Slashdot Mirror
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.
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
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.
--
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..."
---
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.
--
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
Over at dumbentia. Perhaps life does imitate art.
Ita erat quando hic adveni.
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.
So does my wife! (She is cordless too!)
Ken
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.
does it vibrate too?
--
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.
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)
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
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).
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.
Er, Apple doesn't design its hardware for use with Linux. Believe it or not, they design their hardware for use with (drumroll, please) MacOS, which is perfectly happy with one button.
Mod down posts with a "Free Mac Mini/iPod" sig, they're spam!
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
"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
...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...
------------------
------------------
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.
If you're using something like BootX, you can define just about any keys you want in the kernel arguments - you don't have to be stuck with the option key.
That said, you'd be well off buying a 3rd party mouse. Remember though, Apple isn't selling these for you to run Linux on (although they don't really care if you do).
- Jeff A. Campbell
- VelociNews (http://www.velocinews.com)
- Jeff
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.
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
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,
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.
From their 1998 gallery.
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
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.
BTW nerds don't use Apples so why does any news about them matter?
I beg to differ. I'm using a Mac right now, and I challenge you to find someone who wouldn't consider me a nerd. <grin>
Some of us are quite happy with the amount of Apple reporting, and dammit, if it's true, then bundling a wireless, buttonless, programmable mouse with a system as a default option is quite cool.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
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
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
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
The hockey puck mouse is annoying until you get used to it. The hockey pucks were supposed to fit with the overall design of the iMac and later the bondi G3s. I think a mouse with a touch sensitive surface is a pretty cool idea because it lets you place buttons exactly where your fingers are most comfortable. Next I'd like to see a touchpad keyboard that had spring mechanism under the touchpad so it feels like real keys.
I'm a loner Dottie, a Rebel.
Unfortunately, people who are used to the "feel" of the Microsoft Mouse--from the "Dove Bar" unit to today's Intellimouse Explorer--will HATE the iMac mouse with a passion.
The reason is simple: it's very uncomfortable to hold onto for any long periods of time. It doesn't "fall into your hand" like a good mouse pointer is nowadays. I myself use the Logitech Marble Mouse trackball, and I love it for its comfortable feel in your left or right hand using it.
Raymond in Mountain View, CA
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?"
My main problem with the iBook is the screen resolution and lack of video out options. Otherwise, it's a decent system for its target market (I wouldn't trade in my Bronze G3 though!).
Even though I'm a hardcore Mac user, I'd prefer it if Apple would ship a 2 button mouse. 3 buttons is pushing it for most people, but perfectly acceptable for power users.
I'm intrigued by the idea of a buttonless mouse. Like anything, it really depends on how well it is implemented (hopefully better than the puck mouse Apple has been shipping lately).
- Jeff A. Campbell
- VelociNews (http://www.velocinews.com)
- Jeff