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Would you spend $15 to make personal computing significantly more pleasant and probably more efficient? You would? Then I have a deal for you. It works equally well With Windows 95, Windows 3.x, Mac OS, OS/2, NeXTStep, BeOS-or Linux, for that matter. Installation takes less than a minute, uses no hard disk space, and doesn't require opening up your system. Chances are, it will even free up some desk space. I love mine so much that I just spent $30 more to get one for the office and one for my wife to use-particularly after seeing her reaction.
This little gem isn't for everyone. If you use a trackball, pointing stick, or touch pad, it won't help at all. But if you use a mouse on a flat surface, chances are you'll love it. It's the 3M Precise Mousing Surface. It's a mouse pad-but it's not like any other mouse pad you've ever used. It's so good that it inspired this article.
This may be the least impressive-looking mouse pad around. It's not much thicker than a sheet of paper; the unusual shape is 7 by 8 inches at extremes; the design is a black, purple, and gray pattern that's pleasant but nothing special. The bottom surface is tacky enough to hold the thin, flexible sheet firmly in place. The top surface is what makes this sheet worth $15. The sheet is a patented surface with "microstructured peaks" that provide consistent mouse trackball contact, grip the trackball just slightly, and tend to keep the trackball cleaner. The thinness provides a more natural wrist position and means that nothing much happens if the mouse runs off the edge of the pad-it just keeps rolling on the desk, albeit not so precisely. The accompanying literature shows a drink sitting on the edge of the pad, suggesting that it isn't terribly fragile (and it's so thin that you could hardly tip something off its edge). Naturally, you should clean your mouse's trackball before you start using the new pad.
No, this isn't a badly delayed April e Column It isn't a joke, and it isn't hype. Indeed, so far 3M hasn't done much to publicize the Precise Mousing Surface, and you may not find it in every store....