Slashdot Mirror
Review of Apple's "Mighty Mouse"
hanser writes "Ars Technica is running an in-depth review of the new Apple "Mighty Mouse." From the review: "As it turns out, Apple blew the description of its "aural feedback" and "touch sensitivity" out of proportion and led most of us to believe that 1) there was some sort of speaker built into the mouse with synthetic mouse sounds coming out of it, and 2) the shell might be solid-state touch-sensitive like our beloved iPod wheels.""
A Mac that uses a mouse that has more than one button would be a good start.
Free Firefox news reader.
It's all standard marketing language. What are the chances that a company could ever possibly do something like that? The mere thought sends shivers down my spine!
Seriously though, what did you expect? Apple will wise up and drop the price on this thing by October, and hopefully have a Bluetooth version by then too. Apple claims to be a big supporter of Bluetooth with decent support in the OS, but this overpriced rodent does nothing to prove it.
I'm a fanboy, but I'll call a spade a spade. And this thing is a really overpriced spade.
But the thought that a company could possibly overstate the capabilities and features of a product! Holy shit they totally blew it out of proportion! It's actually a much smaller proportion than they claimed it is!
I feel so violated!
Slashdot: 24 hours behind every other site or your money back!
Is there something wrong with the moderation? There are hardly any +3 or higher comments on most of the stories in the past day.
WRONG? Sounds like it finally started working properly.
Seems a little silly that he's complaining that there's no bluetooth.
It was never advertised as a 'wireless' mouse.
Why would a none-wireless mouse have bluetooth?
I'm still acclimatizing to x86, next you'll be telling me that all macs will ship with windows.
Nothing sucks like a Vax, nothing blows like a PowerMac G4
Anyone found what the resolution of the sensor is on this thing? I've looked everywhere and no one seems to know...
Seriously, do we really need further discussions of this topic?
So Apple released a mouse that imho looks pretty stylish and tries to introduce some new concepts.
Fine and interesting, but I really fail to see why no 24 hours after a story about the new mouse, that generated more than 1400 comments (for a mouse people...), we need the next story about this very mouse.
Well, if anything this shows that
a) a lot of us here should really get a life if we get all worked up about a mouse
b) Apple really are marketing geniuses.
Btw., this really reminds me off:
http://blog.thomasnesges.de/uploads/iProduct.png
Apple, possibly the most innovative computer company on the planet. Yet, the multi-buttoned mouse is 10 years too late and its not even wireless. Whats up with that?
Another review at DetroitMac: http://detroitmac.com/index.php?content=mightymous e
Apple, possibly the most innovative computer marketing company on the planet
OS X, W2K and XP are the only listed compatible platforms.
Is Apple playing the Microsoft game by trying to cut competition out of the market?
For my initial impressions about this mouse, check out my LiveJournal post discussing it here. In short, I rather like the mouse, although since I was using it in a near-silent house last night, I noticed that it makes a sort of squeaking sound sometimes. I think this is plastic rubbing in it somewhere...
If the author of this review had even bothered to read the information on the Apple website, he would have found that there are no sounds associated with the mouse. It is also obvious by simply looking at the mouse that it is not "solid-state touch-sensitive like our beloved iPod wheels." Also, one of the small features I love about Macintosh is the ability to plug your mouse into the keyboard, therefore getting rid of the need for a long mouse cord. Sounds like a guy who doesn't work on a Mac very often.
Way back in the System 7 days I had a Kensington Thinking Mouse (4 buttons) connected to my Mac via AppleDesktopBus. The additional 3 buttons were programmed through a control panel installed along with the Kensington drivers.
In the Mac OS 8 days I had a two button mouse, Mac OS 8 had full and proper support for contextual menus (right-click or control-click, they do the same thing).
So did Mac OS 9...
So does Mac OS X...
During the public beta of Mac OS X, I was able to plug in a Microsoft Optical Scroll Mouse and use both the right button and the scroll wheel without having to do any installation or configuration. Ditto for Logitch mice. This worked just as well with Mac OS X 10.0, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, and now with 10.4.
Also, I forgot to mention that the mouse very much does have a speaker built into it, but the only sound I've heard it make is a clicking as you spin the scroll ball. It's almost like the iPod scrolling sound, but a lot quieter. It's impossible to hear in a normal, noisy office, and in a quiet room it's easy to mistake it for the standard ratcheting sound made by the wheel in almost all other scrolling-type mice. The ARS Technica article seems to have overlooked or simply not noticed this.
You have to give the folks in Apple's marketing department a lot of credit. They do a fantastic job of releasing "good" hardware and capturing the attention of the mainstream. Springing products on the market in their secretive fashion creates the effect a previous poster pointed out where we suddenly have 1400 comments in slashdot about the post.
I haven't used one of these mice, nor have I even seen one. But the fact is, Apple has generated a ton of response for a simple $50 peripheral. When any other company releases a mouse, we might hear about it but likely not. This thing has everyone talking.
Finance tutorials and more! Understandfinance
The "innovative" virtual button design is great for letting people use it as a single-button or multi-button mouse, but the consequence is that it doesn't do everything a normal multi-button mouse can do. Namely, it can't click both the left and right button at the same time, and register them as a (left+right) click. Instead, (according to the review) it just gets registered as a left click. Additionally, people who rest their fingers on the mouse buttons are going to be annoyed, because they have to lift their index finger in order to right-click.
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
If the author of this review had even bothered to read the information on the Apple website, he would have found that there are no sounds associated with the mouse.
From the Apple website: "Mighty Mouse even sounds as good as it feels. The audio feedback built into Mighty Mouse provides an aural sensation that responds to your movements."
It is also obvious by simply looking at the mouse that it is not "solid-state touch-sensitive like our beloved iPod wheels."
From the Apple website: "Thanks to a smooth top shell with touch-sensitive technology beneath, Mighty Mouse allows you to right click without a right button. Capacitive sensors under Mighty Mouse's seamless top shell detect where your fingers are and predict your clicking intentions."
Also, one of the small features I love about Macintosh is the ability to plug your mouse into the keyboard, therefore getting rid of the need for a long mouse cord. Sounds like a guy who doesn't work on a Mac very often.
Um, what's your point? He didn't say this was a problem, he just noted it as one of the features of the mouse and that this was typical of Apple mice.
Sheesh.
Well, I'd rather smoke weed than get up in the morning, but even I want a Mac.
They are different and cool.
"I used to have that really cool,funny sig
OK, it's January 2005 and you've been appointed CEO of Apple. Apple is still selling computers with 1 button mice even though they have supported multiple buttons in the OS since Mac OS 8 (and via third party drivers since System 6). To make matters worse, Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro, Logic, and Shake all work best with three mouse buttons!
So, CEO, what do you do?
A) Appologize to the public on national TV, shutdown and liquidate the company.
B) Keep selling only one-button mice forever.
C) Replace the Apple one-button mouse with a Microsoft Optical Scroll Mouse.
D) Replace the Apple one-button mouse with a Logitch MX series mouse.
E) Sell an over-engineered $49 three button + 2D scroll mouse (MightyMouse).
