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>We use CAD packages in our 3D work, and it’s likely that many of us have become annoyed by the limitations of controlling the view of a 3D object using a 2D interface, our mouse. Joystick-like 3D controllers exist for this purpose, but [David Liu] found them inconvenient. He tried a trackball, but that didn’t improve matters. His response was to take the trackball and change the way it controlled the software, turning it from the equivalent of a ball rolling over a surface to a ball representing the object on the screen itself. He can turn and rotate the object intuitively just by moving the ball.

Archive: (broken) From the post: >>We use CAD packages in our 3D work, and it’s likely that many of us have become annoyed by the limitations of controlling the view of a 3D object using a 2D interface, our mouse. Joystick-like 3D controllers exist for this purpose, but [David Liu] found them inconvenient. He tried a trackball, but that didn’t improve matters. His response was to take the trackball and change the way it controlled the software, turning it from the equivalent of a ball rolling over a surface to a ball representing the object on the screen itself. He can turn and rotate the object intuitively just by moving the ball.
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[–] • 1 pt

Very cool implementation.

On a slightly different note, trackballs are great when you run multiple screens. I have three 32" HD monitors. Moving the mouse from one outer edge to the other (across all three screens) takes a long time and involves picking up and moving the mouse multiple times. Sure, I can increase the speed of the mouse pointer, but then it become ridiculously unusable for the small stuff.

Enter the trackball. Easy to control, and I can flick it from one outer edge to the other easily.

if you haven't tried a trackball, give one a go.