Do technological advances mean its the end of the line for printed mousemats?
Tuesday, January 25th, 2011In terms of popularity, printed mousemats have always been at the top of most peoples promotional merchandise wish list. As well as reminding a customer of your brand at their workplace, it can also remind them at home with most people using both a work and home PC.
If your customer has a computer, they almost certainly have a computer mouse making a printed mousemat an ideal promotional item. However recent technological developments such as the new style “tablet” computer means that mousemats could soon be a product of the past- or will they?
Computer mice have been around since the early days of computer technology and have undergone several design changes. Their name is derived from the fact they used to resemble a real life mouse, with a cord that looked like a tail. Now, most are wireless and look very different to early designs. A number of rival products have come and gone but the mouse remains the most widely used “pointing” device for computer users.
The new style “tablet” computers have removed the need for a mouse as you don’t need an external pointing device to use them. However this doesn’t necessarily mean the end of printed mousemats as a useful promotional item. This is due to the fact that generally most people don’t like change. We have been using computer mice for years and have become accustomed in how to use them. To learn to use a tablet style device takes time and effort, something that some customers will refuse to do, preferring to carry on using a keyboard and mouse system.
Tablet style computers come with their own set of disadvantages as well. Generally they don’t come with a keyboard meaning fast typists may get frustrated at the level of work they can do on a tablet compared to a traditional computer. The screen can become scratched and damaged easily. In addition to this the cost of a tablet system is high compared to a standard computer. All these factors mean the printed mousemat will continue to be a popular promotional item for some time to come.