A mouse is a computer peripheral. Being a pointing device, it’s characterized by detecting movements on a smooth plain surface. The movement of the mouse is translated into the movement of a cursor, which allows a good control of a graphical user interface. This device is held by one of the user’s hands. Usually in the shape of a small arrow, the mouse cursor indicates a position on the screen. When a user presses a mouse button, the computer performs an action on the object being indicated by the cursor. This stimulus generated by the user is called Click.
Physically, a mouse consists on a plastic casing with two or more buttons. Sometimes it also presents a wheel used to scroll the documents the user is reading on screen.
In the ancient times, mouses detected position changes with a mechanism that included a small ball in its lower part. As time advanced, this technology was replaced by a system that detects movements with a laser beam, achieving a better precision when tracking movements and making the cleaning of the device more comfortable.
The easiness with which the mouse is held by the human hand made of this dispositive something essential in order to deal with modern computers efficiently.