Apple debuting two-button mouse?

[redeye be]

When I bought my mini (my first new self-bought mac) i had to order the -wired- mouse with it, knowing i would never use it.
Then i had to explain it to my girlfriend... yes it was throwing away money dear, but it was my money you see?

I love multiple buttons and like DavidLeblond i use exposé with it. Duality about apple making them though, guess it's a good thing.
On power- and ibooks this will suck imo, on most PC's it sucks, unless they make it 4 buttons or left or right-hand only.

Now where's the thread on the new airport base stations?

 

[iGary]

Seriously, though...

Is this a move to pander to the Windows world?

 

[tomjleeds]

Although I'm primarily a Windows user, I really can't see why people are so keen on the one-button mouse. I've never been a fan of them, myself. There are a number of reasons:

1) No right-click capability. You have to use the Command button. Ew!
2) No scroll-wheel. It makes life SO much easier.
3) You have to move your whole hand to click. Not by much, I know, but it's still your hand rather than simply putting a small amount of pressure on one finger.

It seems that people want to stick with a one-button mouse 'because it's what makes a Mac a Mac', which is just plain dumb to be honest. Why stick with outdated technology just to say 'Haha, I'm not a Windows user'?!

Oh, and I class myself as a power-user. My Logitech MX500 may have 7 buttons and a wheel, but I only use the two main ones and the scroller. Perfect combination.

Is this a pander to the non-Mac world? No. It's Apple continuing their reaction to the realisation that being awkward isn't going to result in profits.

I grew up with Apple's simplicity and one button mouse. When I got to the university, they have predominantly Windows boxes with two button mice. It took me a number of weeks to get used to remembering which button to press, and giving instructions to someone is more difficult because you have to always include right-click or left-click, and remember which side is where. Maybe I'm just stupid, but it's an added level of confusion. Maybe if the right button was smaller since it only handles secondary tasks it would make more sense. To me, the two button mouse just seems to be a cop out for making an intuitive system.

A cop-out of making an intuitive system? No. A feature which allows the user to access more functions more quickly.

 

[Lacero]

Seriously, though...

Is this a move to pander to the Windows world?

Ugh. More elitist mac snobbery.

 

[jsw]

Seriously, though...

Is this a move to pander to the Windows world?

I think it's a move to pander to the non-child computer user who has seen multi-button mice in existence for, oh, what, forty years?

 

[jsw]

3) You have to move your whole hand to click. Not by much, I know, but it's still your hand rather than simply putting a small amount of pressure on one finger.

This is one thing I actually like about the Apple mouse - it's a lot less prone to repetitive stress because using the whole hand as opposed to one finger is ergonomically better.

 

[iGary]

Ugh. More elitist mac snobbery.

If you don't have a useful response to my posts, please don't bother with following me around and replying with snide comments. It's getting old.

I'm a Mac snob.

Windows sucks, and people who use it by choice are morons.

Next.

 

[dotdotdot]

If you don't have a useful response to my posts, please don't bother with following me around and replying with snide comments. It's getting old.

I'm a Mac snob.

Windows sucks, and people who use it by choice are morons.

Next.

Thats mean (even though If I had a choice I'd get a Mac!)

What about the people who use it by choice because they are familiar w/ it who dont hate macs? are they morons?

 

[BakedBeans]

Although I'm primarily a Windows user, I really can't see why people are so keen on the one-button mouse. I've never been a fan of them, myself. There are a number of reasons:

1) No right-click capability. You have to use the Command button. Ew!

whats "ew" about pushing your finger on a button? most "power users" that i know, know the benefits of using keyboard short cuts (hence the word shortcut) having your finger on or arouns the ctrl/apple button area is pretty much a said for me

2) No scroll-wheel. It makes life SO much easier.

Mac's and there mice are actual proven to be more accurate than the windows counterpart, so sing a scroll bar isnt a bigdeal and is certainly not easier - just difference

3) You have to move your whole hand to click. Not by much, I know, but it's still your hand rather than simply putting a small amount of pressure on one finger.

read part 1

It seems that people want to stick with a one-button mouse 'because it's what makes a Mac a Mac', which is just plain dumb to be honest. Why stick with outdated technology just to say 'Haha, I'm not a Windows user'?!

whats outdated about it, thats the most "widowasized" statement ive heard for a long time, and a pretty pompous one at that

Is this a pander to the non-Mac world? No. It's Apple continuing their reaction to the realisation that being awkward isn't going to result in profits.

yes its a pander to the avarage windows user (you know the ones, cant figure out where the green colour ps2 port plugs in, hey even have to colour code there stuff ) so that it makes it easier to adjust.

what next? a start button?
ps2 ports?

 

[redAPPLE]

I agree with you. It's almost a unique "feature" of a Mac. It would be kind of weird to have a Mac mouse with two buttons. But still, it may get more people to somehow switch.

Daniel

does this proove again, that Apple is more and more favoring pc users?


first, the usb "fiasco" now the 2 button mouse?

my take, leave the standard one-button mouse as default mouse and let them people who want a two-or-more-button mouse pay the 20 $.

