Review of Apple's "Mighty Mouse" 649
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.""
Innovative? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Blew it out of proportion? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Innovative? (Score:1, Insightful)
Amigas had a 2 button mouse in 1985.
Re:Well... (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re:Well... (Score:2, Insightful)
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.
Re:Blew it out of proportion? (Score:2, Insightful)
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.
Re:Blew it out of proportion? (Score:2, Insightful)
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.
Re:Wost Mouse Ever (Score:2, Insightful)
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.
The most important feature... (Score:3, Insightful)
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
Re:The stupid Grandma defense (Score:1, Insightful)
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?
Re:Innovative? (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes [absoluteastronomy.com].
The first version of optical mice needed to be used with a special mouse pad, with a metallic rectangular grid on the surface. The accuracy was pretty bad, and having to use this pad was no fun either. As mechanical mice got better, optical mice disappeared for many years. The newer ones do a lot of image processing internally, have much better accuracy and don't need a special mouse pad - which is why they've more or less replaced mechanical mice.
Re:Drivers licenses (Score:5, Insightful)
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 [amazon.com] by Donald Norman.
Preference != Superiority (Score:3, Insightful)
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