Apple debuting two-button mouse?

[jbh001]

I've gotten so used to having just one button that switching to a two-button mouse would just be uncomfortable and I would probably never use the second button.

It's not about a second button, its about a scroll wheel. Once you've gotten used to using a scroll wheel, any mouse without one is inferior. It is irrelevant whether it has 1, 2, or 27 buttons.

We still have a few machines here at work with mice that don't have scroll wheels--AND THEY ARE A MAJOR PAIN IN THE PATOOTEE TO USE!!! For a switcher, moving to a mouse without a scroll wheel is definately a step backward.

If the rumor is true, it is definately about time for Apple to finally catch up to the rest of the world.

(Perhaps instead of a conventional scroll wheel, they'll use that click-wheel design they submitted a patent for several months back.)

 

[zoozx]

Hope it competitively priced and not the normal +50% over pricing that apple uses on peripheral items

 

[danr_97070]

I agree...

I'll tell you what - you can have all the one-button mice I've shoved in drawers over the years in favor of more practical multi-button mice.

Yeah, mine's never been used... Maybe I should sell it to one of these "cold dead hand" people on e-bay. They'll probably pay $50 for it!

 

[joeboy_45101]

You can have my one-button mouse when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.

Absolutely!!! I don't really believe this will become the default mouse since Mac OS X has been mainly designed to be used with a one-button mouse. I know that you can use a two-button mouse with the system but it just does not provide the same functionality that is found on other systems.

Maybe this will be a package that will be aimed at the professional movie editing software that Apple makes. I know that most people who complain about the one-button mouse are referring to those applications.

All-in-all, as long as Apple doesn't take away the one-button mouse I will be happy. In my opinion a one-button mouse is superior, I can't stand two-button or three-button mouse, and it takes extremely well designed software to utilize it.

 

[johan_tanying]

....mice that don't have scroll wheels--AND THEY ARE A MAJOR PAIN IN THE PATOOTEE TO USE!!!

So very true when it comes to CAD software like ArchiCad - it is extremely cumbersome to click the little magnifying glass each time you want to zoom instead of just scrolling. A second button also makes work much easier on ArchiCad.

Now we also know why Apple never let * MacMice sell the white versions of their mice - a little bit too close to the upcoming Apple mouse!?

* (At least that was the case for an authorized Apple reseller in Sweden a month ago).

 

[Lepton]

ok... so how do I copy a picture to the clipboard without using ctrl-click in Safari?

Press on the picture and drag it a small way, but not off the window, and release so it springs back. The picture is now selected. Choose Copy from the Edit menu.

 

[sinisterdesign]

hal-le-lu-iah

this has been one of my biggest rants for YEARS. i used to work for Apple in cupertino and i didn't use that stupid hockey puck mouse that came w/ the computer then. it was pretty, but i want pretty AND usable!!! i used to keep all the 1-button mice from my computers, but they were taking up so much space. i had planned on creating an art project out of them at one point, just never got to it.

it's just technology progressing. how many people would give up an eject button or volume controls on their keyboard now? how about ports that are easily accesible either on the keyboard or the front of the CPU? the Mac didn't ALWAYS have these things, but they were improvements. i am THRILLED to read that they're creating a multi-button mouse. i have 4 switchers here in my office (and i swayed 3 of them), but told all 4 of them to buy a new mouse. how can you teach a PC user to CTRL-click when they're used to right-clicking??!? it's absurd.

go Ive! give us a mouse to be proud of (finally)

 

[dicklacara]

I believe it was just a couple of years ago that Apple patented just such a thing (iPod style scroll circle on a mouse)...

I have been thinking about this (the computer UI) a lot lately.

I never have typed very well and, also, use a 1-button mouse.

I have several iPods and like the UI.

I just bought a TiVo (yesterday) and it has a pretty good remote/UI-- though it is too similar to the iPod & causes me to make errors.

Then there are those maddening TV, Audio, universal remotes-- all different, all hard to use.

Here's what I think is necessary:

A. a simple, one-handed, one-thumb remote for doing:

1) menu drill-down and selection
2) number entry

B. a simpler way than a 100-plus key keyboard for doing character data entry.

C. a way to move between A and B without moving your hands

D. something intuitive, easy-to learn that you can use without looking at it (or your fingers).

E. something that is easily programmable (customizable) as in here are the 4-5 channels (or computer apps) I want to switch among for the next few hours

F. something that will work equally as well as a TV remote, Computer input, etc. (or could be embedded in the steering wheel of your car to control your GIS/AV/Computer combo)

I have been playing around with speech for drill-down and selection-- works quite well.

