Editing Touchpad (section)

== History ==
In 1980, [[Xerox]] offered one of the first, if not {{em|the}} first, touchpads on a computer system with their [[Xerox 860]], a word processing workstation aimed at medium- and large-sized businesses.<ref name=star /><ref>{{cite book | last=Grünberg | first=Serge | author2=Claudine Paquot | date=2006 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xuYcAQAAIAAJ&q=%22xerox%20860%22%20%22touch%20pad%22 | title=David Cronenberg: Interviews with Serge Grünberg | publisher=Plexus Publishing | page=79 | isbn=9780859653763 | via=Google Books}}</ref> Embedded on the [[Xerox 860]]'s keyboard, to the right of the keys, is the circular touchpad, which Xerox dubbed the "Cat" (short for ''capacitance-activated transducer''). Xerox offered the Cat as an alternative input method for selecting strings of text to copy, delete, insert, or move around the document.<ref>{{cite book | last=Williford | first=J.&nbsp;M. | date=1984 | url=https://bitsavers.org/pdf/xerox/860/Word_Processing_on_the_Xerox_860_1984.pdf#page=25 | title=Word Processing on the Xerox 860 | publisher=John Wiley & Sons | pages=15–16 | isbn=0-471-88257-7 | via=Bitsavers.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Flores | first=Ivan | date=1983 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MweWohWJRykC | title=Word Processing Handbook | publisher=Van Nostrand Reinhold Company | page=177 | isbn=9780442225261 | via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name=star>{{cite journal | last=Valigra | first=L. | date=June 1981 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZWhKAQAAIAAJ&q=%22xerox+860%22+%22cat%22 | title=Xerox's 'Star' shines on professionals | journal=Mini-Micro Systems | publisher=Reed Business Information | volume=14 | issue=6 | pages=23 ''et seq'' | via=Gale}}</ref>{{rp|30}}

By 1982, [[Apollo Computer|Apollo]] desktop computers were equipped with a touchpad on the right side of the keyboard.<ref name="apollo-started">{{cite book|publisher=Apollo Computer|title=Getting Started With Your DOMAIN System|year=1983 }}</ref> Introduced a year later, in 1983, the first battery-powered clamshell laptop, the [[Gavilan SC]] included a touchpad, which was mounted above its keyboard, rather than below, which became the norm.<ref name="design198311_gavilan">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/sim_design_1983-11_419/page/n21/mode/1up | title=Briefcase computer | magazine=Design | date=November 1983 | access-date=16 March 2022 | pages=20 | quote=The Gavilan portable computer uses a touch-sensitive panel between its text-entry keyboard and its liquid-crystal display. Moving your finger around on this shifts the cursor on the screen to select commands from a menu. }}</ref>

[[Psion (computers)|Psion]]'s [[Psion MC series|MC 200/400/600/WORD Series]],<ref name="psion">{{cite web|title=GUIdebook Psion MC Series brochure|url=http://www.guidebookgallery.org/ads/magazines/symbian/mc400brochure|publisher=guidebookgallery.org}}</ref> introduced in 1989, came with a new mouse-replacing input device similar to a touchpad,<ref name="psion1">{{cite web|title=GUIdebook Psion MC Series brochure, page 4|url=http://www.guidebookgallery.org/ads/magazines/symbian/mc400brochure/pics/05|publisher=guidebookgallery.org}}</ref> although more closely resembling a graphics tablet, as the cursor was positioned by clicking on a specific point on the pad, instead of moving it in the direction of a stroke.<ref name="newcomputerexpress19891202_psions">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/NH2021_New_Computer_Express_Issue056.pdf/page/66/mode/2up | title=Psions of the Times | magazine=New Computer Express | date=2 December 1989 | access-date=20 March 2022 | last1=Booth | first1=Neil | pages=66–67 | quote=You put your finger on a small rectangular panel, and the cursor appears on screen. Move your finger around the panel, say from the bottom left of the panel to the centre, and the cursor moves from the bottom left to the centre of the screen in parallel. }}</ref>

