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New Mice from Apple - Without Buttons?
memoryhole writes "According to this story from AppleInsider, Apple is coming out with a new kind of mouse. They will be wireless and optical - and without buttons. Apparently, the mouse responds to squeezing, tapping, and stroking - in what will be a programmable manner, a little like some trackpads." Just so long as it ain't a hockey puck (whoops! I've grabbed the wrong side again) but this sounds pretty sweet.
But will it swell when stroked?
Say no to software patents.
Great, now we'll have Panty Raider 4D.
-Zane
This sig is worse than my last.
It's an interesting story and all, but so much for unbiased reporting. I think Apple's innovation ranks right up there with Microsoft's, except that they don't try to squash whomever they steal from. Either way, I wanna try one out. =)
Interested in open source engine management for your Subaru?
Anyone seen ExistenZ?
In it, there are what are called "pods" that are really miniature gaming devices (organically-based) that respond to touch.
And are just plain creepy looking.
well, when this article, and a dozen or so like it, likely based on the same sources, came out a couple weeks ago, i submitted the same story.
/.
but alas, timeliness seems not to matter in the realm of
and besides, this is just romor, not even very well documented or corroborated. i think the story lead should say that - though the source (appleinsider) kinda gives that away.
it's refreshing, though, to see more and more apple articles here, seeing as this is supposed to be a news site for all nerds, not just linux geeks.
- Entertaining Bits from the Ancient Kernel Tree
A T-1000 mouse.
http://crummysocks.com
Imagine trying to tell a clueless type to left-rub or right-rub his mouse. Ewww.
And then there's this, from the article: "It's not just another wireless, optical mouse. It's done by Apple, so it's impressive."
You can hear the asskissing from here. Disgusting.
I find this idea extremely amusing in light of the fact that I dislike current imac mice for only having a single button- I'm a musician and I like it that my fingers work kinda independent of each other- one button is boring. But no buttons, wow! Either it would be the most annoying mouse in the world or the best, hell, I might actually buy a product from apple if they are spiffy enough.
Be a moderator, not a brick.
--
Don't lead me into temptation... I can find it myself.
Knowing how well the touchpad on my laptop works, I consider this an incredibly silly and unworkable idea. ("No! I did not mean to click on that! AUGH!")
The fondle aspects are going to evoke alot of iPorn jokes.
"Trademarks are the heraldry of the new feudalism."
You know... its funny how Apple always seems to come up with interesting ideas. Take Microsoft's new mouse... all they did was add a tailight really. Sun had the optical mouse in use a long time ago (granted, you had to have the reflective pad..but that was HOW many YEARS ago?).
Even if you "hate" the Macintosh... you really have to admire Apple's will to do things differently... (don't mean to sound like one of their commericals..but really). What other companies goes out on a limb with "different" types of technology? Years after everyone talked about hating "all in one" designs... they released the iMac, and everyone thought 'wow.' Who knew that plastic cases would be so popular (and copied). Heck... how many of use use one of those silly GUIs? (I know it was Xerox's project, but Apple brought it to the masses)
They are building their laptops to be sleek (well, I liked the black G3's.... I dunno about the new power books) and completely wireless. C'mon...that's just plain cool. And speaking of wireless... the whole idea of the Airport is cool.
I'd have to say its probably far more exciting working at Apple where you get "cool" stuff done, than say at "ordinary" companies where its just "what's the marketing doing today? let's go there..."
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Given the fact that my mom still can't figure out which end of the horrible little hockey puck mouse is up, I can't wait to see her try a wireless mouse that has no buttons.
:)
bugger.net | MunkAndPhyber.com
Of course, software configuration means that it would require all-new drivers to work under any other OS. But provided it doesn't look too much like a food product, it may turn out to be a somewhat useful gizmo. Think of it as a mouse with multiple input senses; like having meta-keys for mouse input.
(Maybe this will give some incentive for my hands to ever leave the keyboard? Nah...)
Even better...
the mouse could be like the controller of an F-18 Hornet fighter jet. The throttle is bolted to the floor. It never moves, the jet responds to the amount of force that you put on the bar, but the bar remains stationary.
You could bolt the buttonless mouse to the table, and then it would resond without ever moving.
Of course you could just glue a rock to the table and pretend it is a mouse.
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What concerns me is that I like to rest my hand on the mouse while I'm pushing it around. Squeezing the mouse requires a lot more mussle flexing than just pushing a button. Not only that, but it can disrupt movement. Just try it: move the mouse pointer to various parts of the screen and squeeze the sides of your mouse. It's disconcerting.
And the men who hold high places must be the ones who start
To mold a new reality... closer to the heart
Does Apple ever do anything right? I guess if you complain about having only one button, they give you none. Like if you complained about annoying fruity colored desktops, they give you fruity colored laptops too.
NMG.
NMG
Over at dumbentia. Perhaps life does imitate art.
Ita erat quando hic adveni.
I wish there was more detail about this mouse in the article... hopefully, squeezing it right will allow for multiple buttons. Until that time, I need to save my pennies for a 3rd party 2/3 button USB mouse. =^|
-legolas
i've looked at love from both sides now. from win and lose, and still somehow...
Continuing its long tradition of simplifying the user interface, Apple also announced its new screen-less monitor. According to an Apple spokesperson, the moniter is controlled by squinting and grimacing by the user. Apple is betting that people will appreciate the reclaimable desk space. In a move reminiscent of its innovative abandonment of the floppy drive, another rumor afloat is that Apple's next version of the Mac OS will need no input devices whatsoever. Instead the OS will simply percieve psychically what the user wants to do. "We think this is another innovative step forward" said an Apple spokesperson. When questioned on the feasibility of such an OS, the spokesperson offhandedly commented "Well, we determine for the user what they want to do anyway". Analysts are predicting that Apple may be building the road to its own extinction. "In the future, by the mere thought of getting any real work done, Apple users might end up causing the Mac to vanish altogether".
