Early laptops didn't have touchpads or joysticks. Plenty of other items started out as additional purchases but are now obligatory.

If I'm expected to change with the times, I don't think it's asking too much to expect the vendors to do the same. I can let Microsoft slide, but hardware vendors have been including mice for decades. If the mouse is no longer the best general purpose cursor control device for this new paradigm, as has been suggested, then stop putting it in the boxes and replace it with a better tool. They replaced the two-button rollerball mouse with a two-buttton-scroll-wheel-optical model; what's the difference?

And what's Fry's?