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Why Apple Makes a One-Button Mouse

Posted by michael on from the behind-the-times dept.

IdiotOnMyLeft writes "There is a short article at Gear Live that tries to explain why Apple still sticks with a one-button mouse. It points out the fact that although it is perfectly possible to use a two-button mouse on a Mac for 7 years now, developers are forced to rethink their design approach and can't flood the right-click menu. No article of this kind would be complete without mentioning that users get confused with two buttons. There's a rumor that John Carmack once asked Steve Jobs what would happen if they'd put one more key on the keyboard."

14 of 1,271 comments (clear)

  1. Because... by InsideTheAsylum · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... they can't afford to pay for the second button.

    1. Re:Because... by Sebadude · · Score: 5, Funny

      Well, perhaps it should be one of the upgrades on the apple store.

      Customize your Apple Pro Mouse! Add a second button for just $399 US.

      It would be right on par with their memory upgrades...

      --
      Eh.
    2. Re:Because... by batkiwi · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's too bad they don't sell a sense of humor on the apple store for $15.

  2. Slashdot users only need one button... by lortho · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...to bring down a site before the first comment is even posted, apparently... *sigh*

  3. Re:Mice by shish · · Score: 5, Funny

    A three year old child is easy, try explaining it to my mother

    --
    I mod down anyone who says "I will be modded down for this", regardless of the rest of their comment
  4. Re:Gaming Mouse != Mac Mouse by Txiasaeia · · Score: 4, Funny

    Admittedly I'm not up on current Apple hardware, but what about a scroll wheel? Do you mean you actually scroll *manually*? Explain how this works exactly.

    --
    Condemnant quod non intellegunt.
  5. Re:Look, I'll tell you why they use a one-button m by CrowScape · · Score: 4, Funny

    Good luck to Apple then, as my Grandmother hasn't been using anything for the past ten years now. Well, except, she was apparently able to use a ballot box last election in Chicago.

    --
    common sense: noun
    What those who are ignorant of the subject matter think; usually wrong.
  6. Tech Suport True Story by MajorBlunder · · Score: 4, Funny
    "No article of this kind would be complete without mentioning that users get confused with two buttons."

    While on the face of it, this statement sounds ridiculous, I have experienced cases where it has proved true. I relate the following Tech Support True Story.

    me: Okay ma'am, I want you to move your mouse pointer over the My Computer icon and click your right mouse button.

    caller: The right mouse button?

    me: Yes ma'am.

    caller: Which one is the right button?

    me: (starting to get annoyed) You have two buttons on your mouse, One on the left and one on the right, I want you to click the right button over the My Computer icon.

    caller: Um, your right or my right?

    me: (putting my phone on mute and desperately trying to avoid laughing hysterically)

    --

    "I'm making perfect sense, you're just not keeping up."

  7. Macs by Nova+Express · · Score: 4, Funny
    "And yet, every time I use the Mac at work, it's an exercise in frustration."

    Maybe you should just stop trying to copy that 17 meg file...

    --
    Lawrence Person (lawrencepersonh@gmailh.com (remove all "h"s to mail)

    http://www.lawrenceperson.com/

  8. Re:Mice by Dun+Malg · · Score: 4, Funny
    And, heaven forbid I have to deal with a southpaw idiot who has a 5 button mouse... We are pretty good about who gets the 5 button mice, but somethimes an idiots mouse breaks, and the 5 buttons are all we have to replace them with! When I say "right click" I mean the button that is left of center, but not the far left on the side, okay?

    Heh. That's when it's time to whip that black Sharpie out of your pocket protector and (just like you do with 4-year-old's shoes) put a big 'R' on the Right-Click button, and a big 'L' on the Left-Click button. I've never seen anyone using such a mouse, but I found one marked R and L in the garbage at work once.

    --
    If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
  9. Re:Mice by AhBeeDoi · · Score: 4, Funny
    I know from experience that it takes no more than ten minutes to teach a three year old child perl.
    Yeah, but C++ is a different can of worms.
  10. Re:Gaming Mouse != Mac Mouse by russellh · · Score: 4, Funny

    In my day, we had to point and click. and we liked it. None of this fancy scroll wheel or mouse gestures crap. I tell ya, scroll wheels and the obeseity epidemic are not just a coincidence. Sit up straight and do it the good old fashioned way: move that mouse and click for gosh sakes. it builds character.

    --
    must... stay... awake...
  11. Re:Mice by banzai51 · · Score: 4, Funny
    The real reason is that if Apple went to a 2 button mouse, then Jobs would have to eat some crow and admit he was wrong.

    That will never happen. The ego is strong with that one.

  12. YEAH, TAKE THAT YOU MAC USERS! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    IF YOU DON'T AGREE WITH "TOTAL WIMP" (user 564548) YOU ARE INCAPABLE OF INDEPENDENT THOUGHT!