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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.""
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?
Umm, the things that were "blown out of proportion" were things that people didn't want. Solid state mouse buttons with no tactile feedback would be awful, and a speaker would be annoying. You know they'd get all clever and make it go "moof" instead of "click". And then some third party would start selling "click tones" featuring Crazy Frog! No thank you.
Yes, absolutely. They are just working away happily, with no idea what they are missing.
Just like we all did before the Internet (what would we need that for?)
Or, just how we did before electric lights. (time to go to bed!)
Just like we did before automobiles (I've got a fast horse!)
Yes, you could easily argue that people can be just fine, dandy, and happy when don't even know what they are missing.
But once you have it, it is very hard to go back.
No reason to lie.
Do you really think the invention of a second mouse button is up there with the automobile or the lightbulb?
Please, it's a mouse button. If a person is comfortable with a single mouse button, let them use it. Just like if someone prefers a different layout to their keyboard instead of qwerty.
Amen to that. I was thinking of getting the BT mouse, but I realised I had little use for it on my desktop. The fact that the mouse connects nicely into the keyboard makes the wire clutter a moot point IMHO. Also it's nicer not having to deal with replacing batteries and also doing without some extra radiation, even if it is small.
It's not even "marketing language" or whatnot... Apple didn't blow this out of proportion, the Slashdot summary did. I read the summary, and thought, "Wow, that's pretty crazy!" Then I RTFA (sorry, I'm not really a frequent slashdotter), and I couldn't figure out where the person writing the summary got their crazy ideas.
I'm pretty sure Apple's description of the mouse explained how it actually works, and somebody misunderstood something (or maybe only read part of it) and started making random assumptions.
Wait, what? I may be misunderstanding you, but the menus on the Mac have not acted that way since OS 7. The menus on a Mac work the same as on Windows. Click on the menu, release the click, select item you want, click again. You don't need to hold the click.
"What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
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
Lame... Your conclusion does not follow from your assertion. Grandma is *used to the keyboard* since we've had typewriters for over 100 years. The mouse is a "new invention" for the elderly among us... and it's not just grandmas who don't know the right click from the left one... I know many 30-somethings that don't know the difference.
By the way, why do you think we still have the crappy QWERTY layout?
Because people are used to it. QWERTY was developed to slow typing down to the letter pins wouldn't get stuck together... and yet we still have no modern keyboard replacement.
You might as well argue that Apple is in the wrong because it doesn't ship a Dvorak keyboard layout as the default "because the Dvorak layout is superior"... just like a multi-button mouse is.
By the way, WTF do some PCs not boot without keyboards? What's up with that?
In my personal experience, it appears that most non-geek people "turn off" their brains when computing and subconciously decide that they won't exert any (and I mean ANY) effort to figure out a problem.
There are fundamental differences between using a mouse and driving a car, and using a keyboard and putting on shoes that I think are also woth mentioning:
Try to explain these to an inexperienced user and you'll get as much of a blank stare as when talking about the difference between left and right mouse buttons.
It amazes me (okay, not really) that there are so many holier-than-thou attitudes here disregarding the 'two mouse buttons are too confusing' argument. I guess they fail to realize that the world is full of people, and not everyone is as knowledgeable, skilled, smart, dexterous or experienced as themselves.
Many people here would do a lot for their awareness of this reality by reading The Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman.
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!
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