F) Go for simplicty and sell a $29 two button + 1D scroll wheel mouse (the kind you can buy online for $3.99).
G) ______type_your_own_solution_here______
http://detroitmac.com/index.php?content=mightymou
"Audio Feedback:
Apple points out on their website that the mouse features a built in speaker to provide audio feedback. This speaker is used when using the scroll ball and the side button. The click noise for the side buttons is perfect. Not too loud, yet not too quite. The scrollball on the other hand is too loud for my liking. It makes a click noise similar to a typical scroll wheel, but it clicked too much. The mouse preference pane does not allow you to adjust the volume or mute this feature. I never thought I would say this, but can we get a volume control for our mice?!?
"
blakespot
-- Heisenberg may have slept here.
iPod Hacks.com
I thought Apple had finally swallowed their pride and submitted to making a 2 button mouse, something they _seemed_ to be against.
:P
But no, they hardly did, by hiding it all inside it so its still a shiny white jellybean from the outside.
nice try guys, perhaps next time
(bridging from the original item yesterday that had people in spasms proclaiming how bad it would be when they actually used it - because apparently according to them Apple must have designed, built, manufactured, whipped and sold this without trying to use it...)
It acts like a typical Apple mouse for feel and clicking, it is tactile and the right/left thing is not at all like a track/tap pad. It's like having two buttons. The center button takes some getting used to to just move it and not click it, the squeeze buttons are cool, dunno what I'd assign to them yet.
The local Apple store sold out of the 12 they got immediately.
"Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
Who would have thought?
Freedom would be not to choose between black and white but to abjure such prescribed choices. -Theodor Adorno
Intelligent discourse? Are you sure?
99% of optical mice use the HP/Aglient sensors, in fact they just recently announced having shipped 400 Million of those bad boys!
The sensors come in several flavors (mini, low power for cordless, high resolution, etc) but they basiclly boil down to four categories:
400 DPI - the very first batch of optical mice
800 DPI - second generation of optical mice (most popular)
1600 DPI - "high performance" models (expensive gamer mice)
Laser - newest generation (currently used in the Logitech MX 1000 at 800 DPI)
But you are neither different nor cool.
Tour just about any graphic design studio or video shop and you'll find that most of of the Mac users have third party mice with all sorts of funky ergonomic shapes and button configurations. Just because Apple ships a mouse with the PowerMac G5, iMac, and eMac doesn't mean you're forced to use it. Even a $1.99 USB mouse from OfficeMax will work just fine.
Argh - My brain tells me that was funny. But I need slashdot to tell me if it actually was. Please fix it soon.
except for the cool scroll wheel that feels/acts as a track-ball, this is a normal 4 button mouse.
oh well, so much for 1 button is better argument.
You can't handle the truth.
Sorry to admit this in public, but... I... have sweaty palms. OK I said it. Now these white mice are all very well and good for normal people but to me they are like an advertisement to that fact. I have a G5 and the mouse that came with that is constantly filthy.
The other problem I have is with this scroll wheel. I love the concept. 360 degree scrolling is a great idea, but didn't we get rid of balls from mice for a good reason? I mean, how many time a week will it be necessary to clean the scroll ball... if indeed you can? Its not really an issue with scroll wheels because you are directly manipulating the wheel, but on ball mice you were relying on the friction between ball and wheel - which dirt and grime gummed up.
Did the clever bods at Apple think about this in advance and use one of those fancy optical balls?
The other issue is the short cable. My G5 has bluetooth. Apple's bluetooth keyboard is a delight, but it, obviously, doesn't come with a USB hub built in. So where am I supposed to plug the mighty mouse in? If the the cable on the traditional Apple mouse is anything to go by its not long enough to be useful if connected to the rear of the G5. So will I be forced to use a bulky extension cable on a premium mouse - should I decide to buy one?
Scared of flying, pointy things snce 1979!
Some of us paid money for this shit
Why?
You know I saw this and was like "I caught my first dupe ever." I read /. often enough, but I have never actually seen (w/o someone pointing it out) an article that was a dupe of another article I read.
:( Oh well. Anyhow, how many times do we have to talk about this thing?
I was so excited, and then CmdrTaco let me down
I mod down so you can mod up. Your welcome.
I've recently switched to using OS X, and it'd be nice if Apple were to add an optional multi-button functionality to its laptops (beyond [ctrl][click], which requires two hands to be done comfortably). This program looks like a work-around, though I haven't tried it yet.
Personally, I never understood the big deal about one vs two buttons on the Mac. Apple has supported two buttons via any cheap 3rd party mouse for some time. While my 3-year-old has no problem using a two button mouse, my father in-law has never grasped the concept. I'm a sysadmin and some of the users I support get that deer-in-the-headlights look when I tell them to right-click (these are the same users that don't understand directory hierarchy... but thanks to things like Spotlight, they wont need me to find their files anymore).
So IMHO the one-button mouse is not as stupid and out-dated an idea as some seem to think. I wont be buying a Mighty Mouse, but Apple has provided an elegant solution that allows both power users and novices to work of the same computer.
So basically when MacMarketing says its "touch sensitive technology", they meen that springs make contact when you push the mouse down. Quite like every other mouse ever made. I guess they make it sound all fancy and new to justify the 50$ price tag.
"You superiour intellect is no match for our puny weapons" - The Simpsons
I thought Apple had finally swallowed their pride and submitted to making a 2 button mouse, something they _seemed_ to be against.
o sio.htm
w are/NextMouseAdb.jpg
From what I understand, Steve Jobs calls the shots at Apple and has the final say on everything. I also understand that this was the way things were at his previous company, NeXT. When he set out to create the "perfect" computer (the NeXT Cube and NeXTstation) his mice had two buttons
The mouse can be seen here:
http://www.allaboutapple.com/personali/alberto_cr
The later, puck-with-buttons mouse can be seen here:
http://www.simski.org/next/hardware/pictures/hard
The earlier, rectangular, mouse was my favorite. Both it and the keyboard were surrounded by a rubber bumper to minimize any sound that could be made if an office worker were to bump their mouse into their keyboard.
It looks horrible and isn't even wireless.
Guys I have to tell you something, by the time x86 macs are the norm, Macs wont look like Macs anyone they will look like PCs, with tacky hifi like cases. OS X will look and feel like Windows. No one seems to get where this is all going.
The innovation, design, functionality of Apple products is officially a thing of the past. That is all over now.
This is what is ahead:
Tacky, ugly 'DRM enhanced' PCs running Apple's version of Longhorn/Vista that cost 3-4 times as much as a Dell.
Having a short cord makes sense if you plug it into the keyboard. I think thats what Apple intended. Then the short cord is a bonus since you don't have a bunch of extra cord to deal with.
No wireless. Fewer buttons than a Logitech. Lame.
Must use...own brain stem....argggh!...wait....it IS funny! Tears of joy! I no longer need your "post score"! I am FREE!!!!
Clearly I forgot to equip my +5 Codpiece of Karma.