;)
(ok, that last bit was flame bait
It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
When the original Mac was developed, research was done to determine the best possible type of mouse. At Xerox PARC, the Smalltalk machines generally had three buttons, labeled by color (a naming tradition that continues today in eg. Squeak). It was found that three- and even two-button mice were considered too complex for the target user. There were just too many instances when it was neither clear nor intutive which mouse button you use. Hence, the standard one-button mouse.
Fast forward a bit, and you'll come to today, when Apple is going to unleash it's new set of strokable, squeezable mice on the exact same type of users as the one-button mouse was designed for. Will it be any easier? Do you stroke to copy? Tap to move? Squeeze to check your email? I wonder exactly what sort of "research" they did. The one-button mice has sufficed for Mac users for years, and they are likely to be confused with something new. In fact, it reeks of the way Apple stopped supplying iMacs with floppy disks, perhaps in order to prevent the users from confusing IBM and Apple disks (something which I understand is quite common with Mac users).
Who will be there to hold the user's hands? It will certainly be a big leap for Mac users, and I am unsure whether many of them are capable of handling such a shift so radically. Finally, I think they'll need some big marketing, combined with promises of a "richer Internet experience" to pull this one off.
Are we seeing a complete turnaround in the PC industry? The reason I am starting to wonder is with recent announcments like the decline of small PC integrators and the trend toward integrated PCs/consoles like the new IMacs and X-Boxen, what does this mean for the do-it-yourself PC builder? Apple is doing some really cool stuff, and many cool things like Firwire and this new mouse will be standard. It's starting to look like 1990 all over again with a handfull of Computer companies providing all you could want at prices that DIYers couldn't try to beat.
Apple is known for having simple and easy to use computers. I'm wondering if these new mice will be easy for newbies to figure out. Like, if you would be aboard the Star Trek ship, and not having watched Star Trek before, would you know how to open one of those sliding doors if it didn't open for you when you walked up to it? Probably not. Hand someone a mouse without obvious buttons, and they won't know what to do with it. With a mechanical mouse (one with buttons that is), you can fiddle around with it, press the buttons, and see if that does anything on the screen.
What I'd like to see would be more like a 3d mouse. You hold it in your hand rather than laying it on a table. I recall seeing something similar for presentations, but looking at the description, it looked like it was more for just button pressing to move the slides rather than for moving a cursor on the screen.
These mice could be neet for CAD stuff to... or just drawing in general, the harder you press the thicker the line etc... But i can just see it now, your playing quake, and oopps squeased to hard and launched a rocket at the wall *ooppss* But i think alot of that kinda stuff could be taken care of with some well designed software, now if apple would only release those specs... :P
Seany
"Where ever you go, there you are"
So does my wife! (She is cordless too!)
Ken
...if you make it angry by rubbing it the wrong way ?
My Webcam
We use a mouse by moving it around, right? So if one is buttonless than won't moving it be clicking it? Won't clicking it make it move?
Will I have to worry about making sure that my fingers are in the 'correct' position, forcing me to not only look on the screen for the pointer, but also at the mouse for finger postion??
Another case of "just because you can, doesn't mean you should", I think.
Wireless and optical is cool, but pressure sensitive, with 'strokable zones'?
-- What you do today will cost you a day of your life.
I hereby announce my intention to patent "one stroke" fulfillment of needs... oh, damn you wankers and your prior art!
does it vibrate too?
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Hey this is off subject, but has anyone come up with a standard ps/2 keyboard/mouse that is like the toshiba laptops? I really like the way you can keep your hands on the keyboard and scroll around...
Just curious.
regards,
Benjamin Carlson
"If voting could really change things, it would be illegal. " - Revolution Books, NY
The UNIX builders created mouse with 3 buttons, and saw that is was good. Then, Microsoft came up with the bright idea to create mice with 2 buttons, and people liked it.
Apple, the company that always does things the other way around, thought that one button was enough for all your computer needs, and so it was done.
Thinks looked good, because you could see at ones mouse-buttons what OS he was using. That simple times are over, because Apple introduced the 0-buttoned mouse. Confusion all around the techie world, because now there is a new group of people: the zero-buttoners.
But don't forget that there is a bright side: things will now never change again (unless someone can create a mouse with a negative number of buttons)
--
If code was hard to write, it should be hard to read
It has been my understanding that Apple began using the track pad simply because it was cheaper than the mini-trackball they used to use on the older PowerBooks. IMHO, track pads are inferior to the older trackballs but are much better than that little nipple that IBM and Toshiba place in the center of the keyboard. Gawd, how I hate those.
A track pad without buttons sounds like a major headache to me. I suspect that this is just another cost-cutting measure disguised as innovation to make it palatable.
Give me a mouse with two buttons and a wheel.
does anyone remember that movie with Sandra Bullock called "THE NET"? One of the crazy russian (or various derrivatives of bad guy) had this crazy keyboard that was sortof like a ball. Compeltely ergonomic because the keys are vertical'ish, so its as if you're holding a ball. Imagine having the "ball" of the keyboard also act as a mouse, so you move the ball around, almost like an airplane joystick with a ball type keyboard at the tip. mmmm that would be cool
Yes, current Apple mice have only one button. Very good observation. Too bad it has nothing to do with *this* mouse, which has *no* buttons. Thus the joke about *rubbing* the mouse. And it would be pretty damn pointless to only have one touch-sensitive area on the thing.
They also mention keyboard which are supposed to be wireless. Will the keyboard be keyless and programmable as well? That I'd like to see: smash the corner 3 times for an "E." Heck, make the whole thing with voice recognition and get rid of all those pesky periphirals.
Hmmm. That looks like an apple logo at the top of the page to me. And most the comments here are negative. I guess we're just lucky that it's not Apogee with the buttonless mouse idea.
Much like switch keyboards over membrane ones, I think that I will prefer mice with buttons over those without, simply because the tactile feedback makes a difference. Why do you think that there are force feedback game controls, and tactile haptic devices. Why do you think that the controls on an airplane simulate the resistance that would be there in the older systems, that are not fly by wire (older planes used phsyical systems, that you had to push, newer ones don't. Many of them are built to give tactile feedback where there doesn't need to be any, but there is simply for the feel of the interface).
