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The Mighty Mouse Has Lost Its Tail
An anonymous reader writes "It's all over the place - Apple has just released a Bluetooth version of the Mighty Mouse for $69. It features a new laser based tracking system and gets it power from either one or two (you decide) replaceable AA batteries, but does not work with Windows yet (no words on Linux)."
Here I come to point and click!
Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
Damn it, I can't make the bloody joke now. Thanks a lot.
I know this is Apple we're talkin about here... but where the hell is the second button still?
I loved Andy Kaufman doing that bit.
bad link, use this instead... BTW how is this news!!??
http://www.apple.com/mightymouse/
Swedish plasma phys. PhD student; MSc EE; knows maths, programming, electronics; finance interest; seeks opportunities
I would really like to get hold of a small bluetooth mouse as my laptop has an internal bluetooth setup. Rather than carrying around a USB dongle (which I would have to find in the bottom of a laptop bag and plug in) it would be all integrated.
Other than the Apple one, has anyone seen one that works with Linux? I did see a Microsoft made one *once* but never again.
Think of the Children; Sleep with your Sister
I've used cordless mice before, and the function was perfect compared to a corded mouse. Can't imagine what bluetooth would improve! However, the cordless mice I've used have been a little fat and heavy due to batteries. If this Apple mouse has to contain two AA batteries as well (can't check: the link is dead), so is this another fatmouse?
Where were you when the voynix came?
Bluetooth mice are not very comon in PC land. I've only seen one Logitech (not easy to find) and one Think Outside BT mouse that seemed suitable for notebook use, but you're unlikely to find either in Best Buy or CompUSA. Why hasn't this caught on?
TW
I know this is Apple we're talkin about here... but where the hell is the second button still?
Second button? Where's the third button? How am I supposed to friggin' paste?!@
Zhrodague.net - I do projects and stuff too.
Are people really using their mice that far away from the USB port on their computer? For me, the hassle of keeping fresh batteries in the thing would counterbalance whatever slight benefit I'd get from having a wireless mouse.
Of course, I use a trackball, anyway, so really, that benefit would be "none". But I use a mouse on my work computer, and I'm never encumbered by having a cord.
An object at rest cannot be stopped.
Sheesh, how about a working link?
You can go straight to the Apple home page and see it.
Our intelligent designer has never created an animal that we couldn't improve by strapping a bomb to it.
can i zap my co-workers with this laser???? if not, my optical mouse is works fine for me....
Is bluetooth such an energy hog that it needs two AA batteries to send moose X,Y coords and button clicks for a distance of a few feet?
Why not something similar to one of those shake-and-glow flashlights? A tiny battery charge from some kinetic motion device (like in the flashlights) or a tiny roller that is only there as a sort of generator?
Where were you when the voynix came?
People that link to stateful pages really annoy me.
http://www.apple.com/mightymouse/
"one of Apple's reasons for having a default of one-button (Macs have supported multi-button mice, and programs for graphic designers, etc.) is to ensure that software designers didn't hide functionality behind right-clicks, etc"
That's not the best attitude toward software designers, especially when the designers need the flexibility to deliver the best user experience. Shouldn't they leave such moral decisions ("Nothing in right mouse clicks!" to designers and users?
Where were you when the voynix came?
I see it has "Squeeze to Expose"? What exactly does this mean? Does this mean you have to be extra careful holding the mouse, because if you hold it just a little too tight, it will go into some other mode? I've tried similar PC mice and they were impossible to use because you no longer had the freedom to just hold the mouse.
Where were you when the voynix came?
I'll be happy when a kinetic model(tm) comes out, which is like a kinetic/automatic wristwatch and requires no batteries, provided you're moving the mouse, it can radio back the position.
stuff |
So, what's the deal with "you can use one or two AA batteries"? I mean, why would I use two if I only need one? What does adding the second battery get me? Greater distance? How far from my laptop do you think I can get and still be able to read the screen?
Are people really using their mice that far away from the USB port on their computer?
Well, a couple of other positives about wireless:
- no wire clutter
- the mouse wire often "interferes" with it's movement, for my very cluttered desk, it's constantly getting snagged or bumps into stuff (e.g. speakers, books, etc) as I move the mouse.
- no wire clutter!!!
On a side note, two areas where wireless mice really come in handy due to distance is in conf. rooms and in HT setups. Both instances where you tend to be away from the computer, but have a display large enough to actually use it.