Maybe I just have my tinfoil hat on, but all these hits and all these comments leads to more ad revenue. That is why you're seeing more and more dupes of high-comment posts and you're seeing more and more links with referral IDs.
You can expect another.
-AC
Did you guys read the caption for the first picture? That is absolutely awful.
I just tried one. It feels and sounds as if it has two very conventional clicky switches and as far as left/right buttons go it feels completely natural. It has a flexible "unibody" shell that lets you press one switch and not the other. Unfortunately it also gives the mouse a flimsy feel. A $20 Microsoft or Logitech mouse feels better, and can't these be configured so that all buttons are left clicks? The scoll wheel is something you have to try, some will like it, some will hate it. It seems to take more strokes than a conventional wheel. It may have a rougher granularity but I'm not sure, I need more time on it. As far as aesthetics goes it can't be beat, it definitely matches the keyboard. This mouse is something you have to try before you buy.
I'll stick to my Logitech MX518 thank you very much.
I just ordered the mouse through www.apple.nl for EUR 55 (= $67). Including regular shipping and taxes they charge E64.40 (= $79). Why does Apple insist on charging EU customers so much above the US price of $45? If I buy a new G5 I can pay for a plane ticket AMS - JFK with the price difference.
This sig is just as redundant as the rest of this posting
..for fucks sake. Dear Apple, gets some balls. overpriced too.
You should feel honored that, while it seems that mod points are rare these days, someone felt it appropriate to bestow them on you.
One-button proponents are very concerned for their users and family members becoming just as confused now while using the Mac as they are on the PC with too many button choices and too many unexpected things happening on the screen.
Will someone PPLLEEAASSEE think of the retards?!
The sad thing is that at least 4 mod points were wasted in this thread just to mod you all down. Mod points which could have gone towards modding up interesting comments to a point where I would be able to see them.
Ditto! The review this article pointed to was well worth the read, and without Slashdot drawing my attention to it I probably would have missed it.
Not a dupe, as this was well justified.
Like any interface product -- keyboard, joystick, tablet, etc. -- a mouse is one of those products you should always try before you buy. It's a primary interface to your computer, so unless you're sure you're going to be comfortable with it for the long run then don't even bother with it.
I for one will definitely try this out in the store before I decide whether to purchase it. The reviews are nice to read, but nothing substitutes the hands-on experience.
"I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
-Hoban Washburn
You win Total And Complete Idiot for this morning.
From article: Critics have long teased Apple users for their distinct lack of mouse buttons, and Apple users are constantly attempting to either defend themselves by saying "nuh uh, I bought a separate multi-button mouse!" or by taking the trickier route of attempting to explain the HCI theories behind one-button mice, all the while secretly resenting Apple for putting us into that position.
Ya know...you don't *have* to blindly defend Apple. You could actually form your own actual opinion. Don't be a propagandist or a company tool.
I find Apple mice to be a tad too small. Perfect size for me would be Logitech Mouseman Wheel. Though right now I am using a wireless Microsoft optical mouse.
I wonder why they don't think of people with big hands.
The poor girl uses phrases like "We're concerned for our users".
How deluded is that?
The idea that "only the geeky use 2-button mice", is so mindbogglingly stupid.
And she's such an Apple apologists, that I'll bet she gives Steve Jobs douche chills.
My god. Break her word processor before she writes again.
Oh my god! Steve Jobs is copying Bill Gates. The end is near.
that the one thing MS does well is hardware? I own a Microsoft optical mouse, trackball, and two Microsoft split-key keyboards...
Interested in a Flash-based MAME front end? Visit mame.danzbb.com
'nuff said !
You should feel honored that, while it seems that mod points are rare these days, someone felt it appropriate to bestow them on you.
Assuming it wasn't an editor, who can throw mod points around as much as he likes.
1. A sex toy 2. Something to hang in your toilet tank 3. An implantable medical device 4...
Which reviewer said he had to lift his index finger? Good capacitive sensors are well capable to register the increased surface by the squeezing of your water-filled finger as you press with that particular finger.
And just because dual clicking has no function in Mac OS X or Apple's mouse drivers it doesn't say anything about that data being available on the USB bus for third-party drivers to pick up.
1. The mouse never billed itself as being bluetooth. Also, many existing macs don't have bluetooth builtin. Hardly any desktops do, and the ibooks only recently came with bluetooth as a factory default. So if it were bluetooth, a large percentage of users would be left out.
2. Who wants an excessively long cord that adds to that rats nest of wires under your desk? The short cord is ideal for Mac users because the mac keyboard has usb inputs to accept your mouse.
...how can you have an in depth review of a mouse ?
It's just a mouse, it either works or it doesn't.
Two things:
1) you put the misconceptions in the article instead of the facts. What, do you actually want us to RTFA?
2) The design makes it impossible to hit the left and right mouse buttons at the same time. So much for using it for WoW.
Just go back and read the /. thread from yesterday. There were plenty of people who fully understood what this mouse was about. There just were a larger number of people whose kneejerk reaction was completely unwarrented. "THE SKY IS FALLING, THE SKY IS FALLING" Get a grip. It's a mouse. It's not a bloody revolution. It's not the end days. It's a freakin' mouse. People read WAY too much into the descriptions that wasn't there. They wanted to believe crazy things and...TADA...they were wrong. It's not Apple's fault.
No, that was editors/admins modding down all metadiscussions. They do that all the time, possibly hoping that people won't see people complaining about what's wrong with Slashdot (I enjoy browsing the site, but it doesn't remove the fact that there are issues).
But this time, they shot themselves in the foot, because it's VERY obvious there's a problem, and everyone will need to browse at very low settings to see any comments at all, and thus see these meta-comments and even notice the admin moderation done to them, especially considering the fact that no one else is getting mod points right now.
Now, let's watch my karma go down - who cares.
If he explores all forms and substances Straight homeward to their symbol-essences; He shall not die.
On Apple's homepage all I could find was the following:
They say nothing about a speaker..
Georg
Hell has frozen over.
Pigs are flying south for the winter.
Osama has turned himself in to vegas county sheriff, dressed in drag.
and in other news: Apple has a two button mouse.
Next up: Apple to release a PDA.
-if at first you don't succeed, stay the heck away from paragliding.
I like the idea of having a "zero-button" mouse. The wheel has enough tactile feedback to make it comfortable. However, I found that the wheel was a little bit too small, and you have to put some pressure on it to make it register the roll. If you have slightly sweaty hands, like mine usually are, you'll find yourself touching the surface of the mouse while you're trying to scroll, which causes enough friction to make the scrolling a little jumpy and uncomfortable. The "pinch" buttons are pretty hard to press, but I suppose I might get used to them. The aural feedback for the scroll wheel and the pinch buttons is nicely implemented. It isn't annoying at all, and I think it is helpful too.
Another annoying thing is that you cannot right click unless you have your finger off the left side, which takes some getting used to.
All in all, I'm not totally happy with the Mighty Mouse but I still like it enough to keep it.
How about some real innovation for a change? Review the best mouse ever made: the Logitech MX1000.
