Problems
A common problem of pointing sticks is the inability to identify the zero position (the position indicating no user touch). A typical solution, which reflects the fact that user operation of the pointing stick is rarely constant, is to interpret any absence of change of pressure (over a given interval, perhaps one or several seconds) as meaning the user has released the stick.
If the user applies exactly constant pressure to the stick for such an interval, this method mistakenly re-zeroes the stick. Then additional pressure is required to achieve the same movement of the screen cursor, and the cursor spontaneously moves in the opposite direction when the user releases the stick. If the user avoids touching the stick, the error ends when the stick detects the real zero position.
Read more about this topic: Pointing Stick
Famous quotes containing the word problems:
“In many ways, life becomes simpler [for young adults]. . . . We are expected to solve only a finite number of problems within a limited range of possible solutions. . . . It’s a mental vacation compared with figuring out who we are, what we believe, what we’re going to do with our talents, how we’re going to solve the social problems of the globe . . .and what the perfect way to raise our children will be.”
—Roger Gould (20th century)
“To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live according to its dictates a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, and trust. It is to solve some of the problems of life, not only theoretically, but practically.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“There is an enormous chasm between the relatively rich and powerful people who make decisions in government, business, and finance and our poorer neighbors who must depend on these decisions to alleviate the problems caused by their lack of power and influence.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)