Is the computer mouse becoming an obsolete tool for digital designers? With the demand of intricacy and perfection on the rise, it is arguable whether the tracking speed and functionality of this ancient piece of hardware can keep up with the needs of the industry.

Perhaps a trendy tool for hipster artist whose medium is digital, the mouse has served more than its purpose for an array of uses in the realm of design and creation. In the wake of the tech boom, the mouse has already been replaced with graphic tablets, which allow designers to physically draw their work onto an interactive, multi-platform, and user-friendly LCD display screens. Integrated with all of the latest design suites, including Adobe Illustrator, these useful mediums re-create the actual art of drawing, sketching, painting and doodling.

So, let’s list a few reasons why Mr. Mouse will probably be evacuating from the world of creativity:

1. THE SCROLLER – the wheel, sensitive as ever, poses a threat to the accuracy of drafting designs. The positioning of shapes and images, not to mention the harem of layers in any Adobe suite that need to be checked on a regular basis are under threat from the slightest brush of the scroll button.

2. CLICK CLICK – double clicking by accident happens all to often, and when you’re sitting with a heap of text boxes already open, the last thing you want to do is tell your PC to rasterize an image before completing the individual components of your work.

3. ILLUSTRATING – let’s face it: a mouse is not a hand! One can zoom in to observe and clarify the movement of the linear creations but at the end of the day, drawing with a mouse is like limiting yourself to drawing with one finger on top of the graphite side of a pencil. What a drag…

4. TRACKING SPEED – unless you are in a lucky enough position to have 16 GB of DDR3 RAM (random access memory), a military grade processor and a wooden desk that has been finely smoothed out by artisanal German lumberjacks, you will eventually face the issue of a low, scattered or haphazard tracking speed. One minute the cursor is there and the next thing you’re aimlessly rattling your mouse and banging on your workspace in hopes that it will pop up somewhere on your desktop.

5. NO RESPONSE - although this is an uncommon phenomenon,  it is an absolute nuisance to have a “user-friendly” mouse at your disposal that literally won’t move at all. This causes friction between the artist and their temperament. This is when the fingers begin to edge further and further towards the tracking pad and the mouse can be found in the bin amidst initial sketches and concepts.

With the threat of graphic tablets already eating away into the mouse market, the cheese has been stolen and the cat has been let out of the bag. Perhaps there’s a reason why laptops don’t come standard with a mouse anymore.

Contributed by Cameron Smith.