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A trackpad is a user interface that interprets pressure and translates it into cursor movement. It’s commonly found on laptops, drawing tablets, and PDAs. Many users prefer trackpads over mice due to their versatility and programmable features. They work by reading changes in electrical capacitance caused by a finger or other grounded object. Trackpads often have mouse buttons and a tap feature, and can be programmed for specific activities. They are designed to only respond to finger inputs and have improved greatly since their introduction in the 1980s. “Trackpad” is often used specifically for Apple devices, while “touchpad” refers to similar devices from other manufacturers.
A trackpad, also known as a written trackpad, is a user interface that interprets pressure and translates it into the movement of a cursor. Laptops are commonly equipped with trackpads, and many drawing tablets and personal digital assistants (PDAs) use the same technology. While it may take some time to get used to the trackpad interface, some computer users prefer to use a trackpad over a mouse. Many trackpads also offer additional programmable features that can make them even more versatile.
The method by which a trackpad works is relatively simple. A trackpad has a network of transmitters and receivers that can read very subtle changes in electrical capacitance. A grounded object, such as a finger dragged across the soft top pad of the device, alters the electric current. The change is converted into a signal that the computer can read, resulting in a corresponding movement of the cursor on the screen.
Typically, a trackpad also includes mouse buttons that allow the user to click and manipulate objects on the screen. Many trackpads also have a “tap” feature, where the user can tap a trackpad to select an item or perform an operation that would normally require a click. On operating systems that support a double-click feature, the user taps twice.
It’s also possible to program specific activities into different regions of the trackpad, such as scrolling. Touching a certain quadrant of a trackpad could also act to minimize windows, switch workspaces, or perform other frequent tasks, reducing the amount of effort required on the user’s part. Once a user becomes proficient in using a trackpad, he can use it extremely quickly and effectively.
Most trackpads are cleverly programmed so that they don’t respond to inputs from anything other than your fingers. Many designers have the palm in mind when designing this feature, as the palm often hovers above a laptop’s trackpad. This feature has been greatly refined since the 1980s when trackpads were first introduced to the market. Other advances in the field made trackpads much smoother and more enjoyable to use and led to the development of drawing tablets and other derivative technologies.
An alternate name for a trackpad is “touchpad.” “Trackpad” is often used to refer specifically to such devices built into computers manufactured by Apple, while “touchpad” is used to refer to similar devices in computers from other manufacturers. Technically, the terms are interchangeable, although Apple devotees might not like that.
