Word on the web is that one of our favorite peripherals, the mouse, is facing extinction. Invented in 1963 by Silicon Valley engineers Douglas Engelbart and Bill English, the mouse first went mainstream when Apple launched the Macintosh in 1984. Apparently, the company that introduced us to the mouse is now killing it.

Mike Elgan writing for Datamation says: "You're probably using a mouse today, but you may never buy one again. All the planets are aligning against this humble pointing device." He points out to predictions made by Gartner analyst Steve Prentice who says: "Numerous demonstrations from industry vendor heavyweights of computer control based on gestures and facial recognition at the 2008 CES International conference imply that 2008 may mark the beginning of the end for the keyboard/mouse control paradigm."

The reasons, as enumerated by the writer, are Apple's giant trackpad with multi-touch, Gaming pointing devices, "Brain-reading" devices (see the video demonstration, it's neat!) and Apple iPhone and the "iPhone Killers."

"This newest category of cell phone boots physical keyboards and phone pointing devices (like BlackBerry's 'pearl,' toggle switches or the tracking sticks on some handsets) altogether in favor of full-size touch screens," Elgan writes. "Although people tend to see iPhone-like devices as replacing keyboards, they're getting millions of people used to the idea of controlling an entire operating system with a touch screen."

Some of you will agree that the mouse-and-keyboard control has been chosen as the best method for input solely because we lacked more intuitive means (technology) of communicating with the computer. At the time Apple came up with a user interface for its Mac OS everyone thought it was mind-blowing. A UI implied icons and differently-sized windows and menus, things that couldn't just be manipulated / controlled with the keyboard alone anymore. Therefore, the mouse was in order.

But things kept evolving. Sure, mice also evolved along the way, but not as much. Why? Because there's a limit to what mice can accomplish as one-hand controlling devices. Plus, while you use your mouse with your right hand, you do far too little with your left hand on the keyboard. This is where Apple's multi-touch comes in and saves precious time, adding more functionality and ease of use in the process.

"I'm confident that Apple will take advantage of its many patents for 'multi-touch' systems and ship an iPhone-like version of Mac OS within the next year or two... So take the time to savor every point and every click. It won't last. The mouse is as good as dead," Elgan concludes.