A mouse, touchpad, trackball - all these things are familiar to laptop owners who acquired their first electronic assistant about a dozen years ago. However, the popularity of mobile computers is growing, there are more and more happy owners, and the flow of information is such that sometimes there is simply no time to get acquainted with the history of technology development.
As a result, the question is “touchpad - what is it?”. Today we will explain what exactly is meant by this term, and also recall the main milestones in the development of such devices.
Mobility comes first
The second name of the laptop is a portable mobile computer. Its main difference from a full-fledged system unit is the ability to take it with you and work for some time without an external power source. Obviously, the optimal solution is a candy bar, when all the key devices are combined in a single enclosure. No separate keyboards, mice and monitors, as in stationary systems. Since operating systems with a graphical interface were already popular in the days of the first laptops , developers had to come up with a device that functions as a mouse, but which is also part of a monoblock. The task was brilliantly solved.
Mouse up paws
In portable computers, just below the keyboard block, they began to place a small device, which is a ball and two buttons. By running a palm across the ball and setting it in motion, it was possible to control the cursor in programs.
The principle of operation was, as in the usual mice of the time. This decision was called “trackball”.
A keyboard with a touchpad appears
However, the trackball had a number of drawbacks, so the work on finding alternative solutions did not stop. And finally, with the advent of touch panels, a real technical breakthrough has occurred in the field of equipping laptops. What has been proposed has been used successfully so far. In place of the trackball, they began to place a small rectangular plate that functionally replaces the mouse. So, the touchpad - what is it? This device is a touch panel that is structurally part of the laptop case and located below the keyboard.
The touch of a finger on the panel and its movement on the surface are perceived by the controller, converted into conditional coordinates and transmitted to the working program. Capacitive type sensor: this is easy to verify by trying to control the cursor by touching a panel with a non-conductive object, such as a pencil - no reaction will follow. Double-clicking the mouse buttons, respectively, is replaced by two quick consecutive touches to one arbitrary point on the panel. To complete the replacement of the mouse in the touchpad there are two or three (depending on the model) mechanical buttons. The wheel function is also implemented: you need to drag your finger up or down on the corresponding small block (ladder of parallel strips). In some laptops, you need to simultaneously move two fingers adjacent to the sensor to rewind. As a rule, these are newer models that support multi-touch (multiple touch) technology.
Touchpad: what is it?
As you can see, a device with fairly simple functions is hidden behind an obscure name. This often happens in computer technology, when many terms are taken from a foreign language. Thus, speaking quite simply, the question “touchpad - what is it?” Can be answered that this device is a touch panel designed for the functional replacement of a computer mouse.