Weird cursor behaviour from Phoebe
I call it the “flying cursor”.
Noticed it on the first evening. I was checking out TextEdit, and happily typing away when I noticed the cursor appearing elsewhere on another line, in the middle of another word, etc.
It’s not a trackpad problem, cuz my thumbs and fingers are nowhere near the trackpad when the cursor flies off on its own.
I’ve continued monitoring the situation, and noticed it gets worse the more I use Phoebe, i.e., later in the day, etc. I also noticed it happens anywhere I have to type text, e.g., in MSN Messenger’s text box, etc. Even more intriguing – the cursor has even selected text which I didn’t notice because I was busy typing so that I’ve ended up typing over selected text that I didn’t select!
This morning, I brought along the mouse that’d come free with Phoebe (thanks to Val in MacAsia One Utama *smile*). I plugged it in, launched TextEdit, started typing, and the cursor behaved itself. Next, I decided to unplug the mouse and use the trackpad. Guess what? Even before I could finish typing a sentence, the cursor had flown up to an earlier section of the page.
Conclusion? Something wrong with the trackpad.
Action? I’m going in to MacAsia tomorrow and seek Val’s help. She already knows the problem as I’ve called and told her about it.
Sidenote
Saw Richard online yesterday evening (he’s a Mac enthusiast and expert) and told him the problem. He suggested a possibility which I explored but it didn’t solve the “flying cursor” problem. But I did learn that Apple computers are extremely user-friendly machines for users who have difficulties with seeing, hearing, the keyboard or the mouse. It made me glad I bought Phoebe. Thanks to Val for helping me finalise the decision that I’d been mulling over for a while.
BTW, I find that I’m more comfortable using Phoebe with a mouse, but there will be times when I cannot plug a mouse in and have to use the trackpad. So, gotta solve the “flying cursor” problem which is probably trackpad-related.