Eh...
This story is from AppleInsider...the same people who perpetuated for years that an Apple branded Palm device was only months away...Let's take this tongue in cheek, we can't do anything to prove this, so I'd say that this is vaporware, and this coming FROM an AppleGeek.
So there I was. Naked. In a refrigerator. With a potroast on my knees. Smokin a cigar. That's when it got REALLY weird.
the mouse responds to squeezing, tapping, and stroking
Big deal -- I already have a pointing device that meets these criteria. Unfortunately it wasn't designed by Steve Jobs, so not many people want to lick it.
Penis jokes aside, this line from the article made me laugh:
"It's not just another wireless, optical mouse. It's done by Apple, so it's impressive."
Sounds like someone is thinking a bit "different."
Ingesting lead based paint flakes will do that to you.
--Shoeboy
(former microserf)
Having crawled over around and through the cockpit of the Hornet for 3 years and being quailfied to run engines on the ground I can assure you that the throttles move. I've helped replace and rig the throttle cables that run from the throttle console to the main fuel control of each engine. The stick is fly-by-wire in the Hornet, but it has the standard setup of bellcranks and linkages that link to electronic and mechanical backup systems for flight control.
You are probably thinking of the control stick of the Lockheed (formerly General Dynamics) F-16 Fighting Falcon. The original design for the stick was for it to be stationary and it does indeed operate entirely from pressure. However, it does move. The stationary stick so irritated pilots that GD relented and redesigned the stick so that it moves (not as much as other tactical aircraft, but it does move.)
"...history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest." --Ghandi
Apple has again and again changed the way computers are used in the last 15 years (unlike a certain other software giant whose idea of 'innovation' is "let's leave somebody else develop something good, then we buy them out and claim it was ours").
Think about it: WIMP was first deployed in a wide commercial environment by Apple (along with the mouse). Apple's user interfaces are actually very use-able (I usually say that if Un*x allows people to have a computer do what they want. Windows allows the computer have people do what it wants. Apple does the same, but usually the computer's and user's ideas of what is to be done are the same). Apple was able to slip a processor architecture in without skipping a beat (almost), and is about to introduce a really kick-ass environment (MacOS X is way cool). Always without skipping a beat. Damn, that other software company still has 16-bit stuff in their OS!
So yes, I am impressed more often than not by Apple. And this is a nice idea. Let's just wait and see how well it delivers on its promises.
(btw: I'm not usually an Apple user, so I'm not evangelizing)
1 October, 2000
For immediate distribution
Apple, often lauded for having sparked revolutions in the design of the personal computer in the form of its "Macintosh" line, is now poised to ignite a whole new revolution in the field of teledildonics. With the advent of the new "Touchy-Feelie Force Feedback Mouse," Internet pervs all over the world will enjoy a whole new range of virtual tittilation.
The new Touchie-Feelie mouse responds not by clicking buttons, but by manipulating in a provocitive manner: lightly tapping, stroking, and rhythmic squeezing all produce distinct results. A waterproofed version is in the works to enable oral stimulation, and a force-feedback model has already reached the testing phase.
"These new mice are amazing," said Roy Farbengrinkle, a vendor of pornographic software lucky enough to get to beta test the force-feedback model. "They resist just the right amount when stroking digital [expletive deleted]. And the way that it shakes when I use it to [deleted] her in the [deleted] with a [deleted] camshaft [deleted] really [deleted] my [deleted], let me tell you."
Farbengrinkle warned, however, that the mice may not be suitable for every purpose. "The other day I was checking my stocks and I sneezed - I guess the way my hand squeezed the mouse caused me to buy 200 shares of Alcatel. So they're not really all that good for, you know. Business stuff." He then shrugged. "But hey, who really uses their computer for anything but porn, anyway?"
Copyright 2000, Amalgamated Dress
That has been done long before: STUPIDAMOUSE, the mouse with NO keys: Every organization has one: the user who has that uncanny knack for breaking anything s/he touches. Now there's a mouse made especially for these very "special" users. The StupidaMouse renders even the worst of them harmless.
As much as it sounds "kewl" -- one must realize that appleinsider.com is a RUMOR site and sometimes is fed mis-information.
They also report "Apple May Illuminate Portable Keyboards". I will belive it when I see it.
I wish /. would not post rumors and stick to news and substance.
thanks for your time.
I work in a design firm.
We (PC Users) have been making fun of the Mac users for years using catch phrases like "Don't compute with the fruit." and "What, does that second button on the mouse confuse you?"
Looks like we'll have to adapt that second one...
"...responds to squeezing, tapping, and stroking..."
Finally, a good excuse for when your parents walk in your room and find you stroking your overclocked gigahertz Athlon (in its customized Kryotech case), as you gently slip that Voodoo5-6000 into the AGP slot...
What? Don't look at me like that!
Can you imagine what it is like if you are Quaking? Hehe.
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
kinda, the pressure sensitive stick as a mouse. and two or three buttons...
Im just wondering how this came about? jobs sitting alone one night just "playing around" when the idea "came to him"?
"Apparently, the mouse responds to squeezing, tapping, and stroking...
Yeah, my mouse responds the same way. I find I get better response times when the user is female, however. That is, unless she puts a latex mouse cover on it--that totally ruins the interface quality.
--
Have Exchange users? Want to run Linux? Can't afford OpenMail?
Linux MAPI Server!
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As for the fears of some that it would be difficult for newbies to learn, I think that the real fear is that it would be one more thing that the kids would have up on us: learning without the barrier of ingrained assumptions, they'd be sailing along on the thing while we're perplexedly searching for the button, like some old codger looking for the crank on the front of his Cadillac.
Learn without training wheels, sez I. You don't need the fixed, clicking button anymore than you need to keep your hands on the keyboard at all times, the exhortations of countless typing instructors (sworn to turn out the fastest typists possible for the secretarial pools of the nation) notwithstanding.