If these things become common, I'll just have to learn to quickly dig into settings to turn the feature, just as I already do for touchpads that have the "feature" that misinterprets accidentally bumping your finger on the scroll area as a click or drag.
Where were you when the voynix came?
Honestly, how much hassle is a mouse cable really? I can't say it's ever bothered me.
-= This is a self-referential sig =-
have they actually tried it? I was unable to get my Apple Bluetooth keyboard working with the Widcomm Bluetooth drivers, but it works with the builtin Microsoft drivers, it works fine. Of course, Apple does not advertise the fact that it's a standard Bluetooth keyboard (minus the volume and eject key, which I have been unable to do anything with. On a USB Apple keyboard, the volume keys will work.)
I've found that BT mouses are really nice for HTPC, especially when you need range of about 10 feet. The non-BT radio mouses have a range of maybe 3-4 feet. Also, the BT transceivers are USB so the range can be extended a bit using USB extension cables.
The big problem with BT mouses is that almost nobody makes a full-sized mouse that isn't a pain to hold. Most BT mouses are designed for notebooks so they have a small body which is a pain to use for long durations. The designers for the larger ones must have thought they needed to differentiate their product from the radio ones so they made them fancy. For example, the MS BT mouse doesn't fit a hand because of its weird shape and has too many buttons. The macally one is probably the sanest, but that one's been coming 'RSN' for almost a year. And maybe this has changed, but I don't think the other vendors sell their BT mouse separately from expensive packages that also have a fancy keyboard.
I'd be surprised if the Apple one really doesn't work at all with Windows. If it has the basic functionality of a mouse, that'd be enough, really.
Of all things, to make a typo about MOOSE clicks. so sorry.
Where were you when the voynix came?
I use the mouse from Microsoft's "Optical Desktop for Bluetooth" with Linux, although I had to write a new driver in order to use it at first. But it works just fine today with the stock BlueZ HID protocol code in the 2.6 kernel series, along with the Apple Bluetooth keyboard, which I prefer to the Microsoft keyboard since it looks better when all the keys have been rearranged into a sane (Dvorak) layout. See this old page where I dramaticize what it took to get these Bluetooth gadgets working.
"Skill shows through where genius wears thin." -Wittgenstein || Religion: uniting aviation and architecture.
I like wireless mice because cords tend to drag mice around on their own. Logitech's cordless mice have charging cradles and built-in batteries, so making sure they have power is simple. They last days on a charge with heavy use, and last months when not in use. I wouldn't mess around with a mouse that required me to manually fumble with batteries though.
a4tech is the brand for this kind of devices, take a look in the wireless, no battery mouse at http://www.a4tech.com/en/product1.asp?CID=90&SCID= 92
petty cheap too. and warks in linux too.
Do you know of any good deals on eBay? I need to get a bluenose moose for my Dull lapdog copmuter.
Where were you when the voynix came?
I'm a big Apple fan and tend to buy most of their stuff. I bought the Mighty Mouse against my better judgement (simply because it was the cool thing to buy and my Mac friends kept saying it was great) and.. I forced myself to use it for a few months. I kinda got used to it, but eventually I caved in and switched back to my Microsoft Mouse.. Why?
* Too small and painful. I have pretty small hands, but the MM is still too short. My hand was falling off the back and causing me to adopt an awkward position.
* You can't press left and right buttons at the same time! Absolutely useless for gaming, although admittedly you don't need to do this anywhere else (that I'm aware of).
* Squeeze click is too sensitive. I'm a light touch but I kept triggering it. I ended up removing the functionality of that 'button' to stop it annoying me.
* Cable is ridiculously short. Fine with a Mac keyboard, but no good without an extension cable in most other configurations.
On the plus side?
* Mouse wheel. The middle wheel is very cool. It's great to be able to scroll in full 2D. And, um.. that's it.
Oh, it's also expensive, but that's not a reason why I'd avoid it. I'll pay for something good, but it's simply not.
Interesting how they mention one or two batteries are required... So unless I'm misinterpreting, you can put two batteries in for longer charge, or one for less weight?
For me a wireless mouse would be usefull when I use my laptop in an easy chair, or in bed, or basically somewhere that's not setup neatly like a desk. The wires get in the way of moving around, and sometimes I have to position the mouse a bit farther away than usual.
It's a minor convience, but if I could find a good bluetooth mouse I would use it (the one I bought had a very jerky motion with major lag between moving my hand and the pointer moving).
