Who needs a mouse pad, Part One.

Mouse Pads aren’t rocket science. And actually they aren’t computer science either. Mouse pads are a strangely non-technical thing directly associated with a highly-technical thing. It’s kind of hard to believe that you need a rubber place mat to use your new Dell Computer. But there are reasons you do and reasons you don’t. It’s quickly becoming a matter of preference.

Initially, mouse pads had an actual physical value to computing. That little roller ball inside of your computer mouse works better when it has just a little bit of surface friction that a mouse pad provides. This was true in 1969 when the computer mouse was invented. It was true in 1984 when the Apple Macintosh brought the mouse into the home. And it’s true today when the majority of computer mice out there are still the roller ball-type.

But mouse pads have gotten a bad rap for a quite a while. And that’s really for a few different reasons.

First, at the most basic level, a mouse pad is cheap to produce. You can just take a flat piece of rubber, slap a piece of fabric on it and voila: a mouse pad. Because they are cheap to make and because they score some great visual real estate on your desktop, mouse pads are one of the most popular promotional products (along with pens, T-shirts and key chains). You don’t have to work very hard to find a free mouse pad printed with a manufacturer, auto parts or website logo. This has helped to create a dime-a-dozen mentality when some consumers think about mouse pads.

Secondly, it is not technically necessary to use a mouse pad with an optical mouse. Manufacturers, like Microsoft and Kensington, tout their optical mice as only needing a flat smooth surface. So this has led some people to chuck their mouse pad out the window and go commando on the desktop. However, if you still use a roller-ball mouse, don’t give your mouse pad the heave ho just yet.

Lastly, people perceive mouse pads as cheap. I know this one’s pretty similar to the first reason, but stay with me. Nowadays the price range for mouse pads is literally $.50 to $30 or more. While the majority of mouse pads are made from cloth and rubber, you can also get them made from plastic, glass, metal, leather or wood. I know. We sell them at Allsop. Some people get it (Gamers, Graphics Professionals, really picky people who want accurate cursor movement…) and some don’t (those who proclaim: “mouse pads cost like $.50!”).

Whether you use a roller ball or optical mouse, there are plenty of benefits in using a mouse pad. Some are technical, some are not, but they are benefits nonetheless. And I’m not talking about the kitschy, novelty benefit of having a picture of Spongebob on your desktop.