The most recent Friday blog at CNET made the point that MacBook users have had multi-touch for years on their trackpads, and offered up the point that perhaps the Magic  Trackpad that Apple recently launched is the first indication of where computer input  devices will be going in the future. The biggest question posed by the blog post was this: If  we’re all using a multi-touch trackpad, where will the mice go? Will anyone even use a mouse in the  future?

The post comments were intriguing, but it wasn’t the need of a mouse for gaming that caught my eye   it was a poll option. Among the options to vote for or against a mouse in the future, there was a very  clever, Neither: points and clicks will give way to brain-driven controls.

That option for brain control does make you wonder about the future of computers. Of course, someone is already working on this in a stark laboratory somewhere away from prying eyes, and my guess would be  that it is an advanced technological group much like Apple that will bring it completely to market. Will it  ever really take off? I doubt it.

Why? Simply because we as a society are getting increasing protective of our privacy and care a great  deal about the safety of our bodies and minds. Would it be cool to control the computer by thinking  about moving the cursor, resizing an image or planning my attack in a guild war? Absolutely.

Would I really want to connect technology in any way to my brain? I don’t think so. I’m sure that I’m  not the only one. There are still quite a few people who won’t stand in front of a microwave for fear of  radiation. There’s no telling what affect a brain-controlled computer could have on the creative minds of  the paranoid.

Brain-based controls will be something to watch for with interest, but in the meantime, I’ll simply amuse  myself and control my computer just fine with the multi-touch trackpad on my refurbished MacBook.