This is an okay-looking little mouse with a couple of little design touches. The only real novelties are the "360 degree" scrolling method, the body covering the buttons idea, and the fact that it's Apple and they've conceded that they're going to provide a multi-button peripheral. The latter of which, to trolls who've been living under a rock, is apparently irresistable.
Here's guessing that Apple will spend the next year or so springing little designs like this on the market, in the hope that it'll help them bridge the time until the Intel chips come in. A whole lot of Airport Express type products, with relatively low-key upgrades to the G4 and G5 lineups taking a back seat. Some new iPod flavors.
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
"Software installation was quick, but required a system restart after finishing."
OMG! You have to restart just to install a mouse. What a horrible shitty operating system!
requires a 3 button mouse...
-- it's ridiculous how many people misspell ridiculous... (damn, damn, damn...)
Actually, her name really is Jacqui and she has a B.S. from Purdue University. She could also totally kick your ass.
;-)
;-)
Surely you mean she could totally kick my ars(e). Geddit... ass, arse, ars.... ah, never mind
Anyhow, if you reread the post, you'll see that it's making fun of the careers officer's inability to see past a supersmart girl's name, not poor Jacqui herself (as well as being a cheap piece of humour at the expense of someone's name (-_^)V ) I thought it was pretty obviously silly myself, but... oh well.
I mean, I wasn't seriously suggesting that your writer should seriously *have* to be a hairdresser.
With a name like that, she'd be equally cut out for life as a beautician as well...
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
When I looked at the Mighty Mouse web page yesterday, I saw something about this. So after reading the Ars article, I went over there to check-- and the reference is gone. It looks like somebody made a mistake.
My Photography - http://ian-x.com
The Deathlings (comic) - http://thedeathlings.com
From TFA page 2: Aural feedback As it turns out, Apple blew the description of its "aural feedback" and "touch sensitivity" out of proportion and led most of us to believe that 1) there was some sort of speaker built into the mouse with synthetic mouse sounds coming out of it, and 2) the shell might be solid-state touch-sensitive like our beloved iPod wheels. That is overly exaggerated--I even stuck my ear up to the mouse while using it for several minutes to be sure (and received a few strange glances in the process).
Like the Apple Pro Mouse, the upper shell depresses when you press on it in various places with your finger(s), and the clicking noise is an actual, real clicking noise that is not any different from the clicking noise I'm getting right now with the Microsoft Intellimouse on my Windows XP box. Frankly, I was almost a little disappointed that I would not be able to make fun of these "features!"
Hmm...I think of myself reasonably as "most people" and I have issue with the Ars review.
(1) Apple doesn't say (right column "Now Hear This") there's a speaker and quite honestly, It doesn't make sense that there would be. Mice have provided great clicking feedback for a decade without the use of a speaker.
(2) Who really thought the whole mouse was made out of solid state iPod Wheel magic plastic? It would be a waste of materials driving up costs for no reason at all (not even AAPL profits!)
So perhaps Ars is out of it.
I only came here to do two things; kick some ass, and drink some beer...looks like we're almost out of beer.
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/08/ 02/1347244&threshold=-1&tid=227&tid=3
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
Ok, so I had a biiiig problem with the regular Mac Mouse. The reason is because a very common activity with a mouse is to drag and drop. Specifically on Macintosh operating systems, you have to click on the menu, hold the click and drag the mouse down through the items till you get to the one you want. THIS IS FUCKING IMPOSSIBLE WITH THEIR MOUSE. I sat there watching a 4 year Mac veteran trying to use the menus with their stupid ass mouse and they missed like every other click. It's designed to fail. Basically, the only way you can scroll all the way down in a long menu is if you pick the mouse up. BUT THE WHOLE FUCKING THING IS A BUTTON. So you have to pinch it by the two stupid ass ridiculously small side things and hope to god you can hold it's weight between your index and pinky for long enough to move it back up your desk so you can continue scrolling back down the menu. WTF^2
So this new "mouse" if that's what you people want to call this abomination, has introduced the world's dumbest feature. The two side things that were your only hope of getting to the bottom of that horrid menu are now BUTTONS. WTF^4?????
So now, not only is the whole damn thing a button but you can't ever pick it up off the fucking desk to drag and drop an appropriate distance. USABILITY? What is wrong with you people?
Check out the Logitech MX 500 for a real mouse.
Let me know if anyone has tried it on OS 10.3. Ars Tech implies it will only work fully on 10.4 with the drivers on the CD, but all the multi-button mice I've used have worked fully out of the box in 10.3. I wonder if this one would as well....
"Even for Slashdot, that was a very obscure reference!" - Anonymous Coward
annoyed, because they have to lift their index finger
Ok, we have DEFINATLY gotten too lazy when lifting a finger has become too much to ask of us.
You can't take the sky from me...
If multibutton mice are so confusiong, the hordes of Mac using grandmas must be dying en masse of heart attack from looking at the keyboard with over a hundred keys, many with utterly confusing labels like "ctrl", "f1" or a picture of a pretzel. For the well being of Mac using grandmas everywhere I propose Apple should not ship keyboards with any of their computers. After all, all the keys are in the on-screen keyboards anyway and pro-users can always choose to buy their own keyboards. This has the additional advantage of forcing developers to write apps without assuming the presence of a keyboard, leading obviously to a much better interface than Windows PCs which often won't even boot without a keyboard.
No BlueTooth, Less Space Than A Nomad. Lame.
All Your Buttons Are Belong To Us.
In South Korea, Only Elderly People Use 1-Button Mice
Sorry, I Need Coffee.
If you scroll up to the detroit mac review, they mention an option in the plist file that says you can change dominance, so if you click with fingers on both buttons, it will do left or right click, your option.
The big issue with this, is I see no way of being able to hold down the right button and push the left button at certain intervals. Like when playing video games, I have right lick for un and left for shoot. There is no way the mighty mouse can do that, but then again, most hardcore gamers would have a dedicated gaming mouse on their XP box.
I would mod you funny if the fucking modding system wasn't out having fun with Goatse.
Scrollball?
Ew....
"Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart, he dreams himself your master."
Your iPod wheel is touch sensative....wow, looks like I might have to get a new version. At least my 5Gig batter fared better than everyone else's.
so what's ArsTechnica talking about with the no speaker business?
Which "no speaker business"? Try reading the actual article, instead of just the part Slashdot quoted out of context. In context, it makes no such claim.
If you can't access the full function of the mouse without the Apple drivers, and the review says there are no MM drivers supplied for XP beyond the basic HID ones from XP itself, then that doesn't make it compatible in my opinion.
Bad enough that it isn't wireless but to remove the features that differentiate it from far cheaper and fully supported competition is just a joke.
One of the things that just struck me is how hard it is going to be for me to give tech support to my parents and their friends now over the phone. I'm constantly saying, "Ok, click that" and hearing "Left click or right click." For some reason, that just doesn't sink in to these people. Now I'm going to have to say, "Click kind of on the left" or "Click kind of on the right" and hope for the best.
Finance tutorials and more! Understandfinance
"led most of us to believe"
People pointed out that this is just a prettier version of an optical mouse with trackball scroller, and similar to IBM's Scrollpoint mouse.