Another possibility for data entry is a chordset a 5-button device that can be used with one hand to enter text.

Or, possibly, 2 devices - used together to complement each other.

A few years back, Woz had the first universal remote that was an Apple ][ in a handheld device-- the best universal remote I've used.

Today, Apple has patents on the clickwheel technology. Maybe all this expertise could be used to create a new category of input device-- one that addresses the way we work and the way we play.

 

[virus1]

So very true when it comes to CAD software like ArchiCad - it is extremely cumbersome to click the little magnifying glass each time you want to zoom instead of just scrolling. A second button also makes work much easier on ArchiCad.

Now we also know why Apple never let * MacMice sell the white versions of their mice - a little bit too close to the upcoming Apple mouse!?

* (At least that was the case for an authorized Apple reseller in Sweden a month ago).

that thing is great.. just make the scroll wheel a little wider and get rid of the ugly screws under the plastic and they'd be set.

 

[Techobo]

Why not?

I might be one of the few to say that I'm looking forward to the second button. I know that it won't make that much of a difference but its one less thing to do with your left hand. And for all the people that are complaining about it, don't buy it. Having that second button will only make things easier. I would rather be more productive than be trendy.

 

[xsnightclub]

I think single button mice are great for the first two days of using OS X. They're also great for children under five years of age.
But anyone who thinks single button mice are even remotely as productive as multi-button scrolling mice (God, I hope the new one scrolls...) must use applications very different from the ones I use.

Perhaps the children under five know something you don't, like your computer also comes with a 100+ button input device. (unless it's a mac mini)

But I could see this being infintely more difficult to use if you only have one hand, or you or eating a double whopper w/ cheese while typing, or drinking your triple grande latte while editing your company's most important clients ad campaign, or you a feverishly downloading massive amounts of porn for which a multi-button mouse comes in most handy (pun intended).

I am gonna get flamed from the I have an 8 button/ dual scroll mouse folks:

 

[Booga]

Different strokes for different folks, but you can't say 'oh I'm faster cuz my mouse has more buttons'. There's more than your way to get the job done quickly.

This is a common sentiment, but is often wrong. User tests repeatedly show that there is often only one or two ways to get the job done most quickly. However, most people would rather not change comfortable patterns to improve their productivity, or would, in fact, rather work more slowly.

In any case, go ahead and claim that you prefer a one button mouse without a scroll wheel. But don't claim that you're just as fast with one, because unless you're a very atypical user, it's just not true. You just don't realize or don't care how much faster you would be, or haven't actually measured it after giving it a chance. If your time is worth any money at all, it might be worth looking into.

 

[cube]

Don't bother with VNC, then; tunnel X through ssh:

ssh -X -l username hostname.domain.tld

If you're on Windows and you use X, you should have Cygwin installed anyway.

- I am on a Mac
- There's no direct connection to the Unix machine
- The passthrough machine is a Windows Terminal Server (no Cygwin there, but I could put the selfcontained VNC client in the home directory).
- I run VNC server on a Unix machine and from there I connect to other Unix hosts.

Mac (Citrix client) - Win (Citrix server / VNC client) - Unix (VNC server / X server) - Unix (X client)

 

[Caiwyn]

Honestly, I like the no-button mouse concept (where the whole mouse is the button) and I hope that Apple just adds a scroll wheel. That's what's really missing.

 

[aethier]

So essentially this thread has people split into two camps. Those in favor of Apple introducing a new mouse with two buttons and those who want to stick with the two-part 110 button mouse.

For those who talk of intuitive UI's and how simple it is to use the command button to access 'right click' functions, my Apple keyboard doesn't have a command button.

sure is a good thing that you must use the Control button (Ctrl) , not the command button then eh?

 

[ncoffey]

Not going to wait till the Tiger is released on April 1st? (Oh sorry that was a different thread!)

I ordered it BTO back in february and that's it's estimated ship date.... My monitor and keyboard and applecare are already here and I don't really want to wait any more....

 

[ericmooreart]

What took so long

As I read these posts (scrolling with my mouse wheel) I read things such as :

You can have my one-button mouse when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.