-Jeff
Please learn the difference between a dissenting opinion and a troll before you moderate.
PC game + TV output + keyboard and mouse + Bluetooth = not having to worry about tripping over cables.
My Linux box has an ATI TVWonder Pro card in it - I leave the desktop resolution at 800x600 and do all my computing from my couch. Granted, it took me a while to get used to the lack of screen real estate, but once I did it was great! Instead of having to shell out for a remote control for my TV card, I just use a wireless KB/Mouse combo (Microsoft's bottom-end -1000 series desktop - works great in Linux, okay in Windows).
I switched from a cordless Apple mouse (single button) when the original Mighty Mouse came out.
The single button cordless went through batteries like you wouldn't believe... and I didn't really miss being cordless.
I really like the MM (corded). It's a good mouse, prefer it to the MS mouse I have on my Linux box.
I haven't actually used a Mighty Mouse, but it seems to have the same shape of the Pro Mouse. These are very uncomfortable and non-ergonomic, unlike the good old ADB II mouse. When Apple dropped the beige, for some reason they also had a major drop on the quality of their mouses - and, worst of all, their keyboards.
Circumcision is child abuse.
By accidently posting AC.
Lars T.
To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck
I own a Logitech mx5000 desktop which is bluetooth. The mouse is rechargeable while the keyboard runs on 4 AA's which I have replaceD once in 6 months. I really didn't realize how awesome it would be to have wireless. If I;m showing someone how to do something, no more need to lean over them uncomfortably, they can just hand me the mouse and keyboard.
Oh and the keyboard works from 2 rooms away in my house and has media keys sos I can control my media player from pretty much anywhere in the house.
I am more interested in seeing how Apple will use the Multi-point touch screen technology it has patented (or applied for). I see Apple once again revolutionizing the world of GUI as they did in the 80s with the advent of the mouse. I feel that this will probably start with their Ipods perhaps becoming more like TabletPC/cell-phone/ebook/musicPlayer.
Huh? [devShell.org]
"No. The existence of standards is what makes an OS and its associated applications useable"
No, usability, even if it means breaking restrictive standards, is what makes an OS and its associated applications usable. The early Adobe apps which helped make desktop publishing a "killer app" on the Macintosh broke Apple's strict menu and UI standards. Adobe knew they had to violate the scriptures handed down by the ayatollahs of Apple OS morality, and they helped everyone involved by doing so. Even Apple.
"but is it really so much better that doing it your way will make things easier for users even though your program doesn't behave the way they expect it to?"
If it really is so much better, then the choice should be made to make it easier. There is "value in consistency of interface conventions and reusability of paradigms", but there is also value in recognizing when there is a better way that breaks paradigm. There's even more value in knowing when the standards are a strength to be kept or when they are a burden to user and designer. Both happen.
Where were you when the voynix came?
I used to have a Logitech mouse that had regular batteries and threw it away because changing them every few weeks was a pain. Most Logitech mice are now recharable and I'm surprised that Apple has not done the same.
There is no doubt that what you want is a RadTech BT500. I bought one when I bought my PowerBook early last year. It's a tiny little mouse, and it's easy to carry around. That said, it is comfortable and works great. It looks nice too. Looking at the product page, they've changed it since I bought it. Mine is powered by two AAA batteries, and it lasts a long time. The new once comes with two NiMH AAAs and can be recharged with an included USB cable, which would be nice to have.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
Are people really using their mice that far away from the USB port on their computer?
Sure they are. And it may just be a matter of desk height. I'm 6'6", and wanted the desk to be comfortable seated or standing. So in my case, the tower lives on the floor and my desk surface is mounted at 42". The keyboard cable doesn't reach (bought an extension), the iPod dock only does because I moved it forward on the desk, and the mouse thankfully lives on the keyboard hub. That's to say nothing of institutional uses, where the computer's locked away in an equipment closet and you're presenting from a lectern.
Beyond that, though, there's a whole lot to be said for the tidiness of wireless. You may not be affected in what you do by the number of cables you have to juggle, but it's a pain to need your Wacom tablet only to find it's decided to form an impenetrable cable fortress with your scanner, mouse, and card reader. And then you still need to find somewhere to move the keyboard out of the way. Problem easily solved if mouse, keyboard, and tablet are all wireless.
Does this new one fix that?
Ceterum censeo subscriptionem esse delendam.
And accept that the link to Google-News I posted gets replaced by a non-working one to the Apple Store, obviously.
