For the past few decades, one of the most annoying things about computers has been that they come with an awful lot of cables. If you've ever visited a typical computer center for a large company, or seen one depicted on TV or in the movies, you've probably noticed that the computers, the tape drives, the disk drives, and the printers all sit on top of a raised floor. Underneath that floor are miles and miles of power cables and communication cables. If it wasn't for the raised floor, computer operators wouldn't be able to walk across the room without tripping!

Personal computers, fortunately, don't require that you install an expensive raised floor in your home. Nevertheless, you have probably agonized over cables that are never quite long enough, that easily get tangled around the legs of your furniture, or that attract the unwanted attention of the family cat. In some cases, you may have found it necessary to place a keyboard or mouse in an awkward location.

In my own case, I was often frustrated by my computer's mouse. The cord always seemed to get caught behind the keyboard, making it difficult to maneuver. I felt that there had to be a better solution.

One possible solution is a wireless mouse that uses infrared technology. You have probably used this same technology in your TV's remote control. One drawback to this technology is that it may require that the transmitting device and the receiving device be able to see each other (a clear line of sight), although you can often bounce the remote control's signal off a wall or ceiling. This isn't a problem for a typical TV or VCR, where the front panel is usually clearly visible in most places in the room. However, in the case of my home computer, which sits underneath my computer desk, it is much more difficult to use infrared technology to get a clear signal from my mouse to the computer.

Recently I was in a local computer store and discovered a much better choice: a wireless mouse that uses radio signals. The mouse includes a battery, and another device (attached to the back of my home computer with a short cable) communicates with my mouse. That device is about the size of a pack of cards, and it can only transmit from up to about six feet away, so there's not much risk of interfering with another computer in the next room.

It may seem like a small thing, but the elimination of the annoying problem with the mouse cable is a joy. If I need additional desk space in order to work on something unrelated to the computer, I can quickly move the mouse aside without having to worry about how long the cable is going to stretch or what it is going to get snagged on.

But I didn't stop with just the mouse. In the computer store, I found that I could also buy a wireless keyboard, and that it and the mouse could both communicate with the same device attached to the back of my system.

Suddenly, there are no more cables lying on top of my computer desk. I can move both my keyboard and my mouse to whatever position I find easiest to work with and pick them both up to be set aside if I need the space for something else. (If I had one of those computer desks with a drawer designed for the keyboard and mouse, I could put them away when not in use without having to worry about pinching the cables). Also, if you're the person in the household who has the chore of dusting the top of the computer desk, the elimination of the cumbersome cables is a big plus.

The next time you're in your local computer store, check out the displays of wireless keyboards and mice. If your budget allows for it, perhaps it is time to put your keyboard and mouse on the radio!

Drew Smith is an instructor with the School of Library and Information Science at the University of South Florida in Tampa. He is also a regular contributor to the quarterly journal Genealogical Computing, where he writes the "Cybrarian" column. He can be reached at drewsmith@aol.com.