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View Full Version : 3 button mouse on the way




Dignan
Jul 22, 2002, 03:26 PM
Complete speculation. But I was looking at Shake, and the requirements for it (which seem pretty high)
System Requirements
Macintosh system requirements
_ 800MHz Power PC G4 processor
_ Mac OS X v10.2 or later
_ QuickTime 5.0.4 or later
_ 256MB of RAM
_ 1GB disk space for caching and temporary files
_ Graphics card with 32MB of video memory and OpenGL hardware acceleration, such as the NVIDIA GeForce2 MX or GeForce4 MX or the ATI Radeon 7500
_ Display with 1280-by-1024-pixel resolution and 24-bit color
_ Three-button mouse

Three button mouse...now, wouldnt apple want to have a mouse thats a requirement for its own software?



Stike
Jul 22, 2002, 03:47 PM
Well, Apple may save some production resources for the new PMacs instead of producing a new mouse... but how would that look like? Any mock-ups?:p
Most likely it would be white :eek: :D

AlphaTech
Jul 22, 2002, 04:34 PM
How about an aluminum/metal finish mouse??? Something where the metal is beneth the clear plastic shell. That would be cool... :D It would also be great if they used two lasers for the mouse, like the current/new line from Logitech.

Beej
Jul 22, 2002, 05:01 PM
I just noticed the 3-button requirement too. That confirms to me we'll be seeing an new kbd+mouse combo with the new powermacs. Probably white/silver to go with the new enclosure. (I know the enclosure is supposed to be grey, but it sure looks white to me!)

GeeYouEye
Jul 22, 2002, 05:11 PM
Or maybe Shake wasn't made by Apple, they just bought the company that made it. Just a little rampant speculation there. :rolleyes:

job
Jul 22, 2002, 05:18 PM
Originally posted by GeeYouEye
Or maybe Shake wasn't made by Apple, they just bought the company that made it. Just a little rampant speculation there. :rolleyes:

He has a very valid point. It was not Apple that made the 3-Button mouse reqs, it was the company that developed Shake and was eventually bought by Apple.

JonD
Jul 22, 2002, 07:20 PM
It's about bloody time that Apple comes out with a 2+ button mouse (with a scroll wheel). Support is built into X, and damnit, they're years behind the ball here.

Oh, wait, they're years behind on their motherboard design too. fsck!

madamimadam
Jul 22, 2002, 07:27 PM
Originally posted by hitman


He has a very valid point. It was not Apple that made the 3-Button mouse reqs, it was the company that developed Shake and was eventually bought by Apple.

Wouldn't you think, though, that if Apple was to bring out a program that needs a 3 button mouse they would make a 3 button mouse to go with it.

JonD
Jul 22, 2002, 07:40 PM
Originally posted by madamimadamtimallen


Wouldn't you think, though, that if Apple was to bring out a program that needs a 3 button mouse they would make a 3 button mouse to go with it.

One would think. Sometimes 2 + 2 just doesn't quite equal 4.

Mr_Sqeeb
Jul 23, 2002, 05:21 AM
Apple now makes and sells "Shake", yeah, well the specs say it needs three button mouse!!!

Would it not then make sense for apple to make a new mouse



btw:- i am depressed as all ****, no one is willing to buy me a tibook 800, god damn chaep bastards

iGav
Jul 23, 2002, 05:32 AM
As well as the 3 button mouse... they also need a Graphics tablet.... tablets totally rule in the post and compositing arena........ :)

iH8Quark
Jul 23, 2002, 06:20 AM
Originally posted by Dignan
Complete speculation. But I was looking at Shake, and the requirements for it (which seem pretty high)

These comments have been removed by the poster because some nitwit "newbie" disagrees with me about the system requirements for Shake.

I kinda like him already. :D

We shouldn't be disagreeing in two threads. ;)

jmstark
Jul 23, 2002, 08:20 AM
Originally posted by GeeYouEye
Or maybe Shake wasn't made by Apple, they just bought the company that made it. Just a little rampant speculation there.
But isn't this the first version of Shake to run under Mac OS X. If so, Apple may well have had an influence on how this version of Shake was made.

mmmdreg
Jul 23, 2002, 08:43 AM
Apple should have a 3-button mouse, even if only standard on pro models because it is a system requirement in many apps and is useful anyway...

PFY
Jul 23, 2002, 08:45 AM
Well Apple offers a special FCP keyboard so I guess any three button mouse made by Apple won't come standard with the new PowerMacs but will have to be purchased seperatly.

iH8Quark
Jul 23, 2002, 08:57 AM
I'm waiting for somebody to come out with a tablet that has a light up keyboard on the surface so I don't have to keep switching back and forth. I always thought it would be great to be able to touch an area of the tablet and then a keyboard area would light up that you could touch-type on with your fingers. That would be a huge space saver.

I should patent that. ;)

word...i'm gonna be rich. :D

jelloshotsrule
Jul 23, 2002, 09:56 AM
has anyone seen the new 3 button mouse from kensington? it's white and pretty much imac like.... i'd picture apple's looking similar....

kensington has a great ad for it too.... "who in their right mind would make a product for 5% of the market?".... then in small print... "well, we did".. or something like that. it's on the back of the mw magazine and it was being shown at mw. also on their website of course....

marcelo002
Jul 23, 2002, 11:04 AM
If apple is going to release a new mouse, i'd make it apple style- cool, original, functional, and totally awesome.
My suggestions: Make it similiar to the current mouse in terms of colors, shape, and overall theme. Definitely keep it optical, and make the red light also light up the apple logo better. I'd suggest only 2 buttons, but three if they make a thumb button. The best part: instead of a scroll wheel, they should incorporate the same technology for the new wheel-less iPod and make a touch sensitive scroll pad or something fo the sort.

