What is a Pointing Device?

A pointing device is used to point or click a specific portion or parts on the screen. When we scroll using the mouse, it points the cursor at a specific portion. In this article, we will provide a brief explanation of pointing devices, their types and functions, and also cover the advantages and disadvantages of using them.

What is a Pointing Device?

A device that points and controls the cursor on the screen. It is an input device. A pointer device drags, clicks, and selects a specific portion of the screen. For example, if we have a device like a mouse, we can easily select a specific portion or drag any part on the screen. In other words, we say that it is a pointing device that controls the movement of the cursor on the screen. Pointing devices such as a mouse, joystick, OCR, touchpad, trackball, etc.

Functions of Pointing Device

• Click: In click, we can press our pointing device and easily click any portion of the screen. Click is performed either left click or right click. The left click is the left side of the mouse that performs selecting objects, double-clicking, closing windows, etc. Right-click is the right side of the mouse that shows commands of selected items.
• Drag: Drag means to move specific files or items into another location where we want them to be placed. We simply hold the items that we want to place and then move the mouse button to place them in a different location.
• Select: In select, we hold the mouse and then move the cursor to the items that we want to select. When we select the item or contents, the selected portion should be highlighted.
• Scroll: Scroll means to move the content in either a horizontal or vertical manner. Horizontal scrolling allows the user to slide the content left or right on a computer screen. Vertical scrolling allows the user to slide the content up or down on a computer screen.

Types of Pointing Device

Here is the list of some types of pointing devices:-

• Mouse: A mouse is a pointing device used in laptops and computers that is connected to the keyboard. In the mouse, there are left- or right-click buttons, and a wheel button is also present that is responsible for up and down. The mouse can easily control the screen and perform many tasks.
• Joystick: The joystick is responsible for handling the object on the screen. Using a joystick is used to control many applications, such as games, virtual reality, etc. It is an input device that transforms mechanical movement into electrical output and then controls machines or games. We easily move the joystick from one direction to another.
• Trackball: Trackball is controlled by the cursor, that's why we say cursor control device. In trackball, we roll the ball with our thumbs and fingers without moving our arms. In trackball, buttons are present that are responsible for selecting an item or object, dropping, and dragging.
• TouchPad: TouchPad is a portable device that is present in laptops and portable devices. The shape of the touchpad is a rectangular surface. Its touch looks sensitive while touching the surface. It is easy to use, first click on the touchpad surface to select, then drop and drag the specific part on the screen.
• OCR: OCR stands for optical character recognition, which is the conversion of an image of text into a text format that is read by a machine or computer. The real-life application of OCR in the banking industry. In the bank, when the customer deposits the cheque from the bank, the OCR technology checks the information of customer details present in the cheque and matches the customer signature of the bank database.
• Digital Pen: Digital pen is the conversion of analog data to digital data. If we write the content in a digital pen, it captures it and converts it into digital format. We write content on paper with a digital pen and it is visible on our computer screen.
• Stylus: The stylus is a pen-type instrument. It is used with tablets, smartphones, and graphic tablets. It is used for writing and drawing on the screen.

Advantages of Pointing Device

• Simplicity: It provides simplicity to easily select, drop, and drag the object by moving the mouse there is no tense of using shortcut keys.
• Versatility: It provides versatility to use pointing device on many devices, such as laptops and desktops, to simply drag, drop, and select the object or item.
• Space: It occupies less space as compared to a keyboard that is a no-pointing device.
• Speed: It increases the speed when the user uses both the pointing device and keyboard. They perform the operations quickly when working on complex tasks.

Disadvantages of Pointing Device

• The pointing device is not compatible with a physically disabled person.
• Pointing device is not useful on command driven interfaces. Command driven interface interacts with the computer that only uses command. We don't need to press '+' sign to add two numbers it used command such as add(8,9), Similarly in subtract it used subtract(5,3) instead of using '-' sign.
• Insertion is difficult with pointing devices.