodentia, keyboards, neural jacks, etc. are all
grouped under the "input devices" category in the catalogs I've seen.
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