What Does TrackPoint Mean?
TrackPoint is a cursor-pointing device developed for IBM’s ThinkPad laptop computers in 1992. Also known as a pointing stick, Track point facilitated the operations in a way that pointing, selecting, and dragging can be done via a single process, and the users are able to perform these activities without moving their fingers from the typing position.
Techopedia Explains TrackPoint
The TrackPoint, one of many innovations introduced with IBM’s ThinkPad laptop computer line, created a devoted user population that preferred the TrackPoint over the traditional, built-in trackball or touchpad, which controls a cursor with finger movements. The original design enabled the user to manipulate a cursor without using a mouse.
The TrackPoint includes a red stick in between the G, H and B keys on the Thinkpad’s QWERTY keyboard and three more click buttons between the keyboard and the trackpad. The pointer movement is controlled using the level of pressure applied to the nonslip cap on the stick in any direction parallel to the keyboard. Actually, the users cannot move the stick. The pointer-movement speed is based on the pressure applied to the stick. The function of the three click buttons vary according to the software used.
