alt Hacker NewsBecause a terminal emulator is emulating 1970s technology and the mouse hadn't been invented yet. We do have a way for apps to accept mouse input, believe it or not, but it's usually done by avoiding the 1970s emulation layer. As a bonus, you get full control over your screen pixels too!
This is true for all the other magic things I'm always reading about with the newest, hottest, terminal emulator tech XYZ, as in this article. People do amazing stuff with those tools. I'd already be very happy if the current line I'm writing in would have the convenience of a 1993 Mosaic input-element.
Also, selecting and replacing could be done without a a mouse. Quite often I want to select, copy, replace, paste somewhere else. Not possible without a mouse.