I looked into the abyss, and the abyss looked into me--and we both winked.
Unless this device has the a static footprint like a trackball or trackpad it is going to get lost very easily. And if these wireless devices find thier way into school or libraries (like lots of apple equiptment) the non tethered devices will disappear like free candy.
I bet at least half the blokes that post here criticising apple's round mouse have never even touched one. Either that or they don't understand how easy it is to get used to using(shrug).
Say what you want, but Apple has one thing going for them that always separates them from the rest. The word is "innovative". No other company even comes close...
The AppleJedi are not all gone.
Gimmie a gun! I wan't a gun! With a target for
an icon! A bang sound and bullet holes when I select something!
Yeah! Yeah! Gimmie Gimmie!
Apparently, the mouse responds to squeezing, tapping, and stroking...
WOW if the user is a good looking female, then hell I work exactly like this mouse.
I was actucally enrolled in the beta program for this hardware mouse. But I droped out the first day when the apple tech guy keep yelling at me "Come on you stoke it like you want to open that window, come on stroke it, you ain't going to open that window unless you stroke it harder, dammit now squeeze it to scroll, got to squeeze it tighter, OH yea that is how you scroll, just like that prefect, ahh" I don't know, it just make me uncomfortable for some reason.
And that really made me wonder, apple is a big company, so why the hell was the beta program in some guys house and there was only one iMac there. And dam you think apple could afford to replace light blubs, it had no light and you couldn't see anything in there. It was kinda cool though that Apple servered a lot of beer there. I am still wondering why the hell I was the only beta tester there
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OH MY GOD uh, hrm I just realized something, I have to go now
"`Ford, you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.'" -THHGTTG
Sometimes creating virtual interfaces instead of physical interfaces makes a lot of sense. In some cases it makes a complex product easier to use or more affordable (almost all synthesizers now use an lcd screen instead of rows upon rows of buttons and knobs).
Creating virtual interfaces on a mouse seems misguided to me. There are a few problems:
1. Tapping on a trackpad doesn't work very well. There is a lag. Sometimes it doesn't work. This would likely be the same with this buttonless mouse.
2. I would miss the tactile feedback of clicking a button. Trying to guess if the OS properly interpreted my finger motion would be agravating and slow me down.
3. A pad doesn't offer a physical landscape for your finger to orient itself on. I'd hate to have to look at the mouse to make sure I was tapping on the left side of the pad.
Making a product easy for absolute beginners at the expense of ease of use for semi-skilled users is a mistake.
If there is one single peripheral that hasn't changed much since the XT, that one is the keyboard. I think it is so important that I pay more attention to it when buying a box than I care about other things (yes, there *are* odd people in the world), because we stay in touch with it for so long and a bad keyboard can really screw you productivity. The article mentions both a tailless buttonless mouse and a "much improved" keyboard. I don't think being wireless as being much of an improvement, so I really hope Apple comes up with something really evolutionary.
"Hmm...Coke and Pepsi-cola..." - Einstien pondering about the wrong product
/.'s 10 Millionth
Well hey, I respond to squeezing, tapping, and stroking too! How depends on which of the three you are currently performing. Awww yeah!
He who joyfully marches in rank and file has already earned my contempt. - "Big Al" Einstein
The last thing I need is a wireless mouse. If it is anything like my TV remote, I'll use it for a week and then it will dissappear down a crack in the couch.
Honey! Do you know where the mouse is?
why the hell is this article moderated up at all?
everytime a news story is posted on slashdot, there is almost someone who is gonna bitch about the story being too late, and then some dummies will moderate it up.
slashdot is "news for nerds", not "your daily news". thus the important thing is that slashdot posts news for nerds. i must agree that some news are critical time wise, like news on lawsuits, a news on lawsuit should be posted at once, so if the community can take an action, we will at once, but a news on a gadget can wait for weeks, or months. it is not like you are going to go out and buy one, and it is not like the time period will stop you from buying one.
------ Curiosity killed the cat. {satisfaction brought it back | it didn't die ignorant | lack of it is killing mankind
Lonely Skunk ... lonely
Stinking so
The nice thing about Windows is: it does not just crash; it displays a nice little dialog box and let's you press 'OK'
"People like CmdrTaco have an inside track..." hello? Of course he has an inside track. It's his site, his idea, his code... If I was the reason /. existed (not to mention head honcho or whatever the !@#$!@# his title is now) I'd post whatever the heck I wanted to too. Jeez... (sorry, that just seemed so ridiculously ignorant that I had to flame away.)
~luge
IAAL,BIANLY
I have heard about this mouse for a little while now from reading the Apple rumor sites. The sites mention that, in user tests, the mouse has proven very easy to use, with different forces on the mouse being interpreted by software as different inputs.
However, my worry is what a new user will see when they approach the mouse. "Click? Click on what?" or "Press on what? Where?" How is a new user going to know how to make the mouse do what they want without a button visible?
I can also see there being confusion unless there is some kind of tactile feedback that the mouse provides when you "click". Once you start providing some physical feedback, isn't that what a mouse button is right now?
Don't get me wrong - as a fairly competent computer user, I'm looking forward to this mouse. But I'm not sure how novices will approach it.
I'm getting tired of people bitching about the round mouse. Yes, it takes a little getting used to, but once you're familiar with it, it works just fine. You quickly learn to use the indentations of the button or the cord to orient the mouse the right way up. And it's smaller and lighter than a normal mouse, so it's at least as easy on the hands.
I'd be willing to be that most of the people who complain about it haven't used it very long. It takes about 2 days to get used to it, and after that it's not worse than a standard oval -shaped mouse.
For that matter, I wish people would stop bitching about the keyboard as well. The important keys are *not* any smaller than a standard keyboard. The arrow keys and F-keys are smaller, and it's missing del and end (admittedly an annoyance but no biggie since Macs don't make much use of these. And Apple's keyboards take up a lot less space horizontally, which can be nice if you have a small desk.