The notion of hiding multiple mouse buttons under a seamless cover in order to give Mac users the option of using multiple buttons without changing the appearance of a single button mouse has also been proposed multiple times on Slashdot, in particular for Powerbooks.
So, yes, you have another instance in which Apple marketing is a little too glowing and the actual product is just a prettier version of a standard PC product. But, hey, that's not bad: Apple's mouse is nice looking (but, then, it's also three times as expensive as the plain, functionally equivalent alternative).
I would like to know what happens when you plug it into a Windows or Linux box.
A USB mouse should be a USB mouse... but since Apple changed their powerbook trackpads and they no longer work in Linux, I'd be surprised if the mighty mouse works outside of OSX.
no comment
I don't have a set of salvaged IBM loud clicker keyboards at home just because I like the *noise* the keys make. I have them because I love the *feel* of it.
And yeah, since there's really a speaker in it, I wonder if it's hackable to make it make other noises. It'd be great to stick an unsuspecting subject with a squeaky mouse. Just imagine someone desperately trying to convince Apple tech support that his optical mouse has developed a mechanical squeaky...
The review said the side buttons didn't work for Windows. I'm guessing that with Linux, you can configure it the same way as all other multi-button mice and get them working (although yes, a lot of the means of getting those buttons to do something can be a pain).
In undeveloped countries, the consumer controls the market. In capitalist America, the market controls you.
I hope you wore a flame retardant suit today. Did you really believe what you wrote? That's a pretty amazing lack of easy to obtain information. My Mac Quadras used multi-button mice with System 8.
- posted from a dual 2 ghz Mac G5 running OS X Tiger with a THREE BUTTON + SCROLLWHEEL KENSINGTON PILOTMOUSE OPTICAL
Now, say you're sorry.
Just putting any Apple related story on Slashdot is guaranteed to turn into a one-button vs many button flamefest guaranteed to get tons of comments.
If anyone mentions anything slightly bad about anything apple they get acused of being a troll and get their life threatened.
If anyone says anything good about them, they get accused of being a Jobs can-do-no-wrong zombie.
Either way, comments will come like a flood. If your ads are paid based on views, its a good money maker.
----- If communism is a system where the government owns business, what do you call a system where business owns govern
So where does the sound come from without a speaker then?
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
It's a pretty serious condition, and fairly resistent to antibiotics.
Funnily enough, the word to confirm I'm not a script, is enemas
You can also help to fund a community that fosters intelligent discourse.
All together now...
HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
YEAH TOTALLY
By "us" I think you mean "you." Apple's description is entirely clear.
Who cares if it has a speaker or not, as long as it feels natural in use?
That's an 'in-depth' review and we dont see the guts of the thing? Take the darn thing to pieces so the fanboys dont have to. But they will anyway...
Baz
This article taught me one important thing. There are people who actually PREFER a single button mouse. This is totally news to me.
Really, what's the argument for one mouse button over two? I didn't realize there were people out there who were attempting to make that argument; I figured it was something that Apple kind of sheepishly clung to because multiple mouse buttons weren't their idea.
I can't accept two buttons being too confusing as an argument.. I used to work tech support and even the dumbest redneck I talked to knew his left from his right. If you can't figure that much out, I'm afraid using the rest of the computer is going to be pretty hopeless.
I think the most important feature of this new mouse is that it works like a single button mouse in the default configuration.
Last month, my wife was on the phone with her mother providing tech support. I'm not exaggerating when I say that she said "NOT THE RIGHT BUTTON, MOM!" about 20 times. The context menu was coming up, and the selected action (default) was not the one needed.
Her mom is not stupid, but she does hit the wrong button on her mouse. To her, there's no difference -- they both click.
The Mighty Mouse will work fine for people who just want the simple click-n-go interface. Also, since the default configuration is to not have a right button, it forces developers to "keep it simple, stupid".
Power users (e.g. your average Slashdot reader) can benefit from multiple buttons -- and go to the preference panel to enable the additional functionality. Some intermediate level users may even learn about the "power of the right click" by seeing & exploring the preference panel -- good for them, too!
This is what I like about Apple -- creating solutions that work for a wide range of users.
-ch
So Apple rips off a Sony design and we're supposed to be impressed? Sony did the seamless fexible case thing like what, two years ago?
The weird thing about this mouse is the side buttons. My Apple Wireless mouse has the same design (little semicircles of plastic on the side), although obviously they don't do anything on my mouse.
Were those put there as a specific design element that could be used later for this mouse, or was that a total coincidence? I always thought that design was weird.
Free, legal music for iTunes users.
Christ, man, do you really have to wander all over the Slashdot comments defending the girl's character? Unless you're Clint Ecker, that is.
A good review stands on its own, and don't worry about the rest.
For $41 I can get the Logitech MX1000 laser mouse.
It uses a real laser (as opposed to a red LED and a camera) for tracking, has an ergonomic design, is wireless, has a recharging stand, battery indicator, 8 buttons (left, right, forward, back, "tasks", scroll up, scroll down), and a up/down/left/right tilt wheel.
I use this thing for everything from Photoshop to Counter Strike, and it is BY FAR the best mouse I've ever used, corded or not. Never jumps around. Is incredibly accurate. Extremely comfortable. Battery lasts a very long time. It's just great.
Can somebody tell me why I would want the Apple mouse? Oh... ya... because Apple made it. My bad.
309 comments so far, and the highest score is 2?
You guys suck!
Ho-hum, down to -1 offtopic I go.
Thanks for the -1, but the moderation system is still broken.
Perhaps rather than the editors moderating down everything relating to this problem, they could actually do something about it, or at the very least post to explain the problem?
Only Apple could generate this much hype over a mouse. And Apple doesn't even have to try. Apple just releases a standard marketing press release. "This is our greatest product ever, and you should buy one. If not two." That's standard business. But then, between half the press going gaa-gaa over it, the other half downplaying it and talking about Apple's "troubled" position in the industry, and all the fanboys and zealots arguing about it on sites like this, you'd think Apple had just invented the original mouse. The only way we could have more Slashdot buzz would be if, I dunno, Microsoft announced they had hired Linus Torvalds to create a new generation of Amiga computers to render the FX in the new new Star Wars sequels.
I think ole Jobs must have amplified his Reality Distortion Field so that it surrounds the entire company.
dragonhawk@iname.microsoft.com
I do not like Microsoft. Remove them from my email address.
I've never liked the ergonomics on Apple mice, and this one doesn't look any better than usual. I'll stick with the Perfit Mouse from Contour.
Specifically on Macintosh operating systems, you have to click on the menu, hold the click and drag the mouse down through the items till you get to the one you want.
This is quite simply, a bald-faced lie. But I suppose it is possible you haven't used a Macintosh in the past 10 years.
You might as well say "Specifically on Windows, you have to name your documents eight letters with a three letter extension."
Check out the other comments in this thread for a real post.
