Computer mouse pads are so common things, so ordinary that you hardly think about them, You just use them and this is it. From time to time you may get angry at your mouse pad because "It is ruined again" like it is the mouse pad's fault that you spilled your coffee on it or used it as a support for your hot tea cup and now it has wrinkles and bumpy and your computer mouse does not work properly on it. Yes, I know, it has an ingrate mission, of supporting the computer mouse and us at the same time. From time to time some people might get creative and purchase an interesting-looking mouse pad, like the one above, bought right before 4th July. Some other people predicted the complete extinction of the mouse pad in a few years time due to the laser computer mouse that does not need a mouse pad any more and works just fine on all kinds of surfaces. But nowadays the laser mouse is rather expensive and people look at it like it is a gadget from a James Bond movie. It will surely pass a few years until the laser mouse is adopted by everybody and become a common sight on our desks. but until then , like it or not, we need a mouse pad.

I am sure you all know the story of the computer mouse, followed really close by that of the mouse pad. The mouse pad appeared only a few years after the invention of the computer mouse and they been a couple ever since then. First it was used for protective reasons - to protect the desk from wearing to to the movements of the roller ball mouse. Then the optical mouse appeared and at first its functioning depended on the mouse pad: it just could not work without one. This is connected to the way in which the optical mouse works, as compared to the mechanical computer mouse. The basic difference is that the movement of the mouse is detected by the mechanical sensors in the first case and by optical sensors in the second one. Another big difference is the fact that optical mice do not have and do not need a roller ball.

When the optical mouse was first invented it worked only together with its specially designed mouse pad. The mouse pad was designed with an embedded grid of lines printed in infrared absorbing ink on a metallic surface. These dark lines had the role of stopping the infrared light beam transmitted by the LED in the optical mouse. So when the beam crossed over a line in the grid it was interrupted by the dark line and in that moment the computer mouse sent a message to the computer sending its coordinates. So if you lost your mouse pad, you might as well throw away your computer mouse, too, as they only worked together. But the years passes since the invention of the optical mouse somwhere in 1999 and the optical mouse improved: now it does not need a special mouse pad to work. in fact it does not need a mouse pad, except from the special surfaces that make its signal be reflected and jitter. I am talking about glass surfaces or really shiny surfaces like a polished desk for example. In these cases you really need a mouse pad.



However, optical computer mice seem to work better if they are placed on specially designed mouse pads, usually with small dots printed on them. There are also certain mouse pads that have a special texture for the optical computer mice, in order to eae their movement and incresase the fastness and precision of the mouse. This kind of mouse pad that helps the mouse glide smoothly from one side to another is preffered by the gamers, but also by the users who appreciate fast movement and high precision. The optical mouse pad should better be thin and made of a resistant plastic, allowing the free and fast movements of the mouse, but at the same time having a very adhesive back side in order not to slip from the desk and stay firm in one place, without moving. The micro -textured surface of the optical mouse pad helps your mouse move better and producers also say that it prolongs the life of the batteries in a wireless mouse.



You can find optical mouse pads in all the specialized stores and, even more convenient, order them directly on the internet. Iadvise you to look for special offers, as they somtemes offer incredible discounts. It is not an expensive item, so you can afford buying more than one at a time. You can even customize them as you feel like it or have one with the portrait of the loved person printed on: it is all up to you.

I even came across a funny web site that offered the users the possibility to dowload and print their own optical mouse padon any kind of material, even plain paper. They said the pattern is the one that is important for optical mice. Whatever.



The most useful thing about these mouse pads are, from my point of view, the fact that they are really thin and you can hardly feel them when you are using the mouse. This fact allow people like me just roll them and put tem in my bag, as I take my laptop everywhere with me and I got used to using such a mouse pad. It offers me comfort and speed and, besides, I avoid the unpleasant moments when I get angry because my mouse slipped from the table , again, and I have to interrupt my work to fix the problem. They can be placed inside your laptop (I do this, so I give you one of my tips) and use it as protection for the screen when you are travelling.

Any way I get attached to things, even if they are old and not useful any more, so I think I will miss my optical mouse pad when I will purchase a laser mouse or when the mouse pads will be extinct, like dinosaurs are. I am just joking, of course, But I really find them useful.