So no, the keyboard and mouse aren't perfect for everyone. But they work just fine for 90% of Apple's customers. And the other 10% can go out and get themselves third-party mice-- many power users do that anyway.
...squeak? Come on, a computer device that must be squeezed, tacked and stroked should make little rubber ducky noises, too.
Just imagine a whole IT department in a major corporation equipped with these...
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You may like my a cappella music
God, what an RSI nightmare. And you think typing strains the wrists? Try pretending like you have this mouse for a moment and squeeze, not click, your rodent everytime you need to. I can feel my wrist tiring out in a matter of minutes. Now multiply that by the number of times you click a mouse in a day (probably several thousand). Even the minor act of moving your fingers up and down on the keyboard or mouse has been proven to have seriously debilitating consequences in the long run. I can only imagine what using the Apple Squeezomouse would do to you.
--
I think there is a world market for maybe five personal web logs.
I have heard about this mouse for a little while now from reading the Apple rumor sites. The sites mention that, in user tests, the mouse has proven very easy to use, with different forces on the mouse being interpreted by software as different inputs.
However, my worry is what a new user will see when they approach the mouse. "Click? Click on what?" or "Press on what? Where?" How is a new user going to know how to make the mouse do what they want without a button visible?
I can also see there being confusion unless there is some kind of tactile feedback that the mouse provides when you "click". Once you start providing some physical feedback, isn't that what a mouse button is right now?
Don't get me wrong - as a fairly competent computer user, I'm looking forward to this mouse. But I'm not sure how novices will approach it.
This whole thing is goofy you know. I just want a mouse that I can use not have to caress in a certain way. Anybody remember the punch glove from nintendo? That thing was near impossible to get working right and that was waving around now Jobbs wants us to rub our mices in the "right" way I say just buy an intellimouse and plug it in that is if you run a mac and need a mouse not a squeeze toy. I know what the new mices can be used for those stress reducing toys. :)
The Beaver The Best Things In Life Are Free And So Is Linux!
Yeah... I can just see trying to do remote phone support to the poor sucker that gets theirs setup.. dealt with enough people that can't grok right click/left click/single click/double click..............
Their customers are just too, um, creative (read: dumb) for that oh-so-complicated one button mouse.
It would probably blow their mind to use a 2 or (gasp) 3 button mouse.
God forbid they ever see a wheel mouse... their tiny brains may explode.
DrLunch.com The site that tells you what's for lunch!
How the heck would you do this? maybe squeezing and dragging? I just think this was not a very well thought out idea.
I'm not sure our HR department is going to get too cozy with something that you "squeeze, stroke or fondle".
.02
My
Quux26
My
Quux26
www.crashspace.net
It seems that APPLE is responding to the new trend towards wireless/touchscreen technology -- ANOTHER REASON NOT TO USE MACINTOSH -- NOT GOOD FOR TECHNICAL SUPPORT
DEVO-X
Second, clicks from hardware will be clicks the same way every time. What happens when you have some heavy processing going on? Does that click turn in to a mouseDown?
And perhaps most importantly, its bad enough playing quake with someone else's keybindings, but I can't imagine playing with their mouse bindings.
t
What the heck was the *problem* this mouse is supposed to solve?
Just because it's new, it's good?
Or is this just another "insanely cool" kinda thing that Apple seems to fall in love with from time-to-time?
t_t_b
--
I'm on PJ's "enemies" list! Are you?
You know what this reminds me of? Those awful membrane keyboards, where there is no key travel and you're never sure if you pressed the button or not.
I mean, how can this possibly be an advance? Does Apple have something against tactile feedback? Bottom line, how will this make me more efficient at using the computer?
--
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
Last year, they said the next iMac would ship with a built-in 17" monitor, and feature "business" colors like Mahogany and Oak. They even had "photos" of the new design.
Now it's a buttonless mouse. News flash: it ain't gonna happen. The DP4 of OS X is obviously designed for a 1-button mouse. The round, 1-button USB mouse is cheap to make and part of their branding identity.
Rumor sites make this crap up to get more web hits and sell ads.
You have been trolled, /., big-time.
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
All the Mac mice I have used work fine (with the exception of the iMac puck mouse, if I wanted puck I would have asked for hockey).
Do we really need a "squeezable" mouse? If they're gonna do that, at least make it squeak or something when you squeeze it.
Maybe this would serve as some sort of protection. Set up the mouse control panel to not actually make any permanent changes unless you give it the secret handshake first. Then clueless MCSE types could get as confused as they need to be before you can get rid of them without actually changing anything.
What is the robbing of a bank, compared to the founding of a bank? -- Bertolt Brecht
Firewire is another IEEE standard, but just as USB was submitted by Intel (and royalties are paid to them), Firewire was submitted by Apple. They actually do deserve the credit for the innovation on that one.
-- Still waiting for the Nike endorsement
I'm just speculating - What if this mouse has the same round "puck" shape as Apple's current infamous model?
Most Likely: The "Puck II", without a cord, leaves the user totally clueless as to its orientation. Apple explains that "learning by trial and error is a valuable experience to the user especially when used in an educational institution."
Least Likely: The "Puck II's" entire surface area can be used for rubbing, clicking and squeezing. With the new "clean" civilian GPS signal, Apple uses GPS to determine the relative motion of the mouse with respect to the monitor and hence the pointer direction. The mouse's orientation becomes irrelevent.
Just a random "fun" idea that wouldn't really work...
--Aaron Greenberg
Buttons! Buttons! We don't need no stinking Buttons!
Does anyone have a link to the picture, or some more info?
http://dtum.livejournal.com
No matter what you do, there are still "switches" in the mouse of some sort or another. It's still a digital device. If I stretch a couple of layers of saran wrap around my mouse, spray it a crystal purple, and then cut holes for the sensors and sliders, I suddenly have a mouse w/o obvious buttons. Big freakin' deal.
Mad Monk!