"The debate over one-button versus multibutton mice has become extremely heated at times and has roots going back for almost as long as mice have been around. Proponents for both sides claim that their mice are "easier to use" and promote productivity, although I am not personally aware of any extensive human-computer interface (HCI) studies done on multibutton mice that have come out in their favor." This is BS. I haven't heard any arguments supporting the one-button mouse. It's widely known that the one-button mice are inferior. Nothing against apple; even Mac owners I know dislike the damn things. The person didn't know what they were thinking when they wrote this section. An "extremely heated debate".... hah! "I am not personally aware of any extensive human-computer interface (HCI) studies done on multibutton mice that have come out in their favor." Why would a company waste their money to try to prove something that everyone already beleives? Are you aware of any studies that prove the opposite? Probabyly... because this is a biased article. Still, $50 is too much to pay, especially when mice that do just about all this are going for $15.
at amazon. cheaper than getting it from apple.
Just need more metamoderators.
Yeah because the existing ones were abducted by aliens overnight, right?
It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
Be yourself no matter what they say
why don't you read the article instead of, you know, taking things drastically out of context?
wait, i'm on slashdot. =(
No simultaneous l+r button = no mouse cruising in World of Warcraft, therefore this mouse is useless.
Since, as we all know, a computer's value is directly proportional to its ability to play World of Warcraft.
That is all.
Her mom is not stupid, but she does hit the wrong button on her mouse. To her, there's no difference -- they both click.
Imagine this woman behind the wheel of a car. Her mom is not stupid, but she does hit the wrong pedal on her car. To her, there's no difference -- they both go down.
I understand the simplicity behind a single-button mouse, but I really have to question how the hell people survive daily life if they honestly cannot differentiate between *2* controls. How the hell does she use a 101+ key keyboard? All the keys click.
Can she tell her left and right shoes apart at least?
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
...regarding the speaker and fake noises:
Frankly, I was almost a little disappointed that I would not be able to make fun of those "features!"
Apple Marketing's Halo Plan:
Now that you've got that cool iPod and Mighty Mouse - hey, why don't you take the full package?
The future is in beta
Also, how unintuitive is it to click with your middle finger? THIS IS THE REASON THE RIGHT CLICK IS ON THAT FINGER.
My ring finger falls naturally on the right mouse button, with my middle finger on the scroll wheel. I'd bet you 100 dollars that, at least, 95% of users with mice that have scroll wheels operate them in a similar manner.
Why would any sensible person want a mouse set up so that they could have all the buttons on it immediately accessible without having to reposition their fingers?
Then it sounds like the right click is exactly what you needed, thats the reason for the context menu, so you can do all the most common commands without having to hunt for them.
Don't tell me you have this much trouble "getting it". The context menu itself was what wasn't wanted.
Well, there's your food for trolling.
Editors/admins don't mod all metadiscussions, other slashdot readers (such as me) do. This whole thread has nothing to do with the article, so it should be marked down. I don't come here to listen to people complain - I'm looking for insight.
Go to http://slashdot.org/moderation.shtml and you'll see who these evil moderators truly are; it's just you and me.
It puts the lotion on it's skin, or else it gets the hose again.
I've always found that to be true early in the dating process.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
As I understood it, Apple resisted a multi-button mouse because it encouraged bad interface design. The reasoning went that all controls should be consistent and visible, without hidden, context-sensitive submenus. Although Apple's use of Control-clicking was somewhat hypocritical, the controls that would pop up in Apple software were redundant, and could be found rather easily among the standard menus. This was commonly not the case with Windows apps, which gave some validity to their complaint.
Then they release the "Mighty Mouse" (a pathetic name, really), which seems to fly in the face of their previous arguments. Nothing about this mouse is consistent and visible to the user. There is no indication of two buttons on top, and the side button(s) would easily be mistaken as having the same function as their existing mice to the unaware user (i.e., Grandma). Further, it appears to be possible to left-click even if you're pressing on the right side (if your finger is soundly on the left side when you press).
If anything, this reveals hypocrisy on Apple's part. In order to achieve their trademark look, they have apparently assumed that the user will be savvy enough to sort through the operation on their own, which is something they have traditionally not assumed.
At the end of the day, it's just a mouse.
No, her mom is likely not stupid, but you have to wonder why she (and so many others) think this way...
For example, why don't these people constantly press the wrong pedal in their automobiles - hit the gas when they want to brake, hit the brakes when they want to accelerate? What is the difference? Two different pedals, one to the left, one to the right, both perform different functions in an automobile. Sounds similar to a mouse, right?
So - what is the difference? Is it a UI issue? Is it a feedback issue? I am thinking here that maybe the mouse buttons need to be different in a very tactile and/or size way. Maybe, make one "bumpy" and the other smooth. Or, make one "feel" differently when it is clicked. Maybe a solenoid feedback "bump" to the button when the action is correct or something?
Here is another idea, something that I think has not been explored at all, or very little, since it was first proposed by Douglas Engelbert back in the 1960's: Have a separate mouse for each hand, with only one button on each mouse. In a way, this is what Apple originally did with their single button mouse, except instead of having separate mouse controllers, the second button was relegated to the keyboard...
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
I do tech support for a well-known security company and I can count on both hands and feet (and any other available appendage for that matter) the number of times people have asked me if, by click I mean left or right. I'm constantly having to tell people,
"Unless I say otherwise, assume click means to press the left button down."
And that's the soiled masses of Windows users. I like the approach of the Mighty Mouse. I think I'll wait for it to go to blue tooth and some of the initial design specs to be revised (for one I think the Apple Pro mouse is too small, and same goes for the Mighty Mouse). But the idea of having, by default, the functionality that one expects from a Mac (single button mouse paradigm) with the ability to customize to power user's needs is a masterstroke.
...Apple is taking orders for these new "Mighty Mice", but if you order in bulk, they send them in special cartons (see linked picture).
g
Ok, ok, so I can PhotoShop a little...
http://users.ev1.net/~cjansch/josh/mightymints.jp
-- Game Developers: Stop porting badly-textured games from crappy console systems!
The Mighty Mouse is obviously not ideal. I've seen comments describing it as "very 1995" due to the fact that it has a cord. It's a first pass at making a mouse acceptable for novice and advanced user alike, and it necessarily follows that there will be shortcomings. What's more important, in my view, is that Apple is lowering yet another traditional barrier to adoption of the Mac. The MM can be seen as another in a series of moves from Cupertino that fly in the face of Apple conventional wisdom. First Apple introduces a $500 machine, largely removing the argument that Apple's hardware is too expensive for general consumption. Next they announce the impossible, a shift to Intel-based systems, improving the chances of cheaper hardware and eliminating the PPC v. x86 MHz controversy. Now they have a multi-button mouse.
One by one, they're resolving issues that vocal so-called "professional" users have used to criticize Apple for years.
but there's something comforting about the mechanics of clicking a button or pushing a key.
at the very least, there's no second-guessing as to whether or not u pressed a button.
to me, the apple's mice are innovative technoligically, but not at all in practical sense.
I read all 3 pages, sport.
She asked for the quote, and I gave it to her. They aren't her users, and nobody is confused by 2 buttons in 2005.
