The TrackPoint is a pointing stick built into some laptop keyboards that allows cursor movement. It is manipulated with the index finger and has left and right mouse buttons. It can be more precise than a touchpad, but sensitivity must be set correctly to avoid fatigue or unintentional cursor movement. Cursor drift can also be an issue. The TrackPoint was invented by Ted Selker in 1984 and is now used by multiple manufacturers.
TrackPoint is IBM®’s pointing stick, a device built into the keyboard of some laptops that allows cursor movement. The TrackPoint looks like the tip of a red eraser and sits between the G and H keys on a QWERTY keyboard, dead center on the home row. Typists use the home row to rest their fingers on, making the pointing stick the only pointing device typists can use to move the cursor without taking their fingers off the keyboard.
The TrackPoint with its replaceable rubber cap is manipulated with the tip of the index finger. The pointing stick is essentially designed as a miniaturized joystick. Pressure applied in any direction pushes the cursor in the same direction. The more force you apply to the device, the faster the cursor will move. The left and right mouse buttons are located just below the spacebar on TrackPoint-equipped models.
Laptops equipped with pointing sticks might also have a touchpad built into the palm rest below the keyboard. A touchpad is a small, sensitized pad that manipulates cursor movement by sliding your fingers across its surface. An added benefit of a pointing stick over a touchpad is that the cursor can be moved infinitely in any direction without repositioning your finger.
TrackPoint configuration is important because the device is in the center of the keyboard. If the sensitivity is set too low, it will take too much pressure to move the cursor, which could lead to stress index and fatigue syndromes with repetitive use. If the sensitivity is set too high, accidentally swiping the TrackPoint while typing could move the cursor unintentionally.
A common problem with pointing sticks is cursor drift. This occurs when the cursor has been moved intentionally but continues to change position after you stop applying pressure to the pointing stick. Some software will auto-calibrate when it detects that drift is occurring. The user must momentarily remove their finger from the pointer to allow for calibration. In other cases, manual calibration is required.
An optional feature that can be enabled in the configuration software of many pointing sticks is the ability to tap the stick to emulate a click. Since accidental taps can easily happen while typing, many people choose to leave this feature disabled and leverage the left and right mouse buttons under the spacebar using their thumbs.
The TrackPoint was the first pointing stick invented, a device conceived in 1984 by Ted Selker who then worked as a researcher and developer. Selker was inspired by his interest in eliminating the lag created by having to take your hands off the keyboard to use a pointing device. In 1987 Selker worked for IBM and made his invention in the form of TrackPoint. Today there are no fewer than ten different names for the pointing stick, each brand being developed by a competing manufacturer.
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