I used the Evoluent VerticalMouse in it's first generation some years ago. I actually quite liked it and used to game with it, even. Stick with it, I think you'll get used to it.
Nowadays I use a G5 but I spend less time at the PC as I used to so its mediocre ergonomics are good enough.
My mom had one of the VMs awhile ago, I think she had the VM2. That one had a scroll wheel without the notches. Problem was, programs didn't operate that way. So sometimes you'd use the wheel to scroll, and it would end up
juuuust on the edge of scrolling again. So you'd be reading the page then, and suddenly it would scroll down a few more lines.
The VM4 is better (still not the G500's awesome wheel), and it has a little lip for your little finger to rest on.
But here's another general problem I see a lot: Tools and equipment that's going to be exposed to water a lot, and are made out of plain carbon steel.
- A pizza cutter I had: Yes, the blade is nice stainless steel. The rivet used to hold it in place is steel. It rusts. Making something out of stainless but then using regular steel fasteners is kind of, well, stupid.
- Some jars with metal lock-down clasps: Very nice glass jars, good seal on the top...and the metal is all zinc-plated steel. In this application, the zinc plating is good for making the steel look slightly blue. And that's about it. (Unless you intend to use the jars to hold dry goods only, and you never clean them.)
- A liquid soap dispenser. I thought the dispenser was made of chromed plastic. Nope. It's steel. It's rusting.
- Spray bottles for cleaners: This is mainly encountered in generic brands - the spring is made of something that easily corrodes in the cleaning solution, so it only works for the first day it's used.
Protip for manufacturers: Plain carbon steel is mostly iron. Iron and oxygen get along
really well. Water helps this process along very effectively. Iron oxide is not iron.
Yes, stainless steel is more expensive. Yes, 400-series stainless costs a bit more. (Or for some applications, maybe check out aluminum.) Even a low-grade 300-series will at least offer
some corrosion resistance - and then your marketing people can have a collective orgasm when they're told that they get to put
STAINLESS STEEL on the packaging.
But using the wrong material for the job means that you're making a product that's broken before it's even finished.
And if you're going to paint steel to keep it from rusting, anywhere that that coating is damaged, such as by tightening a fastener to it, can become a focal point for corrosion.