From the article:
"I tested right-clicking with varying degrees of skin contact on the left side of the mouse and you can't be touching it "too much" on the left side before the right click gives up and you're now left clicking."
Sounds like a goddamn nightmare. Randomly sending left or right clicks based on whether you happen to be resting your finger on the left side "too much". Just great. At least with a regular mouse there is always a predefined action for each side.
The scroll nipple is pretty cool though. I'd still rather have a tilt-scroll wheel but this is an acceptable substitute.
What makes Ars Technica think that Apple "blew the description of its aural feedback and "touch sensitivity out of proportion". From the product description page on Apples website (Might Mouse)? From the large graphic that says "Click", or the one that says "Squeeze"? I think that the statement from the article is what is being blown out of proportion. The rest of the article seemed to be a solid review, and should be taken into consideration, however, blasting Apple for how they are advertising this product seems to be a little ridiculous. "Touch sensitivity", could just as easily mean click, as could "pressure sensitive", or "just apply pressure". I mean c'mon. The real relevance of this article as it pertains to /. should be what the rest of the article is saying, not one assumtion made by the reviewers as to Apple's advertising verbaige.
Taken in consideration that the dot ont he mouse i placed near the wire/tale. Shall it then represent the ass of the mouse?
"Jacqui Cheng"
The first name is right, and who really cares about the 2nd name? Its not like they'll meet and work out their differences. You got the point. I read the article, and she is kinda rah-rah-ish on the Apple, and she did actually say what the original poster said. To me, she seems sincere and a decent writer, but she does let emotion about Apple cloud her judgement and writing. I suspect as she matures, her writing style will as well.
And besides, if you want to show people that female genitalia mutilation is wrong, you should show them some pix from a chick with fully unmutilated genitalia. If you're stumped for ideas (or perhaps you've never seen them), let me know and I can send you a few URL's that will illustrate the issue far better than you do.
Besides proving your point, it might make that boooooooring website worth visting. Yes, we know Bush is an idiot. Big deal. Yes, its fascinating that someone is studying the crust. Yawn. Hot chicks == page hits.
Can you give us an example of one of these tests that show a single mouse button is a better interface tool?
I've looked and never found anything other than opinion on the subject.
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
Has anyone tried it when gaming? If so, then how it compared to other mice?
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
Unlike earlier versions of Mac OS, which were limited to a one-button mouse, Carbon is designed to support multiple mouse buttons. (Theoretically, it can handle as many as 65,535 buttons, though the most you're likely to encounter in practice is 3.)
'nuff said !
Hey, someone moderate this up!
Atlas Shrugged : Thematic Story
A five button mouse. How original. Yesterday I though you could actually change the dimensions of the buttons when they said "touch sensitive". That would really be something new.
G) The CEO realizes that it is not about selling a mouse and sees the bigger picture.
Many people look at this mouse, compare it to other offerings, and are puzzled. It is not revolutionary, other mice offer far more features at a lower price. This is not a big deal. Those people are correct. This is just a mouse. Compared to other mice on various features it is not very compelling. Thus, in this context, it is not a big deal.
Other people look at the mouse and comment on Apple as a company. They observe that this product is neither innovative nor particularly novel. They conclude that Apple has failed to provide anything "insanely great", and either wonder why this news is worthy of attention or deride the company and its users for various reasons. These people have a point. This mouse is neither innovative nor "insanely great. Again, this is not a big deal.
However, since the late 90s, most product releases by Apple have been far more important in context than in isolation. I think this small product is more important than is obvious under casual scrutiny.
Apple tends to develop all its products by focusing on the interactions of individual users with Hardware+Software systems. They spend less time than other companies thinking about feature checklists. They spend less time on the impact of hardware or software in isolation, and focus more on how they are used together. Also, though they do attend to the desires of power users, they never place this goal above the requirements of ease of use and productivity for the majority of users.
In recent years users have realized that support for both scrolling and pointing improves ease of use. They added scrolling support to the laptop systems recently. This mouse adds that for their other products. Second, many users buy third party mice both for scrolling support and for one-click access to contextual menus. Thus, adding an option for right click operation makes sense. Finally, recent additions to the operating system have become very popular. Dashboard widgets and Expose are used frequently by many users. Providing a way to improve the speed of and reduce the effort for accessing these features would improve productivity and ease of use for many.
The design of this mouse meets all of these primary goals admirably. It provides scrolling support. It provides simple access to dashboard and expose functionality. It provides one button Control-Click functionality for those users who want it. Users who are prefer (are are only familiar with) single button mice, will not have to unlearn any old habits or have difficulty understanding or using the new scrolling, Dashboard, or Expose functionality.
A user of an off-the-shelf 4 button mouse (or 3 real buttons and a clickable scroll wheel) can configure their mouse to provide equivalent functionality already. So, even in the broader context, they can get similar functionality at a lower price from a third party. However, for a large proportion of the user base, I suspect that this mouse may be a better option. Is it significantly better than the alternatives? Will this mouse sell well? Since it is largely Windows compatible, will many PC users buy them? My guess is that the answer to each of these questions is largely irrelevant. Apple would obviously to prefer to sell more mice rather than fewer mice. In the big picture, however, I think this is insignificant. I also think Apple knows this.
The revenue from selling these mice, even at $50 is insignificant. Taking market share away from third party mouse vendors is insignificant. Is anything significant here? I think so.
1. Apple looked at ways to improve user interaction with Macos X and the most commonly used bundled apps and iLife. They designed a mouse that provides significant benefits to most users performing common activities with bundled apps and iLife.
2. Apple is aware that multi-button vs. single button mice has long been a source of both misconception and controversy, even though for most users and for Apple
Seriously. You may be rolling your eyes back in your head thinking, "great, another grandma story." But you know why it's often repeated? Because it's true.
I had to teach an elderly woman who came to work for us how to use the computer. She even had difficulty managing one button ... in her effort to make sure she clicked things properly, she'd click somewhat firmly and wound up pushing the mouse enough to perform a drag. Lucky for me nothing she had to do required right clicking.
The cord length is probably due to Apple expecting users to plug this into their USB keyboard, not the computer.
the good ground has been paved over by suicidal maniacs
Apple probably wants to sell a bunch of these tethered mighties (and maybe clear out stocks of older mice,) before they bring out the BT version.
I normally use Linux but had to pull up to a doze box to verify some things.
Can you please clarify?
I'm not seeing where the OS requires the right button, anywhere. In fact, I can't see where it requires a mouse (nice for 508 compliance). The right button does enhance the experience (but this seems true on any OS).
Minesweep, no right button needed. Using the wrong button is a different issue though.
There are no high end graphics apps or CAD programs on this box but, I'll take your word for it.
Aside from my ability to assign useful features to the right mouse button, it also means Windows absolutely sucks to use standard software with a touch screen, or alternate interface
Well, Windows generally sucks on any interface. But, to offer a counter point. All those tablet PC users seem to be pretty content with the touch interface.