 

[iGary]

Thats mean (even though If I had a choice I'd get a Mac!)

What about the people who use it by choice because they are familiar w/ it who dont hate macs? are they morons?

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.

Wouldn't be calling my Dad stupid, though. He has no reason to learn a new OS, even though I've tried. No, all Windows users are not morons. Just misguided.

 

[jsw]

what next? a start button?
ps2 ports?

Dear God - it could be worse! We might see laptops with high-res screens and 7200 RPM drives, or an OS that allows us to resize windows from more than just one corner. Oh, the humanity!

I'd hate to see us borrow useful technology and ideas. I'd rather we spurn anything not invented by Apple. That makes us so unlike those Windows users.

 

[mac-er]

Although I'm primarily a Windows user, I really can't see why people are so keen on the one-button mouse. I've never been a fan of them, myself. There are a number of reasons:

1) No right-click capability. You have to use the Command button. Ew!.

Frankly, for the average user, there isn't much need for hidden right-click menus on OS X (Yes, for Power Users/Graphics Programs there are).

What does the average Windows user use the right click for? To save that porn picture from the web to their hard drive.

All a Mac user has to do is drag it over to the hard drive.

 

[Peyote]

Read between the lines, dude.

If you want more buttons, then you'll get more buttons, but the one-button mouse is both iconic and adequate. If you think I'm insinuating that to be a 'power user' you must have a 75 button mouse it's you who should perhaps cut back.

What you are insinuating is that a two button mouse doesn't make sense because the "average joe" is fine with one button, and "power users" won't be happy unless they've got a mouse with 6 buttons. Those are your words, how was my understanding of what you said incorrect?

 

[mac-er]

It seems that people want to stick with a one-button mouse 'because it's what makes a Mac a Mac', which is just plain dumb to be honest. Why stick with [if its not broken, don't fix it] technology just to say 'Haha, I'm not a Windows user'?!

Isn't that ONE of the main purposes of using a Mac? Not to be a drone. Not use a Windows computer because that is what 'my' office uses or what the majority of people use?

 

[ksz]

Apple adopted the use of context menus a while ago and CTRL-Clicking is not as straightforward as pressing the right mouse button, especially if the CTRL key is crowded by other keys. If Apple introduces a two-button mouse, I'll welcome it. Pressing the right mouse button for context menus is a natural extension of the user-interface in my view, and improves usability.

As an aside, note that Apple's Shake software requires a 3-button mouse, at least according to specifications. Sure it costs $3000 and is meant for a vertical market, but it's still an Apple product.

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...o/cJ4cbomA5Csv2gP2Bgg1KyIjjP8/2.0.11.1.0.6.12

System Requirements:
Any Power Mac G5 or Xserve G5. Power Mac G4 or PowerBook G4 with 800MHz or faster PowerPC G4 processor or Xserve G4 with 1GHz or faster PowerPC G4 processor.
Mac OS X v10.3.2 or higher
QuickTime 6.5 or later
256MB of RAM or more
1GB of disk space for caching and temporary files
Graphics card with at least 32MB of video memory and OpenGL hardware acceleration
Display with 1280-by-1024-pixel resolution and 24-bit color
Three-button mouse
AJA or Digital Voodoo card required for previewing on a broadcast video monitor

 

[benpatient]

can someone honestly explain to me how a scroll wheel can be replaced by holding down Command?

I am afraid I don't understand. And apparently you guys don't understand that *gasp* you can use multiple mouse buttons AND keyboard shortcuts at the SAME TIME!

Crazy? I know. Why would a "power user" want to have a situation where they can't answer the phone and copy/paste quickly at the same time? I don't understand at all. I use hundreds of keyboard shortcuts in photoshop, indesign, and illustrator every day. There are no advantages to a 1 button mouse, unless you consider wrist pain a benefit. moving the tip of your finger is less ligament-stressing than moving the 3 fingers that will rest on a 1 button mouse for most people. Do you really need 3 fingers to push the button? If you can hit the CMD key with one finger, you should be able to master right clicking or even using a scroll wheel with a single finger, too.

It has been my experience that Apple's "Pro" line of keyboards and mice are fairly prone to failing, despite the relative simplicity. I still have a 3 button scroll wheel mouse from my P3 700 mhz machine (came with the machine). I've had 2 apple Pro mice die and 2 apple pro keyboards die, and I'm now using that old cheap M$ mouse on my backup G3 tower.

You can move around well with a 2-button scroll mouse if you are sitting on your left hand. Apple shouldn't discriminate against war veterans who only have 1 hand.

I honestly don't think it is a "preference" issue. I think it is a stubbornness/pride/zealot issue more than anything else. Apple is a lot like Sony in some respects. Brilliant ideas and innovation on one front, stubborn backwardness on another. The 1 button mouse had it's day (the early-mid 80s), and has since been antiquated. There is no functionality LOST by going with a multi-button mouse...especially one with a wheel. (it is nearly impossible to buy a mouse today that lacks a scroll wheel of some type, except from the "great innovator," apple.)

