Pointing stick

The pointing stick (trademarked by IBM as the TrackPoint) is a pointing device for laptops invented by research scientist Ted Selker and equips IBM's line of ThinkPad laptops. The pointing stick takes the form of a red-tipped stick embedded in the QWERTY keyboard between the 'G', 'H' and 'B' keys, and the mouse buttons are placed just below the keyboard.

The pointing stick operates by sensing applied force (hence it is also known as an isometric joystick), typically by measuring the resistance of a material. The velocity of the cursor is then proportional to the applied force.

See also: pointing device, touchpad