Just my thoughts...

jelloshotsrule
Jul 23, 2002, 11:15 AM
here's the kensington mouse. not exactly a great picture (a bit bright) but with a few tweaks i could see the apple 3 button looking a bit like it.

mnkeybsness
Jul 23, 2002, 11:52 AM
three buttons are useless unless you are counting on the middle button being a scroll wheel. it's like microsofts intellimouse...there are two absolutely useless buttons on each side...granted you can program specific actions for them, but who really seriously absolutely needs to have them

jelloshotsrule
Jul 23, 2002, 12:30 PM
Originally posted by mnkeybsness
three buttons are useless unless you are counting on the middle button being a scroll wheel. it's like microsofts intellimouse...there are two absolutely useless buttons on each side...granted you can program specific actions for them, but who really seriously absolutely needs to have them

for some applications, the middle mouse button does in fact do something

i'mm sure most/all of these apps are high end type things that most people don't use, but still. they're out there (maya).

just so you know

Dignan
Jul 23, 2002, 12:34 PM
Jello- there is something for you over in the short films thread.

But, about the mouse...Im not sure...apple always goes for simplicity, and if you showed me the quicksilver, and asked me waht their mouse would look like, it would look like the nice smooth one button optical we have now.

But that "prototype" or whatever G4 thats been leaked, its really kinda...complicated (design wise), so a 3 button wouldnt surprise me. I just hope apple could make it really really really incredibly ridiculously good-looking. (zoolander reference)

awrc
Jul 23, 2002, 12:41 PM
Originally posted by mnkeybsness
three buttons are useless unless you are counting on the middle button being a scroll wheel. it's like microsofts intellimouse...there are two absolutely useless buttons on each side...granted you can program specific actions for them, but who really seriously absolutely needs to have them

Not absolutely needed, no, but I've got them set up on my Microsoft Trackball Optical as copy and paste, with the scroll button set up to double-click. Never use the scroll button (other than as a wheel), but I've actually found having copy and paste on the little side buttons to be quite useful.

thedude
Jul 23, 2002, 12:51 PM
3 butons should be a priority. If Apple wants to attract the 3d crowd, they need to supply the hardware. Maya 4.5 needs a 3 button mouse, shake needs one. It's a pain in the butt to have to use a keystroke command to emulate the second and third buttons. Far less productive. So here's to hoping!

Dignan
Jul 23, 2002, 02:29 PM
Who renamed my thread damnit? I never said "on the way"....

Shouldnt people at least consult me about this stuff? My goodness.

stromer
Jul 23, 2002, 06:05 PM
I think Apple will stay with their 1-button-mouse-philosophy for their MACs. But what about dropping a 3-button-mouse into the Shake package? The software is about $5000, so the mouse might be a nice giveaway. :D

SilvorX
Jul 25, 2002, 06:47 AM
it would be nice for a mouse to be included but that wouldnt happen lol

i'dd like to see a 2 button mouse by apple WITH A SCROLL WHEEL :D, since scroll wheels are really good for webpages and long documents...

Mr Jobs
Jul 25, 2002, 01:00 PM
Originally posted by PFY
Well Apple offers a special FCP keyboard so I guess any three button mouse made by Apple won't come standard with the new PowerMacs but will have to be purchased seperatly.

is there i thought it was a 3rd party that did that, do you have a link to this keyboard

Sauron1440
Jul 25, 2002, 01:38 PM
Post-Op Video sells em' here - EZ Keyboard (http://www.postop.com/ezkeys/ezproductsFCP.asp)

BTW - I am wondering if Apple is holding off on the 2+ button mouse because of the whole "ease of use" thing. A multi button mouse is confusing, at first, for a beginning user. (Not Me) Apple should package a 3 button mouse with the Powermac, and maybe do just a single button with the eMac and iMac (with the option to change if you BTO)

Just A Thought

MacDaddie0
Jul 25, 2002, 01:52 PM
Apple should also switch from 1-button mouse to 3 (2+1 scroll) buttom mouse, IMO.

For Windows users to switch to mac.. it sure will help to have a 3-button mouse.

my 2cents :D

JupiterZen
Jul 25, 2002, 02:15 PM
Originally posted by Sauron1440
[B]Post-Op Video sells em' here - EZ Keyboard (http://www.postop.com/ezkeys/ezproductsFCP.asp)


Those are not the real Apple Pro Keyboard version of the FCP keyboard that you can get here:

http://www.apple.com/nl/promo/videokeyboard/online.html


:cool:

Dignan
Jul 25, 2002, 02:19 PM
Yeah, I agree that making a 3 button might get rid of some "ease of use", although "switchers" are already used to 3 button aren't they? Maybe that would make it easy on them. Who knows.

But I have a feeling a program like shake doesnt have lots of relative "ease of use"

Joshlew
Jul 25, 2002, 03:57 PM
A three button mouse would sure be sweet............:p

hoshi
Jul 29, 2002, 07:29 PM
http://www.macally.com/

if apple wants to realy be ahead of the ball they should go with these

wireless three button
and wireless keyboards and wireless everything