Someone already invented a no-button mouse about 2 years ago... Wonder if it's already patented?
;)
Your Working Boy,
So we go from one button to none. Great progression. More seriously, this seems interesting, but I don't know if it's really that great... I've never felt that my mouse didn't have enough functions, but then, I'm a keyboard junkie. Then again, I never thought I'd need a wheel on my mouse, but damn, do I love my Intellieye! =)
-palp
All these ways of clicking this new mouse. What will be the standard replacement for the double click?
A) Double-lick?
B) Double-squeeze?
C) Double-push?
anymore you can think of?
I would personally like to see Apple come out with a new mouse you can tickle, making the mouse giggle.
I have never been a big fan of the Mac, primarily because the UI (and the one button mouse) drive me batty.
That said, this seems like an idea with lot of potential if implemented well. For one thing, squeezing seems like a much more intuitive way to implement drag-and-drop - vs. having to know where the right place to click & hold in that particular UI is.
Even better, imagine being able to trace Palm graffiti-like characters right on the mouse - just draw a line with your finger to the left or right to go forward back in your browser, trace a "?" for help, custom symbols for selecting weapon in Quake, launching favorite apps, etc.
If it ends up being another hockey puck, but now with invisible buttons, then it is time to put Apple out to pasture.
They used to have better pictures there, but I can't find them.
Oh, and I apologize if someone alreay posted this info, but I just wanted to be helpful.
I'll bet you anything they'll build the RF transceiver for the mouse into the keyboard. Think about it - building it into the computer would be silly (they'd have to make some case design changes, especially for the iMac, and the new mouse wouldn't work with any older Macs). Having a little box plugging into a USB port and taking up valuable desk space while not really doing much of anything would be pretty lame as well.
For anyone who shelled out $50 for a MacAlly iKey or similar replacement keyboard, you're probably out of luck if you want one of these mice - you'll have to get the new Apple keyboard too.
As for not having any buttons, I do seriously wonder how they'll get it to work well, especially for newbies that are even more dependant on the "pressing a button" concept. But on the plus side, it sounds like we're finally getting a decent multiple-buton mouse!
The next question is, will there be any OS-level support for second and third mouse buttons, or will the you have to map, um, a squeeze on the right side of the mouse, to a control-click, which applications must then interpret as the signal for a contextual menu (preventing them from using control-clicks as other types of input)?
--
$x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
$x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
Microsoft actually has a research department?
From their 1998 gallery.
Just what we need: a mouse resembling a breast! Will it be called "TitMouse"? You can have two of them, one for each hand. Surfing for porn will never be the same again.
I for one am NOT looking forward to this mouse, especially if it has no buttons.
The problem with trying to make the thing work by feel is that you'll have to find some way to accommodate different hand sizes, otherwise users of different hand sizes will have trouble launching mouse-based commands properly. HOPEFULLY, Apple will not be dumb enough to shape it like a hockey puck, because the mouse that came with the iMac and G3/G4 PowerMacs sucks like a vacuum cleaner in terms of decent hand feel. -_-
What I find interesting recently is that despite all the grousing about Microsoft software, many Linux users LOVE Microsoft hardware. The various Microsoft mice pointers and the Microsoft Natural and Natural Elite keyboards are very well-liked for its excellent ergonomic feel. The MS Natural keyboards does take a little getting used to, but after using them for a while going back to a regular keyboard is very uncomfortable in comparison.
Raymond in Mountain View, CA
"It's not just another wireless, optical mouse. It's done by Apple, so it's impressive."
WTF, because it's done by Apple it automatically is impressive? Ever since Apple went closed HW, they suck and suck more...
J.
Anyone who has submited a story and then had it posted w/o giving you credit -- or someone else posts something that you feel is much less important than your story will know exactly what you mean. People like CmdrTaco have an inside track and it seems like they can post whatever they want while sometimes it seems like it takes an act of congress for anyone else's story to get posted.
Okay, folks. Some people have a really warped idea of what this site is.
Please note that the button on the submit page is labeled "Submit Story". It is not labeled "Publish Story". It most definitely not labled "Splash my handle on the Slashdot home page and give me an ego boost".
There are a lot of people who seem to think getting a submission published on Slashdot is like loosing your virginity or getting your drivers license: Something you have to do to "be cool" or whatever.
Folks, that isn't the way it works.
This is Rob's site. The Great Taco can do whatever the hell he wants to. (Likewise, you're under no obligation to read this site. But that's another story...) The "Submit" page is so you can tell Rob & Co about something you think is cool. There is absolutely no obligation, of any kind, involved.
Anyone who thinks otherwise is having delusions of grandeur.
End of rant.
dragonhawk@iname.microsoft.com
I do not like Microsoft. Remove them from my email address.
Don't believe me when I say that Appleinsider has no credibility? Then check out some of the BS that has turned up on that site. It is also a demonstration of how gullible people are today, if you're curious...
Friends don't let friends use multiple inheritance.
... was that Apple knew that research found that a 2 (or more) button mice was better and easier to use, but Marketing decided to settle on one button so they could do their "use the computer with one button" campaing for the Mac.
My UI professor told me this, I don't know if it's true. Anybody heard about this ???
- sigs are for wimps.
I make it a point to "stroke my mouse" at least once per day. Keeps the pipes clean if you know what I mean.
"The further I get from the things that I care about, the less I care about how much further away I get." -Robert Smith
I'll just have to build one myself, I suppose.
thad
I love Mondays. On a Monday, anything is possible.
Rub the Apple Mouse
Left-tickle, right-soft-caress
Arouse the rodent
Since this mouse is likely to come out after Mac OS X the call will more likely involve having the tech telnet in and fix what is wrong. And what's so nightmarish about that?
DB
Why would there be any confusion? When a mac mounts an IBM formatted floppy, the OS puts a very readable IBM on the icon. When it's a Mac floppy, no IBM.
Oh, you mean you were trying to continue the FUD that Mac's can't read IBM floppies years after they made that standard in the OS? Shame on you.
