Wireless keyboards and mice - why not wireless controllers?

[oboe]

We've had wireless keyboards and mice for ages now, but I've never seen wireless USB or Bluetooth connectivity for flight controllers.   Does any particular reason come to mind?   

- power consumption too high?

- market too small to justify development expense?

- adverse response time/lag to controller inputs?

Just curious.  It was this morning's pre-coffee thought.

[Skuzzy]

Saitek used to have a wireless stick.  We have one around the office, somewhere.  Might have been Logitech.  More coffee.

[mikeWe9a]

You could probably get around the lag by using a dedicated receiver, similar to how logitech does it with their gaming mice.  You might have issues with using multiple controllers with this though, and I also expect that a high end stick draws significantly more power than a keyboard or mouse, leading to battery life issues.

Mike

[Lusche]

Might have been Logitech. 

Logitech Freedom 2.4 

[Bizman]

If my memory serves me right, there was some discussion about lag back in 2002 or so. However, reading the reviews for Logitech Freedom 2.4 tells there wasn't any.

The reviews also say that the three AA batteries last for 50 hours just as Logitech had promised. Not too bad if you only play on weekends, or a couple of hours daily.

Even the development cost should be no issue, the same radio technology is used for mice and keyboards.

Maybe it's the lag anyway. Hard core players can sense microseconds... There's been talk about wireless keyboards and mice not being the best option for fast paced shooters, too.

Someone in our squad might have had a Freedom.

[KrzyIvan]

Personally, I'd love to see more wireless controls out there.

Worrying about wires behind my desk, is like me caring about rear seat comfort in a car I'm buying for myself.

I'll stay old school and you'll have that 1 or 2% extra delay in your input response, and/or I'll get ya in your jet when you battery dies.

It's all good

[Ack-Ack]

Thrustmaster (sold under the name Guillemot) also makes a wireless joystick.

[zack1234]

Wireless is poo