2009 Speculation "Apple just announced, “The mouse is dead”!"

[Digital Skunk]

Long live the mouse!

Amen, unless mental control comes out the Star Trek fanboys can keep their touch screen computers.

Apple would do good killing the mouse and giving us a better pointing device, and they can kill that God-awful thin keyboard too.

 

[RRutter]

Amen, unless mental control comes out the Star Trek fanboys can keep their touch screen computers.

Apple would do good killing the mouse and giving us a better pointing device, and they can kill that God-awful thin keyboard too.

Yes, I hate the thin keyboards that are with the new iMacs. I love my MacBook keyboard. I know they were specifically designed to be jsut like the MacBook ones, but they're not! I swear, the MacBook ones make me feel so much more comfortable typing on! 😕

 

[DARKJ3DI]

I killed one of my three that I own a few months back. I replaced it with a Microsoft Mouse.

I don;t know if I would be able to get rid of using a mouse altogether though.

Haha thats the opposite of what i did; i killed my Microsoft Mouse so i bought a bluetooth mighty mouse. 😀. Best peripheral decision i have ever made. It has made me more productive with the 360 degree scroll ball and the squeeze buttons.

Anyway, i hope apple does not kill off their mice. Computing will just not be the same. Sure, touch is great for mobile devices since they never had mice in the first place but it would be awkward on a desktop since most controls are too small to touch accurately.

 

[hexonxonx]

Haha thats the opposite of what i did; i killed my Microsoft Mouse so i bought a bluetooth mighty mouse. 😀. Best peripheral decision i have ever made. It has made me more productive with the 360 degree scroll ball and the squeeze buttons.

Anyway, i hope apple does not kill off their mice. Computing will just not be the same. Sure, touch is great for mobile devices since they never had mice in the first place but it would be awkward on a desktop since most controls are too small to touch accurately.

The Mighty Mouse works perfectly....

the first few weeks you use it.

After the first few weeks, the wheel starts not responding and the cursor just sits there. Try putting up with that when you are working on something and you need to stop just to clean the scroll ball. Sometimes that works but only for a short time.

I finally had enough and smashed it on my desk. I got out the spare mighty mouse and was using that till I got the MS mouse.

Another annoyance: Try using your left hand to select something with the mouse. It will rarely work.

 

[tigermurphy]

I'm assuming that when Apple acquired Fingerworks, they also acquired all of their multitouch patents. Fingerworks had a product called the iGesture Pad, which was essentially a large USB touchpad (about 6" by 5" if I remember right). It was a great product that incorporated all of Apple's current gestures, and quite a few more. It was especially useful for those of us with repetitive strain injuries. Anyway, I've been wondering if Apple would release a similar product of their own branding. Whether it would represent a paradigm shift, or just a different choice, it would be most welcome.

 

[Josso]

Then why does your thread title say, "Apple just announced, 'The mouse is dead'!" 😕

For getting your attention? 🙂

 

[Stebus]

I'm assuming that when Apple acquired Fingerworks, they also acquired all of their multitouch patents. Fingerworks had a product called the iGesture Pad, which was essentially a large USB touchpad (about 6" by 5" if I remember right). It was a great product that incorporated all of Apple's current gestures, and quite a few more. It was especially useful for those of us with repetitive strain injuries. Anyway, I've been wondering if Apple would release a similar product of their own branding. Whether it would represent a paradigm shift, or just a different choice, it would be most welcome.

I think that would be an awesome idea and I personally love the idea of ditching the mouse and using a trackpad device instead. It just seems more natural to use your fingers to direct. I'm looking forward to using the trackpad on the new Macbooks to see if I can truly give up using a mouse (using a Mighty Mouse with my old Macbook now).

I remember seeing a video from TED in like '06 with touchscreen technology. I'm hoping the computing industry heads in that direction because it really is so superior to what we use now.

 

[gr8ful]

I think that would be an awesome idea and I personally love the idea of ditching the mouse and using a trackpad device instead. It just seems more natural to use your fingers to direct. I'm looking forward to using the trackpad on the new Macbooks to see if I can truly give up using a mouse (using a Mighty Mouse with my old Macbook now).

I remember seeing a video from TED in like '06 with touchscreen technology. I'm hoping the computing industry heads in that direction because it really is so superior to what we use now.

Steve Jobs in a NY Times interview last year:
“People don’t understand that we’ve invented a new class of interface,” he said.
He contrasted it with stylus interfaces, like the approach Microsoft took with its tablet computer. That interface is not so different from what most computers have been using since the mid-1980s.
In contrast, Mr. Jobs said that multitouch drastically simplified the process of controlling a computer.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/22/t...l?_r=2&ref=technology&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

I know a multi-gesture trackpad will not likely supplant the mouse....today, but Steve makes it clear that this is not something they are playing around as a marketing gimmick. "A new class of interface" says we are taking the traditional input method in a totally new direction. How long before the mouse is spoken of, or not spoken of, like the floppy? Who knows.

Apple has a lot of challenges to deal with to bring something like this mainstream. Several of you identified valid scenarios where the mouse is superior to the trackpad. Apple is just getting started in this multi-touch arena but the transition has begun.

 

[NT1440]

Agreed. I don't see the mouse going anywhere soon.

You know, its funny that we disagree so much politically here, it seems im always bumping into a thread where I agree with you on tech things or vice versa 😛

 

[RRutter]

You know, its funny that we disagree so much politically here, it seems im always bumping into a thread where I agree with you on tech things or vice versa 😛

Lol.. Yeah you two are not the only ones. I have disagreed with so many people politically, but have agreed with them with stuff like Tech, Mac, etc. It's funny, really 😛

 

[chachster]

I for one hope your prediction doen't come true. Having the mouse is much easier than a trackpad IMHO.