Trackpad

The trackpad, alternatively referred to as a "touchpad" by PC makers, is a stationary pointing device used mainly on notebook computers. Trackpads provide a small touch-sensitive surface on which a finger can be used to input pointer movements, similar to a mouse or trackball. They were developed to provide a more intuitive and compact input device for the computer user.

History
The trackpad first made its way onto Apple's PowerBooks in 1994 with the PowerBook 500 series. In 1995, new PowerBook models (except for the PowerBook 5300 series) gained new tap-to-click capabilities. However, the first of the new tappable trackpads introduced in the PowerBook 190, 1400, and Duo 2300c (as well as trackpads in earlier models) were prone to being affected by humidity, causing Apple to release a Trackpad Climate Control extension to address the issue.

With new USB-based trackpads introduced in PowerBook G4 models in 2005, multi-touch gestures, such as two-finger scrolling, began to be introduced. iScroll2 was introduced for to bring some of this functionality to ADB-based trackpads in aluminum PowerBook G4 models from 2003 and 2004.

Usage

 * Clicking
 * Pointing
 * Dragging
 * Drag lock
 * Trackpad scrolling