Apple is great, and sometimes things are almost too good to be true from them. OS X is really coming along amazingly well.

But currently, there are some unaccepable excemptions to this truth:

•*One Button Mouse
•*Dual Processor G5s with 256mb of RAM
•*Heavy reliance on the GeForce 5200 64mb graphics card (also still in a dual G5)

The mouse is apple being stubborn.

The RAM skimping and the crappy graphics card are apple being stingy and Dell-like.

OS X needs 512 MB of RAM to do anything other than check email, and a dual G5 PM isn't made just to check email.

The upcoming release of Core Video is going to show how pitiful the 5200 "ultra" really is, and more than 1/2 of all macs shipped in the last 12 months have one of these cards or something equal (9200 in the mini, for example).

 

[tech4all]

1) No right-click capability. You have to use the Command button. Ew!

Yea I know, it's "EWWWW" to push a button Seems like an immature statement, IMO. If pushing a button is "Ew" to you, then what do you say about all the Windows viruses? That must be "Ewwwww".

btw: To "right-click" with a 1 button mouse it's the Control button, not Command button.

3) You have to move your whole hand to click. Not by much, I know, but it's still your hand rather than simply putting a small amount of pressure on one finger.

How did you come with that observation? That is such a subtle observation: clicking with a finger or clicking with a whole hand. That hardly seems like a valid argument.

 

[Lacero]

Look at all the galleries of Mac desktops and you'll find 98% of mac users have bought another mouse to replace their 1 button mice. Apple has a tendency to hold onto their mid-80's belief of what computers are supposed to be, but it doesn't hold in today's market.

Apple needs to :

- bring out a multi-button mouse.
- port OSX to Intel/AMD processors

We've all seen what happens to Apple when they are stubborn, ie.

- Nubus, SCSI (No IDE support), ADC
- Unwilling to make low-cost Mac
- Unwilling to port popular apps to Windows

 

[feakbeak]

Mac's and there mice are actual proven to be more accurate than the windows counterpart, so sing a scroll bar isnt a bigdeal and is certainly not easier - just difference

What does it mean for a Mac mouse to be more accurate than a Windows counterpart. First of all, there are no "Windows mice". Sure Microsoft makes mice, but they work with Macs too. If you mean the accuracty of their tracking that is a factor of the optical sensor mostly - but the Apple mice don't compare to the MX1000 in in terms of accuracy. Secondly, who has "proven" this notion. Was there research done on the subject?

Another thing is that you said Mac's and their mice, so how are Macs (PowerPC) more accurate than x86 hardware. Most computer hardware performs computations accurately. Adding two register values on any processor yields an accurate result, no? That aspect is more a factor of what software you choose to run on the machine.

Yes, I'm poking fun at your argument a little here, but I am genuinely curious at what you meant by "more accurate"?

 

[mac-er]

Look at all the galleries of Mac desktops and you'll find 98% of mac users have bought another mouse to replace their 1 button mice.

I think you have some spuriousness there. 98% of the people who have posted their setups have replaced their mouse. But, I doubt 98% of all people who use Macs have replaced their mice.

 

[tech4all]

can someone honestly explain to me how a scroll wheel can be replaced by holding down Command?

Maybe by holding down Command and moving the mouse up/down right/left?

But currently, there are some unaccepable excemptions to this truth:

•*One Button Mouse
•*Dual Processor G5s with 256mb of RAM
•*Heavy reliance on the GeForce 5200 64mb graphics card (also still in a dual G5)

The mouse is apple being stubborn.

The RAM skimping and the crappy graphics card are apple being stingy and Dell-like.

OS X needs 512 MB of RAM to do anything other than check email, and a dual G5 PM isn't made just to check email.

The upcoming release of Core Video is going to show how pitiful the 5200 "ultra" really is, and more than 1/2 of all macs shipped in the last 12 months have one of these cards or something equal (9200 in the mini, for example).

• I don't have a problem with a 1 button mouse. But that's been discussed enough in this thread.

• Regarding the 256MB ram on the lower end PM G5s. Couldn't agree more. Apple NEEDS to put at least 512 in the PMs now and NOT raise the price. 256MB ram is not acceptable in a professional machine anymore. Samething with the graphics card.

 

[mac-er]

- Unwilling to port popular apps to Windows

If they did this, what would be the motivation for the average Windows user (that is content with Windows) to switch?

Part of my reasoning for switching was because of the iLife apps.

 

[decksnap]

Why would a "power user" want to have a situation where they can't answer the phone and copy/paste quickly at the same time?

Power users don't answer their own phones- they have secretaries.


Seriously though- by your logic, why not have two mice? Certainly two is better than one, no? Two keyboards maybe?? The point of preference being made by single button mice power users is simple- their method is JUST AS effective. YOUR preference is all you.

 

[keysersoze]

Back when Warcraft II was the rage, I got my ass repeatedly kicked by Windows users...

and then I realized the second mouse button was the reason why.

I must admit that I can see some uses for it.