Lars T.
To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck
Glad they finally found a good use for this.
When I got my Quicksilver a few years ago, it came with the Apple Pro Mouse. It was a single-click, press-the-whole-damn-mouse-body-down-to-click mouse. I never really gave it a chance, because I'd always used two-button mice with my Macs -- well, ever since 8.0 or 8.1 when Ctrl-Click was introduced, and after-market mice provided a driver to make the right-button work. As a Windows user even then, I recognized the usefulness of a right-clickable mouse. So the Mighty Mouse was replaced with a generic Windows mouse; probably a Logitech that was *also* sold as a Mac version for $20 extra back in the day...
My non-Bluetooth Mighty Mouse that came with my Intel iMac was destined for the same fate, but I gave it a chance. It's got a scroll ball, and even though I don't have need for much horizontal scrolling personally, it really is an ingenious feature. Clicking anywhere results in the whole mouse being depressed, but it's incredibly good at *knowing* where I press. Left-click, middle-click, and even right click, although Apple's novice philosophy means they don't work by default and you've got to activate them in the Control Panel.
One slight complaint just to show I'm not a little fan-boy: I'm left handed, and for me the right-click isn't quite sensitive enough, meaning that I have to click further right than I would on a mouse with physical buttons. I'm getting used to it, but I have to stretch compared to my other Mac and Windows mice.
--Jim (me)
to use with a laptop is probably what most people will say, and also for less desk clutter, and maybe even for a media center-type setup. I've been looking into bluetooth mice ever since I got my Macbook, and it looks like I'll continue to wait for the right one. Kensington has a nice small one, and so does Logitech and some smaller companies, but nothing has really seemed 'just right' yet.
They remove the touch sensor, sides, and track ball to have just ONE button?
Ooh, I have a wireless regular mouse, so I'll add my complaint about the fact that it's powered by AA batteries.
* Mine is sitting upside down because the little bit of metal on the battery compartment popped off
* When it did work, the last five days before the batteries ran out the bluetooth icon would blink incessantly.
* You could turn it off... if you didn't want to use that menu for anything else.
That might not be an issue for most people. When I went to the store to get a battery charger and some rechargeables, I just bought a shiny new Logitech instead.
Honestly, if it weren't for the power source, Apple's wireless mouse would be a perfectly serviceable device. But I got a premium mouse for ten bucks more than what they're charging and that doesn't seem like a good deal to me.
But where is the trackball version?
Ok, I get it about wireless Internet. Not everywhere has an Ethernet jack in the same place as the power, and ethernet is harder to run, since you have to run it to some relatively centrallized switch. And we can use batteries, so we can literally be completely unwired. And it's nice to be able to automatically connect to the Internet. I really wish we had wireless power -- even decent solar power, a thin panel on the back of the LCD to charge a laptop...
I get it about wireless game controllers. If you're a typical console setup, you have the console hooked up to the TV/Entertainment center, facing a couch. You could buy an extension cord, but no matter how you do it, the cable is going to be in your lap. Wireless just makes sense, and you have to replace the batteries in remote controls also. There's even a Ctrl Alt Del comic about the habits we, as gamers, have built up around the cords, so that when you replace an xbox with a 360, you'll find yourself flicking the thing around like a spaz to get the cord out of the way... but no cord in sight.
Internet can reasonably be encrypted, since you're usually connecting a laptop to it, so you can at least type a password. Game consoles simply aren't worth cracking that way -- too difficult to snoop reliably, and if you piss them off by screwing up their game, they'll just get a wired controller. You can't screw up their game precisely without being in the room, and they'd kind of notice...
I get it about cordless phones. Phones are insecure anyway, and phone connections are as scarce as Internet. I get it about cell phones. Your phone, anywhere, with its contact list (killer feature) built in.
I don't get it about wireless keyboard and mouse. I've used them, but I just don't get it. People say "You can have it in your lap", and I pick up my wired, USB keyboard and place it in my lap. I've gotten used to the mouse cord as a sort of anchoring tension -- this may or may not be total BS, though. They say "I can type from across the room!" I whip out my Powerbook and ssh (or VNC) in over the wifi in less time than it takes you to try to tell me "That's not as convenient!" They say "It's a less cluttered desk" and I show them where their keyboard drawer is. They say "I don't have to worry about where to plug in" and I wonder how anyone could have trouble plugging in USB -- certainly at least as standard as BlueTooth, if not moreso.
