The image doesn’t show the fingernail scrape technique on the wheels that the ball drives. That cotton swap isn’t going to get that off you need some elbow grease and a fingernail!
Satisfying and gross at the same time.
Actually using a standard cheap mouse on a desk without a mousepad will generate the same crap along the pads, it doesn’t come off so crisply but reminds me of this every time.
Any fingernail?
Preferably a toenail.
Cat hair, dog hair and crumbs.
I used to work in an office with shared desks. I remember one woman came in with a basin of soapy water and a toothbrush, and took the mouse ball out and washed it. Then she pried off every key on the keyboard and scrubbed them too. Under the keys was a thick layer of beard hair and crumbs. Boak.
One old tech thing I don’t miss.
People actually washed that ball?
With soap and stuff?
I just used my nail to clean the roller things inside the ball area, and then put it back together. Never had a problem.
These people were fancy.
Yeah, hated boiling the eggs every week or so.
Came to the comments to check for this.
Exactly why I opened the comments as well.
Only reason I stopped using a ballouse is mine just broke
Those balls were usually steel ball bearings with a synthetic rubber wrapped around it. They gave the entire mouse some weight which made the mouse feel better to use. You could clean them with something like soap, but you’d have to be careful not to use anything that messed up the rubber. Some people cleaned them wrong, which caused the rubber to become more sticky and thus get dirty sooner. You’d also risk the rubber becoming harder and not sticky enough, so they would slip a lot. They were basically a pain in the ass and I’m happy we’ve moved on from that.
Got it: be careful when rubbing the balls otherwise they’ll get too sticky or hard
…
Also that everyone in 90s was cupping balls of steel
B-bb-bb-bb-alls of steel.
For me the extra resistance the mass gave against acceleration made it really good for playing first-person shooters.
Some gaming mice these days come with small weights you can put in the bottom to adjust the heft
I have had a G5, G500 and G502 that used weights. That made them nicer. I think there’s probably a bit of a difference between static weights tbat need to be accelerated and a rolling ball that has to start rolling, but I’m not sure. Maybe they are equivalent. I should find a ball mouse and try CS2 with it. 😅
Fuck it, we ball
I do. When modern mouses stop working, I feel useless.
When I have to lower myself to the filthy gutter of having to use the mouse at all, I feel like an itchy scrotum in need of a lye bath.
keyboard master race
These worked on glass. Almost nothing today works on a glass table but these did
I use a thumb-trackball (and have since the 90s). They work on glass. Hell, they work on my lap or beside me if I’m in bed. And no space needed to move around.
Every week or two I pop the ball out and give it a quick wipe with a lenscloth.
I used these religiously until the carpal tunnel from phone scrolling set in
Are you an adult by night?
Preach the good word, partner
I love my thumb-trackball. Doesn’t matter where I use it, it will always work.
This comment made me curious so I tested the two mice I use regularly.
My Logitech G502 tracks very poorly on glass and is basically unusable.
My MX Anywhere 2S lives up to its name and seems to track perfectly fine.
I use a mouse pad, it works pretty well.
I have a “magic trackpad” from apple on a side table to use when I’m watching or reading something and recline too much to reach the mouse.
It’s nice (and with some free driver I found can do multi touch on windows), but for some reason it had a battery (despite having a fixed usb cable) which pillowed up making it unusable until I literally ripped it off (damn thing had more glue than battery).
Obviously works fine without the battery, which I assume is just an attempt at extremely inefficient planned obsolescence, but I wouldn’t recommend it, too much of a fire hazard if you don’t notice the trap.
At least you know wired mice won’t blow your hand up, and I value that more than the convenience.
I loved breaking the little dust rolls wrapped around the direction shafts
I’d let you rub my direction shaft any time.
Yeah man, it was so satisfying
For a long time I thought those were built-in special rolls.
My first job was IT Assistant at a manufacturing company. I spent at least 50% of my time cleaning mice.
I used to get to go inside to turn on check and setup the computer lab before school in jr high. Mostly spent cleaning rollers or looking for occasional missing mouse balls.
Got to play too if there was spare time, and it sure beat standing in a prison like asphalt court yard for 30 minutes in the winter dark.
These balls were so satisfying to handle.
Mine are too
Nah, if I handle yours like an oldschool mouseball, you get all screamy. Really ruins the mood.
Never washed the ball. I did clean out the runners inside though. They hid away dead skin grime and pet fur better than any keyboard ever will.
Edit: I give my work keyboard a tip and tap once a week or so and have been asked why I do it. I explained it’s basically a hygeine thing, explaining why, and was told it’s disgusting. Encouraged colleagues to do it and they were mortified with the mess left on their desks. It was like they just dealt with the consequences of opening up their car engine after neglecting to oil change for 150,000 miles.
WHO’S DISGUSTING NOW???
They can try take the high road, but I’ve seen how many icons are on their desktops, so I basically know how messy their bedroom floor is.
I use an air compressor to clean out my personal keyboard. Good reminder to do it at work tomorrow for my work one, too.
Rick: “Your boos mean nothing, I know what apps you use!”
You all are making me feel ancient.
Now let’s talk about losing the ball and having to fish it out from under the fridge.