(copied and pasted using right click) I don't knock 1bus (1button users), to each his own but...

I can't imaging going back to a one button mouse. Pressing contol is a waste of hand and neck movment. Imagine my suprise when i found I could scroll sideways with my mouse wheel and the shift key. Try playing Unreal or Doom with a 1 button mouse or if your really brave Maya. Yikes!

I'm waiting for the neural interface. I've already picked a spot on my neck for the jack port.

 

[RIP]

So

My jaw is supposed to drop.





Over a mouse?




That will happen when it mouses down the hall and brings me back a perfectly brewed cup of coffee.

 

[Xenious]

This may have been mentioned, but a real benefit of this would be two buttons in powerbooks and ibooks. That was a side reason why I went with a powermac desktop and not a laptop. You can always add a great mouse to a desktop (I use my MS mice and natural keyboard), but to add one to a laptop means you have to carry around more stuff.

For my buttons beyond 2 I use them for back and forward in safari, auto-run and 'map' in WoW and various other app specific things. Now the scroll wheel I use all the time and is even more essential than buttons 4 and 5.

 

[Blue Velvet]

It depends on what you do...

There is nothing that a scroll-wheel and a second button would do for my daily work in Photoshop, QuarkXpress, Acrobat & Illustrator...

Simple and functional keyboard shortcuts are not difficult to learn and if you use them every day then they simply become muscle-memory and don't need 'remembering'.

Personally, I find a two-button mouse puts increased strain on my hand. I'm in front of a Mac for 12-15 hours a day at work or at home and find the one-button mouse less stressful on the ligaments in my hand. Occasionally, I can use my entire hand for clicking than just the fingers...

I have to use a 2-button mouse on the office PC that sits next to my Mac and find it a pain to use. I like the scroll-wheel but that's only used for web-browsing...

I don't know any professional designer that even uses something like the zoom tool anyway.

I mean c'mon... Who here uses their mouse to cut, copy, paste, save, quit, minimize etc?

 

[SiliconAddict]

ABOUT GOD *(#$)* TIME!!!

Putting part of the functionality of the mouse on the keyboard is NOT intuitive. Its not easy. Tell me what is easier. Splitting the functionality of the onscreen pointer between your mouse and keyboard and not showing the end user that you do indeed have context sensitive mouse clicks with this button over here on the keyboard. Or simply having all the functionality on one device. The keyboard mouse have two different jobs. Mixing those jobs does not make things simpler. It stifles a person's productivity because you are for all intents and purposes hiding a function of the system from a user and that is just plain stupid.

On the PC I can just keep typing away as I use my mouse one-handed while I use the mouse to move around the screen. Yes it slow the input but it doesn't stop it. On a Mac you have to stop what you are doing dink around with the keyboard to get a context sensitive click and then return to work.

Honestly I don't really care about a two button mouse per say. Any iMac/eMac/PowerMac/MacMini user can simply replace the mouse and away they go. No big deal. No its the mobile users who are being screwed over by Apple, check that Jobs's, insane need to be different. Show me how I can replace the one button touchpad on a PowerBook and then we can talk.

 

[cube]

You can always add a great mouse to a desktop (I use my MS mice and natural keyboard), but to add one to a laptop means you have to carry around more stuff.

That wouldn't be so much of an issue. The problem is that you can't use a mouse when the mac is on a tray or your lap.

Three buttons. The system can make them act like only one for the people who don't need it (the default, if you want).

I am willing to accept Apple putting the 3 buttons only on Powerbooks. That will certainly ensure I won't think about getting a cheap iBook again.

 

[Montserrat]

My jaw is supposed to drop.

Over a mouse?

That will happen when it mouses down the hall and brings me back a perfectly brewed cup of coffee.

Guess you'd be really pissed off with it if it only brought you back instant then

 

[PeterD42]

Just being sarcastic.

I am a Mac snob, and I do think the product and the OS is better than Windows machines and the Windows OS.

This may have been said somewhere else in this thread but..........

Get yourself a 2 button mouse with a button scroll wheel, open up some windows in front of a Windows user and then start pushing that button.

You are now in Expose heaven and the Windows user will just die

 

[Montserrat]

ABOUT GOD *(#$)* TIME!!!

... Show me how I can replace the one button touchpad on a PowerBook and then we can talk.

How about using the iScroll2 trackpad driver with configurable area clicking (allowing right click function) or Sidetrack?