DB
Am I the only who sqeezes the mouse in frustration, taps it in thought, and strokes it... um, well, you get the idea?
---
I'm not ashamed. It's the computer age, nerds are in.
They're still in, aren't they?
---
I'm not ashamed. It's the computer age, nerds are in.
They're still in, aren't they?
I guess I shouldn't be surprised that Apple has produced a mouse with no buttons before it produced a mouse with two buttons.
the article also stated that apple is(has) creating(ed) a wireless keyboard as well. doesn't say if it's IR or other... /. Challenge: create a small bug that can intercept the stream between the wireless keyboard and the machine - and transmit the keystrokes to a receiver. two cases of coke to the first to accomplish.
What's new with the keyboard, other than it's "new, and much improved" (yeah, uh huh)? They don't have any details about that. Bad omen, I say.
Oh well, maybe they've already sorted out this problem. Just something to keep in mind.
I think Apple's innovation ranks right up there with Microsoft's
Really?
- QuickTime
- ColorSync
- AppleScript
- iMac
- foundation for all modern-day GUIs *
- WebObjects
- Aqua
- Newton
* And I don't want to here the bit about how Xerox "invented the Mac UI." That's a total mythology. Xerox had something running that resembled a cousin of X11. Apple gave Xerox truckloads of stock to use some basic concepts, but made all of it truely usable.
- Scott
------
Scott Stevenson
Scott Stevenson
Tree House Ideas
I really dont think I'd be into mouse fondling...
This is certainly an interesting idea, but there no way in hell I'll ever aproach a mac again in my life, I delt with them enough back in elementary school.
I'd hate to try playing quake or somehting with a mouse I had to squeez to shoot, or otherwise fodle just to get it to do what I wanted.
I think I'lll be sticking with my good old fashioned mouse and graphics tablet thatnks.
It sounds a little simpler than the apple mouse though - in the slides the new events listed were "touch, release".
It was also presented in the context of a 3D UI - it would have been really nice to be able to see the videos as well to see how they thought of using it.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Personally, I find it hard to believe that anyone besides Apple could "innovate" something this stupid. This invention reeks of Apple.
This is hilarious. You don't even know what the product is yet (just some rumor with vague reference to features), yet you already have deemed it useless and unworthy of futher inspection. Good constructive behavior.
- Scott
------
Scott Stevenson
Scott Stevenson
Tree House Ideas
And then there's this, from the article: "It's not just another wireless, optical mouse. It's done by Apple, so it's impressive."
I believe this is meant as:
"Apple tends to spend a bit more time on design and user experience than others, so that will likely be reflected in the product"
rather than:
"APPLE STUFF RULEZ D00D!"
See the difference?
- Scott
------
Scott Stevenson
Scott Stevenson
Tree House Ideas
...Because rubbing it makes a genius appear and he'll be pleasured to move the pointer wherever you want.
Handy, eh? (Or should I say "handless"?)
What is up with this? First they have only one mouse button, and now they're doing away with buttons completely. I don't know what Apple is thinking. They create this one-piece, highly UN-upgradable computer that comes complete with no floppy drive and no comperable replacement. Then they release this gay little mouse that throws the entire concept of ergonomics out the window. Now they're going to make a mouse that requires you to pet it like a hamster.
:)
With all these ridiculous moves, I kind of miss all the Mac-folk who used to live 'round here that moved away. Love to hear what they have to say about this.
People are going to stick with the conventional mouse... why?
Well because, think about it. If this mouse responds to taps and other sleight of hand then the device is going to be nearly impossible to control with any certainty. It will be very easy to accidentally tap the mouse or jerk it and have it interpret the interaction incorrectly. Sometimes less is more when it comes to interfacing with us humans.
You don't agree? Then take a look at the current trend in airplane cockpits... Give me that old two button mouse any day, and not the stupid trackball type either.
Nathaniel P. Wilkerson
NPS Internet Solutions, LLC
www.npsis.com
Nathaniel P. Wilkerson
www.haidacarver.com
This whole thread has just become trash on Apple and it sickens me. Yes, I am an Apple fan, make fun if you want. Truth of the matter is that I use a PC, Compaq heaven-forbid, all of the time and rarely use my old Macintosh. I admit that Apple missed the boat on being the most used/sold computer, and in that regard they messed up big. They could have if they played their cards right. Microsoft is just a big copy of the Mac OS Finder, oh, no wait, the menubar is on the bottom and the close button is on the other side of the window, so it must be different.
So why do I like Apple so much? They "think different" as they say! Oh, "how corny is that" and "get off the stage" you may be saying, but it is true. iMac, "the fruity computer" as some of you might be saying. A lot of people call it a joke, but Apple's not laughing, it was one of the top selling machines last year (should be number one, but each color was counted as a different model in sales count). And all the companies ripping it off, I mean, making similar, but different, products are not laughing.
Where would we be without Apple? Stuck in a boring beige computer world with everything square and blah. Apple knows that curves are colors are cool (especially graphite, mmmm-mmm). I wish my computer wasn't so plain and... well, Compaq (insert insult against Compaq here).
I say bravo to Apple for a no button mouse, though it is silly to stroke a mouse, I can sense new computer slang coming from that one, but it is totally radical and thinking outside the little beige box.
Apple, I salute you!
(Yeah, I am kind of hypocritical when I say don't make fun of Apple and trash on Compaq. But I have a good reason, Compaq just sucks. Longer reason is that it should not take 1.5 years of tech support to get a stinking modem fixed! Sorry, pent up agression, and off the subject.)
Seriously though, would a cordless mouse really be wise if Apple were to ship them with the iMac or G4? Stuff gets ripped off from school way too often, and that it attached with a cord! Just think if all the mice in a computer lab were just sitting there... nightmare
I don't think of this rumor any more of what I did of the Apple PalmPilot thing, but it is still fun to imagine eh?
Will the mouse serve as an interface by which the user can "lick" the Aqua user interface?
