Joystick

The joystick is another pointing device used to control the cursor. Joysticks are primarily used in video game playing and aviation simulations.

Joysticks can have buttons - referred to as switches or push buttons - that perform various actions. This is similar to the different buttons on a mouse.

The analog stick found on game controllers is a variation of the joystick.

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The Computer Mouse

First used as an alternative to the keyboard, the computer mouse allows the user to communicate with the computer by controlling the cursor on the screen and "clicking".

Clicking involves pressing one of the two (three with most computer mice made these days) buttons.

The two typical buttons are the right and left buttons. The left mouse button is used to "activate" or "run" executable files and to select options from a menu. The right mouse button is used to bring up additional menus for items.

The scroll wheel can be found between these two buttons. The scroll wheel allows for page navigation.

There are different kinds of computer mice. The mechanical mouse is an older version of the mouse that consists of a ball and rollers. Now, laser is standard for computer mice. However, the laser mouse can be both wired and wireless.

 

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Types of Input Devices

Pointing Devices

These devices allow the user to control the cursor (or mouse arrow-thing on the screen as many know it).

Controlling the cursor allows users to select menus from the screen, and pointing devices have buttons that bring up additional menus when pressed.

There are several devices in this category :

1.Mouse

2. Joystick

3. Trackball

4. Light pen

5. Graphics tablet (it's pen, really)

6. Touch pad

7. Touch screen

8. Wands (not magical)