19. A mouse/scanner for reading characters from a string of characters recorded on a substrate comprising: a housing; a ball rotatably mounted in said housing for rotational movement when said housing is moved over the surface of the substrate; a first movement sensor, responsive to rotation of said ball about a first axis, for generating a first movement signal; a second movement sensor, responsive to rotation of said ball about a second axis, for generating a second movement signal; first optical means, located within said housing, for viewing an area of view outside of the projection of the housing's bottom face on the substrate, so that the user may view a field of view that includes the area of view; optical detector means, located within said housing, for detecting the relative intensity of light reflected from each of a plurality of points in the area of view; and communication means, located in said housing, for sending any of the signals generated from said first movement sensor means, said second movement sensor means and said optical detector means to a host computing means.
19. A mouse/scanner for reading characters from a string of characters recorded on a substrate comprising: a housing; a ball rotatably mounted in said housing for rotational movement when said housing is moved over the surface of the substrate; a first movement sensor, responsive to rotation of said ball about a first axis, for generating a first movement signal; a second movement sensor, responsive to rotation of said ball about a second axis, for generating a second movement signal; first optical means, located within said housing, for viewing an area of view outside of the projection of the housing's bottom face on the substrate, so that the user may view a field of view that includes the area of view; optical detector means, located within said housing, for detecting the relative intensity of light reflected from each of a plurality of points in the area of view; and communication means, located in said housing, for sending any of the signals generated from said first movement sensor means, said second movement sensor means and said optical detector means to a host computing means. 22. The scanner of claim 19 further comprising means for adjusting the magnification of said first optical means and thereby changing the size of the area of view.