Actually, a better control that also has no mouse ball, cord, or buttons would be a brick.
It truly is unbelievable the amount people who have never used an iMac know about the mouse and the keyboard. They can tell, just by looking at an advert on TV that using it will give you Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. And that because its small it is impossible for large handed people to use. And because it's round its impossible to know which way it's pointing. And obviously, as there's only one button you can only do half the things in MacOS that you can do in Windows or Unix.
Well, here's the thing, see; because there's only one mouse button, they dont build anything into the OS that needs two buttons. Clever, huh?
I also havent gone down with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome yet. The small mouse is actually very comfortable to use with large hands - other mice try and fit your palm when they're far too small, but with the iMac mouse you just rest your fingers on it.
Now grabbing it the wrong way, come on. Are you guys complete morons?
1. It has a button on the front
2. It has a long wire coming out the front
3. It has a groove in the button for your fingers to find if you're really stuck
4. You leave it pointing the right way when you let go of it anyway.
--- Apparently I have an old
Your list of apple innovations is interesting.
- QuickTime
Bought.
- ColorSync
Bought.
- AppleScript
definite also-ran to Rexx, DLC, etc.
- iMac
Maybe the original mac was innovative for being all in one like this, but the iMac certainly isn't.
foundation for all modern-day GUIs *
Bought/stolen.
- WebObjects
Bought.
- Aqua
Maybe original, but mainly eye-candy of rather questionable merit.
- Newton
Not the first failure in pen-based computing, and certainly not the last, but did certainly include some major innovations. On this last one you actually hit your mark!
-josh
I ask! Ah I remember the days of yore, when I could get Quad PowerPC CPU from not Apple. But no more siree! :/
J.
Although, I have to admit I was bitten by the Apple bug. 1.5 years ago I saw a refurbished iMac Rev. A sitting in a corner at CompUSA. It was 800 dollars, worked fine on startup, so I bought it.
It performs ok. My family immediately replaced the puck mouse with an extra USB one we had on one of the Windows PCs. The keyboard was eventually replaced as well.
My biggest problem is the total lack of software support. Mac fans can argue all they want: there simply isn't as much quality software for Mac as there is for Windows. And despite what people say, the MacOS is BUGGY. This is even more irritating considering the small amount of hardware supported needed within the OS, and that most of the hardware comes out of Apple.
Anyone who doesn't believe Apple has consumers wrapped around their finger is brainwashed himself. Take a look at Hackers by Levy and judge for yourself whether Woz or Jobs had more influence in the original Apple's final design.
- I don't care if they globalize against free speech. All my best free thoughts are done in my head.
I was bored, so just for the heck of it, I put 2 USB mice into my 2k box. Surprisingly, no crash, and the mice were "fighting" over the cursor, not 2 cursors.
-
Ekapshi.
I'm sorry, Apple. But my dog has the prior art here. She responds to squeezing, stroking, and rubbing and she is quite a capable pointer.
--
"May I have ten thousand marbles, please?"
On an unrelated note, my first comment used to be scored a 3, now it's a two. Why on earth would someone moderate my comment DOWN??? I guess that's what someone gets for being pro-Microsoft in a pro-Linus, er ... pro-LINUX environment. Oh well ...
Heh. Just for fun we plugged 3 mice into an iMac. Worked fine.
Trivia: The Apple USB keyboard and mouse will work fine on a WinTel-USB computer.
Josh
--
"I have also mastered pomposity, even if I do say so myself." -Kryten
--
"I have also mastered pomposity, even if I do say so myself." -Kryten
Why is everyone assumming that Apple won't build in some sort of tactile response with this new mouse? And really what's so weird about a "vibrating" mouse? We've had vibrating joysticks for years now, I know guys that won't use anything else. It seems obvious to me that Apple is going to build in some sort of respone. But hey, I'm a mac user so what do I know, right?
Part 1: The MouseMouse Button Issue.
For fine graphics work, the mouse is imprecise at best, being small and totally symmetrical, and having virtually no momentum of it's own. Using the MacOS interface with only one mouse button requires you to constantly use meta-keys for functions that could easily be controlled with a multi-button mouse. An example of this could be making a new folder in Finder. You must hold the control key down while you click, otherwise nothing happens. Within some smarter programs, such as (dare I utter the words) Internet Explorer, clicking and holding the mouse button, after a delay, will pop up the same menu as if you had Control-clicked. This could easily be implemented on the desktop, but has it? I don't think so. Aqua, despite its wonderful looks, has very few real interface usability improvements (I have used OSX DP4, briefly (until it crashed)).
Part 2 : The Keyboard Issue.
The keyboard supplied with the iMac and new G4 machines appears to me to be perhaps the same size as that on the iBook, with a fancier case around it. It certainly feels like a laptop keyboard, which therefore makes it really useful for typing Masters Degree Theses on. Trying to speed up your interaction with an advanced program such as Photoshop by using the many available keyboard shortcuts (because you can only do one thing at a time with the mouse), also results in a range of frustrating consequences.
The keyboard is missing several keys which I use frequently, such as the End key, the Delete key (the key on an iMac keyboard labelled Delete is actually a Backspace key. Surprise!), and the Insert key. Duplicating the OptionAlt and Control keys on the right hand side of the keyboard would also be very useful.
Part 3 : The BoxMonitor Issue.
Ergonomic reasearch done over many years (in general) tells us that the ideal position for a computer usage is to have the centre of the screen just below eye level, and the deskkeyboard at a height where the user's elbow rests comfortably on it when the lower arm is horizontal and the upper arm is vertical. If you are unlucky enough to have to use an iMac, this can only ever be achieved by using a special computer desk, or chocking the boxmonitor up with a couple of telephone books. Of course, in an institutional environment (such as a university), this will never be done, so students end up hunched for hours in bad postures caused mainly by the computers they are forced to use.
Part 4 : The only good thing about the iMac.
For their size, the speakers (by Harman Kardon) are excellent!
Ocean....Oceanic....Oceanism....Schism
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