Then I flip my keyboard and mouse over, and show them the bottom.
"See anything?"
"No."
Exactly. No contacts for a charger, no holes to plug something in to, no battery meter, no battery compartment to pop out. And if I need to be across the room, I'll plug in my laptop across the room.
There are a few applications -- Quake4 over VLC would suck, but why would I need to be across the room? And it's still vulnerable to this problem. Gamers who get wireless stuff are retarded.
People actually pay extra for this inconvenience?
But even if the thing was free, I work hard to make sure my keystrokes are encrypted when I want them to be. OS X is set to not allow any app to intercept Terminal keystrokes, which are then sent over a Blowfish ssh tunnel authenticated with 4096-bit RSA keys both ways, my email usually goes over a VPN (to cover the wirelessness), my passwords are unguessable, my PGP is unbreakable. And for what? So some script kiddie next door can just grab my keystrokes right out of the air? No thanks!
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
Where I can find an optical/laser mouse, wired or not, that has a small trackpad instead of a ball or wheel?
I'd have thought that Apple or Logitech would have brought one out by now but I can't find one on either of their sites, and Googling for such search terms as "mouse with trackpad" turns up lots of people talking about using mice with the trackpads on their laptops, but no mice with trackpads built in.
The tracking area doesn't have to be big, just a small area inbetween the left and right click areas (perhaps a 1.5 to 2 centimetres wide and deep) and sensitive to X-Y sliding of the finger and light tapping - for the middle click.
Would certainly help people with sensitive fingers who start to get "scroll finger" after a few hours, and it would be rather easy to keep clean.
Te Quiero, Puta!
Thing is - these are all personal choices and other people will differ. Left-handers will differ particularly strongly (Apple have no choice to supply an ambisinister* mouse). People with small hands will disagree. Heck, some people *liked* the hockey puck mice (shudder!).
The way to buy a mouse is to walk into PC World where they have a big rack of the things and choose the one that feels comfortable. Perhaps Apple should produce (or license) a range of "designer" iMice - they could probably sell them to iPod-toting PC users.
(*Ambisinister: equally clumsy with either hand. Courtesy Terry Pratchett, I think)
In a survey of 100 programmers, 111111 thought that duck-typing was a good idea.
Thanks for the Aldus correction. I knew the company was called something different back then, but had forgotten what exactly.
Where were you when the voynix came?
This is the one thing that I've been waiting for in terms of mice. I liked the mighty mouse when it first came out, but I wanted it bluetooth because I don't want wires all over my desk. I currently use a rf mouse because all the full size bluetooth mice I've used suck (Logitech, Kensington, Microsoft, MacAlly, several others).
this is getting old and so are you
blog
Either the MacOS driver is loading an updated firmware, the MM provides analog 'click' values, or the driver sets thresholds/adjusts sensitivity...but I had to scrounge around and find a 6 year old Logitech mouse because the MM was mostly useless in XP.
I figured there was a Windows driver, but nope...
Please help metamoderate.
You can't press left and right buttons at the same time! Absolutely useless for gaming, although admittedly you don't need to do this anywhere else (that I'm aware of).
If you use some UNIX apps, either locally or remotely, you need three real buttons and chording.
Because of this, you tend to need to pick up the mouse from time to time to do a drag across the screen. The way the Apple mouse is shaped it's very easy to do this since you just sort of squeeze it.
The way you describe holding the Apple mouse sounds just like the way I hold my Microsoft Optical mouse, and it doesn't work on Apple's. In fact I have yet to be able to pick up the Apple mouse with the button held without releasing the button, so if there's some sleight of hand that makes this "easy" I'd appreciate knowing it.
Because it *is* easy on every other mouse I've ever used. But on on Apple's.
I'm using a Microsoft Optical mouse, the basic version, and it's the best optical mouse I've found. Can I get it in Bluetooth? Not bloody likely.
Logitech's Bluetooth mouse isn't the same hape as their basic mouse either.
Just what's going on here?
By default it is a simple one-button mouse anyone can use with no training and which encourages app designers to behave properly.
This is such bullshit.
Single button mice encourage app designers to hide functionality behind CMD-ALT-SHIFT-CONTROL-DOUBLE-CLICK. Apple's "one button" mouse really had 5.5 buttons, with 4 of them on the keyboard, one called "double click" and no consistency between how applications use them, whereas Xerox's original 3 button mouse really did have three buttons and they were consistent - select, execute, and menu.