Laptops with touchpads were launched by [[Olivetti]] and [[Triumph-Adler]] in 1992.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/showthread.php?49668-First-Laptops-with-Touchpad-as-Mouse-replacement |title=Olivetti S20, D33 and identically Triumph-Adler Walkstation 386, Walkstation 386SX |access-date=2015-10-26 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304092833/http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/showthread.php?49668-First-Laptops-with-Touchpad-as-Mouse-replacement |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Cirque Corporation|Cirque]] introduced the first widely available touchpad, branded as GlidePoint, in 1994.<ref name="diehl_stanford">{{cite magazine|last=Diehl|first=Stanford|author2=Lennon, Anthony J.|author3=McDonough, John|date=Oct 1995|title=Touchpads to Navigate By|url=https://vintageapple.org/byte/pdf/199510_Byte_Magazine_Vol_20-10_The_PC_is_Dead.pdf|magazine=[[Byte (magazine)|Byte]]|publisher=Green Publishing|issue=October 1995|page=150|issn=0360-5280}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=[Products {{!}} Our Technology {{!}} High-Sensitivity Capacitive Technology] Alps Alpine – Electronic Components and Automotive Infotainment|url=https://tech.alpsalpine.com/e/info/technology/tec_capacitance/|access-date=2021-07-06|website=tech.alpsalpine.com}}</ref> [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] introduced touchpads with modern placing in the [[PowerBook 500]] series in 1994, using Cirque's GlidePoint technology,<ref>Thryft, Ann R. "More Than a Mouse," Computer Product Development, EBN Extra, November 14, 1994, pp. E16 – E20</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1994-05-16|title=Blackbird: The PowerBook 500 Series|language=en-US|work=Low End Mac|url=http://lowendmac.com/1994/blackbird-the-powerbook-500-series/|access-date=2017-07-09}}</ref> which Apple refers to as a "trackpad"; it replaced the [[trackball]] of previous [[PowerBook]] models. Since 2008, Apple's revisions of the [[MacBook]] and [[MacBook Pro]] incorporated a "Tactile Touchpad" design with a button integrated into the tracking surface<ref name="The Tactile Touchpad" /><ref name="yorku.ca" /><ref>{{cite web|title=MacBook design|url=https://www.apple.com/macbook/design.html|publisher=Apple.com}}</ref> (the lower part of the touchpad surface acts as a clickable button).<ref name="CNET June 9 review">{{cite web|last=Ackerman|first=Dan|author-link=Dan Ackerman|date=June 10, 2009|title=Apple MacBook Pro Summer 2009 (Core 2 Duo 2.26&nbsp;GHz, 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD, Nvidia GeForce 9400M, 13-inch)|url=http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/apple-macbook-pro-summer/4505-3121_7-33676744.html?tag=mncol;lst|access-date=April 11, 2010|publisher=[[CNET Networks|CNET]]}}</ref>

Another early adopter of the GlidePoint pointing device was Sharp.<ref name="diehl_stanford" /> Later, [[Synaptics]] introduced their touchpad into the marketplace, branded the TouchPad, and [[Epson]] was an early adopter of this product with their [[Epson ActionNote|ActionNote]].<ref name="diehl_stanford" />
As touchpads began to be introduced in laptops in the 1990s, there was often confusion as to what the product should be called. No consistent term was used, and references varied, such as: glidepoint, touch sensitive input device, touchpad, trackpad, and pointing device.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=A WinBook for the Fussy |year=1995|magazine=Windows Magazine|issue=Dec 95|page=105}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Sharp Unveils Line of Notebooks |journal=Westchester County Business Journal|issue= November 20, 1995 |year=1995 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Malloy |first1=Rich |last2= Crabb |first2=Don |date=October 1995 |title=Power Packed Power Books |journal= Mobile Office |issue=October 1995 |pages=44–52 |location=New York, NY }}</ref>

Users were often presented with the option to purchase a [[pointing stick]], touchpad, or [[trackball]]. Combinations of the devices were common, though touchpads and trackballs were rarely included together.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jerome |first1=Marty |year=1995 |title=Lightweight, Low-Cost Challenger |journal=[[PC Computing]] |issue=December 1995 |page=96}}</ref> Since the early 2000s, touchpads have become the dominant laptop pointing device as most consumer laptops produced during this period and beyond includes only touchpads, displacing the pointing stick.