Why red? (optical mice)
When optical mice first came out, I couldn't stop drooling over the sci-fi look of that glowing diode on the underside of the peripheral. To me, it was cool beyond cool- something that was right out of Star Wars. But now that optical mice have been shipping with all Mac desktops since 2000, I'm getting bored of seeing red on all the optical mice I use, whether by Apple, Logitec, or Microsoft. They all look the same.
But why? I would much rather have a blue diode glowing on my mouse, and from surfing hardware mod forums, I've seen that a hanful of people have replaced their diodes (after hours of tedious soldering and failures) sucessfully. And the "modded" mice function identically to their unmodded counterparts, with no loss of tracking despendablility. That just shows that the color red wasn't chosen for a specific reason.
So why haven't any companies jusped on the opportunity to make mice that track green or violet, instead of red?
But why? I would much rather have a blue diode glowing on my mouse, and from surfing hardware mod forums, I've seen that a hanful of people have replaced their diodes (after hours of tedious soldering and failures) sucessfully. And the "modded" mice function identically to their unmodded counterparts, with no loss of tracking despendablility. That just shows that the color red wasn't chosen for a specific reason.
So why haven't any companies jusped on the opportunity to make mice that track green or violet, instead of red?
Comments
I'm stumped, if all these manufacturers are using red diodes then there must be a good reasons.
I always thought the pattern made by the diode on the Apple mouse was cool (it looks like an evil bunny in my eyes) whereas my logitech one is much more boring (and not transparent).
Originally posted by dnisbet
I always thought the pattern made by the diode on the Apple mouse was cool (it looks like an evil bunny in my eyes) whereas my logitech one is much more boring (and not transparent).
I was about to write you off on my "insane" list, but I flipped my Pro mouse up against the wal, and now I see that you are right...
But anyway, here is a mod photo:
I went on reading in a couple forums, and it seems that the only real reason to use red is that red LEDs make more light from less power than other colors.
not that that makes ANY sense, but I'm just grasping for straws here, I would love a green light myself.
- cheaper unit costs
- lower turn on voltages
Basically, less power, more light. Though usually Blue and Red LED's produce the same brightness at a given drive (mA current). And since the mouse bus transmits more than 3.5V of power (Blue turn on Voltage), a Blue LED would work fine.
White LED's are basically just Red, Green, and Blue LED's in a sandwich. So they have a high turn-on voltage, and in most cases you need a special DC-DC step-up converter just touse them. You may also notice that a lot of White LED's are purplish. That's because it's GREEN LED's that produce a weaker light output per mA of current drive.
Since apple isn't particularly cost sonscious, especially when, in volume, a Red LED is, say, $0.50 and a Blue is $1.20, I don't imagine that we will have Red LED's fo long. (not sure how strong the LED's are in the mice, and thus not sure of the prices). Expect Apple even to go all the way and make a White LED assembly.
Blue diode
Originally posted by Gigawire
We have some kensington mouses at work that have blue diodes, and they were pretty cheap too.
Blue diode
Well, that proves it.
I've never seen one of those, though.
But yeah, Apple...what with "Aqua" and the overall "blueness" they seem to dig (the default OS X desktop, the big blue, power lights on some models, etc.) you'd think it would be a no-brainer that their mice would glow blue.
In a recent thread I spoke about seeing some Compaq laptop at an Office Depot or Staples and the lights on it (power, caps lock, etc.) all glowed a gorgeous blue. Again, would be neat to see blue lights on an aluminum PowerBook. Even the charging ring: now it's amber or green, right? How about a pulsing blue when charging and a solid one when battery is full?
Just thinking...
Most PC companies have neither the inclination, the money, or (jestfully) the engineering ability to integrate white LED's.
Originally posted by pscates
Yes, and Apple could use the phrase "Blue Light Special" in any accompanying marketing materials. For a small fee, of course.
That's how Apple is going to kick off its new campaign to sell Macs at K-Mart.
Shit, am I allowed to say that yet, Kasper?
Originally posted by Placebo
I was about to write you off on my "insane" list, but I flipped my Pro mouse up against the wal, and now I see that you are right..
insane me? pah! it is amusing though isn't it!!
BTW who else would be on your "insane" list?
So how come Apple use green LED's in their keyboards? Are they just unsuitable for optical mice?
Originally posted by LoCash That's how Apple is going to kick off its new campaign to sell Macs at K-Mart.
Shit, am I allowed to say that yet, Kasper?
I KNEW it!!! Target is much too uppity. And Wal-Mart is too blue collar. But Kmart? It makes ALL the sense in the world now! Cool! Out of the four in my town, one is still open for business, so that's cool.
I hope that fox Jacklyn Smith poses for some ads with it. Her clothes sell like CRAZY there, so Apple would be wise to attach themselves a bit to that gravy train! Kmart, here we come!
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/question631.htm
oh yeah, that link is just a general bit about them, not why they're red...
Originally posted by dnisbet
insane me? pah! it is amusing though isn't it!!
BTW who else would be on your "insane" list?
So how come Apple use green LED's in their keyboards? Are they just unsuitable for optical mice?
They should use blue on the white keyboards. Blue light and white look so nice together.
And about my insane list: the guy that does (did?) blue's clues, and...um...Gollum?