Does anyone else here still use ball mice?

[Bethanie Rich]

never used a ball mouse, but I want one

[Riverman]

Back in college (mid to late '90s), it seemed like every friend's place I went over to had a mouse that didn't work well, so I'd always pop the ball out and clean all the crap off of the rollers. Those old Apple ADB mice were interesting in that some of them had very wide steel rollers, nearly an inch wide, if I remember right. They were made in a few different countries, and there were obvious differences. The Taiwanese ones were the worst, with a lightweight plastic ball. I think it was the US-made ones that had the wide rollers, and they were pretty easy to clean off with a fingernail. Most ball mice had narrow rollers that were a little more difficult to clean. I spent a couple of summers working at my college's computer lab, and most of our time was spent cleaning keyboards, mice, and cables. Needless to say I've cleaned far more than my share of ball mice, and I don't have any desire to go back to those old things, although I do have a few Apple ADB mice, the original and the ADB Mouse II, since I have a few old Macs, and figure each one should have its own mouse.