I used to use one of these old serial Microsoft trackballs for a few years. They use less desk space and they were much more reliable than contemporary ball mice.
I think the high quality of even cheap optical mice has made them obsolete. Their high precision means that they also don’t need a lot of desk space and they are more reliable than trackballs.
I think the main reason to use one of them today is probably nostalgia and personal preference.
I used to use one of these old serial Microsoft trackballs for a few years. They use less desk space and they were much more reliable than contemporary ball mice.
I think the high quality of even cheap optical mice has made them obsolete. Their high precision means that they also don’t need a lot of desk space and they are more reliable than trackballs.
I think the main reason to use one of them today is probably nostalgia and personal preference.
Plus they build up gunk that affects the smoothness of the ball and need cleaning
At least in my experience with exactly one trackball, yes, they do that, but much less than ball mice.
That was a plus against ball mice, but obviously a minus against optical mice.
I think they made sense up until good optical mice became cheap.