I'm just not buying the force a developer to 'develop to one button' argument because Macs still support the context menu (and have for quite some time). A developer can still write apps that depend on the context menu on a Mac, just like any other OS, just as easily (actually easier because of the nice api), using the API provided by Apple. Whether you get it by click and hold, control key click, select and hit the context menu key, or right click just seems beside the point.
----- If communism is a system where the government owns business, what do you call a system where business owns govern
Consider the possibility that there are other reasons for a particular engineering design than the one you can think of off the top of your head. RSI, for instance.
Or consider that other people work differently than you do.
Or have other preferences.
It's not useful to have a preference and then call everyone with a different set of requirements a moron. I'd have to call you a moron for not using a trackball, for instance, but that's not helpful
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
If Apple were to design computers for people who have trouble dealing with more than one thing to press, Apple shouldn't sell keyboards.
I prefer a Modest Mouse
It's basically a one button mouse that adapts to the multi-button OS. You can't click both at once? Sure, 99.99% of the time, not a big deal. But I know of at least a couple of games (yes on the mac even) that require multi-clicking. Zooming camera control in Black & White anyone?
What happens when I want to set my right click to Expose? Grab (left), drag, Expose (right), drop... Especially when there's really not all that many "buttons" there to begin with. I guess I'll stick with my logitech.
---k--
</stupid>
Apparently, yu can not use right "button" unless you lift up your left button finger. Utterly useless doodad, it is. So who cares about marketing mumbo-jumbo anyway.
<^>_<(ô ô)>_<^>
someone's sig once (or still) reads:
;)
"Support Free Speech... Read at -1"
Its a pain, but greasemonkey helps... and can be damn funny at times
This is not the greatest
So... "aural feedback" means the mouse makes a clicking sound, and "touch sensitivity" means it has buttons?
Since the beginning of time, or the mid-80s at least,
Mac users have looked upon the wonder of the IBM PC.
And though the PC is a sucky old louse,
One thing it had was a multibutton mouse.
Now long at last, though the hour is late,
And after some years, oh why did they wait?
Here's a mouse that cures all, all that was lost,
The only thing left is to ask will it run Microsoft?
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Dude, the Mac was introduced in 1984.
Next time you're going to lie, at least learn arithmetic (hint, the order matters in subtraction).
You said it. A configurable multi-button mouse is a great tool for the power user. But with mandatory context menus á la Windows, the configurability is lost - or even more buttons are required.
The mac, relying on one click mode alone, offers more options because of conventions like option-click = copy/do different or command-click = new window as well as the Windows-common shift click for multiple selection. As long as Apple stick to their policy, all of these are free for those second, third and fourth buttons. Not to mention key presses!
I for one, when doing graphic design find it convenient to use option-click for the right button to easily duplicate graphic objects.
Though currently I'm with the no-button pro mouse. It's nice too...
There's no 'on' position on the Slacker switch!
I know this is slashdot and all, but there have got to be more "insightful", "iteresting", or maybe even "informative" comments in here.
Why all the talk about the second button being a big deal? Anyone notice they have a scroll wheel thingy too (as well as it acting as the third button)?
I know many of you cannot live without the second mouse button, but I'm one further. Once I learned to use the scroll wheel, I couldn't go back. The $50 Apple mouse with one button and no scrolling just wouldn't do (and it sucks that you have to pay for that useless thing when you buy a Mac).
Thank god Apple finally made scrolling (as well as a second and third button) standard on their mice, cuz we all know that even though you *can* buy a Logitech or Kensington mouse with multibuttons, most Apple users just stick with what they get from the box (much like most Windows sheepel stick with Internet Explorer cuz it's what they get out of the box).
So how long until this is built-in to their laptops? I use to have an iBook but couldn't stand the single button mouse, and yes there WERE times I couldn't just whip out an external mouse. Once this and either the G5 or Pentium M goes in the Powerbooks, I'm getting one. Till now, my G5 desktop with multi-button mouse will have to suit my Mac cravings.
The review remarks that Photoshop doesn't do diagonal scrolling, but goes horizontal or vertical alternately. I wonder if this is a Carbon/Cocoa thing? In Cocoa, the scroll wheel event is a single event, with both horizontal and vertical deltas sent simultaneously, and NSScrollView presumably works off both at the same time. In Carbon, scroll wheel events have separate H and V parameters and given the legacy of how scrolling is traditionally implemented, it probably can only do one or the other at a time. This might be something to watch out for if your favourite apps are Carbon, though to me the advantages of diagonal scrolling are not really all that compelling.
I'm left handed.
"Grandma is *used to the keyboard* since we've had typewriters for over 100 years."
Yes, but a computer keyboard has lots of keys that a typewriter doesn't, and their function is anything but obvious.
The fact that you think they're alike means you've never really typed on a typewriter. Silly little pup.
If you're left handed..
(or if you're like me and you're right handed but you use a mouse with the left hand to avoid RSI).
Logitech do NOT make any left handed mice (look in their FAQ). And none of the ambi-dextrous models are that special (no 2 axis scroll wheel for example).
I'm a perfectionist but I'm trying to cut back.
Oh for Smeg sake...
The one-button mouse is not for the benefit of the users. It's to force developers to actually use their brains when building an interface.
If you only have one button, then you can't go hiding features under contextual menus...
Actually, you do not know for sure if chording was tested or not. You seem to be so desperate to prove your point that you've blinded yourself of your pedantry.
Tell me, why wouldn't neither of the two reviewers we've got so far know how to test chording? There are plenty of methods for testing (such as games, mouse setup applets on certain systems and even quickly-deployed applications). Besides, it's a quite logical behavior, since when pressed in the middle it acts as a left-click.
There's also the possibility this isn't controlled by the driver, but handled internally by the mouse. In other words, it may never have a solution (until Apple releases a new mouse), no matter how much you insist on appropriate drivers.
As a Powerbook user, I have not touched a mouse -- one button or two or whatever -- in a couple of years. My lifes seems to be functioning just fine.
Would someone who actually has one of these things please let me know the answer to this: Are the two side switches "AND"ed (have to press both simultaneously) or "OR"ed (pressing either switch will do the job)? Thanks.
THIS funny picture is a must see when seeing the apple mouse!
Hivemind harvest in progress..
Would someone who actually has one of these things please let me know the answer to this: Are the two side switches "AND"ed (have to press both simultaneously) or "OR"ed (pressing either switch will do the job)? Thanks.
There you have your answer:
No drivers involved, just an internal logic chip. Turns out you were wrong in your trolling (yeah, being arrogant to all because of your unclear wording is trolling) and I was right in my earlier post.it makes me laugh how stupid people are. the only truly ergonomic input device is the trackpad! everytime i see a laptop user with a mouse i laugh and say what an idiot! with trackpads you simply tap twice, hold on the 2nd tap, and a contextual menu appears, thus eliminating any buttons left or right whatsoever. no carpal tunnel syndrome. no reptititive stress injury. and with the new powerpooks, 3 fingers let u scroll. so 2 all u mouse users i give u the middle finger ! IAH "If a woman shall testify, her testimony shall be given half the weight of a man's." --Q'uran