Does anyone else recall recurring debates about cursor size and the effect on one's ability to visually discover the location of a cursor?   Yes, there are tradeoffs between simply making cursors larger (easier to discover location) or making cursors smaller (easier to place precisely, eclipses fewer pixels)...especially when the pointing devices are other than by directly touching the display screen. Such is the case with the present XO laptops. <div class="gmail_quote"> To sidestep those debates, I imagine a different way -- one in which cursors could be of any size, color, shape, etc.  -- and yet still draw my eye quickly to the locus of the current cursor. VISION:  Each time my finger tip lands on the touch pad I see a circular wavefront (on the display, of course) briefly emanating from the point of the cursor. The wave gently fades as it grows and dissipates.  Thus, it appears as if the screen is overlaid with a clear puddle and I have lightly touched its surface.  The effect could be simulated with a simple ring; probably a simpler and cheaper computation than a "wave" effect. A bitblt series would do. Like ripples in a puddle, the visual effect and conceptual metaphor would seem to draw on nearly universal human experience from early childhood. Of course, the HCI labs around the world could experiment with such effects (if not already) to understand the human factors and optimize the man-machine interface. Meanwhile, it seems worth trying, pragmatically. ;-) Cheers, -Ken Ritchie (Atlanta) </div>