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Apple debuting two-button mouse?

jsw said:
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 I pray that this is correct, because it won't mean an automatic mouse purchase whenever I get a new desktop Mac, and it'll let me use an Apple mouse.

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.
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I agree with you completely. With applications like Aodobe Photoshop, Macromedia Flash and Dreamweaver, Final Cut Pro HD, iMovie HD, and others are great when you have a two button mouse with a scroll wheel. Like I believe in iMove or QuickTime the scroll wheel can be used to pinpoint exactly where the slider can go for editing or such.

I would like if Apple would do this, how? I don't know I've seen some try and use Apple's style to make a 2 button scroll wheel mouse but, they look odd to me. But I think Apple knows what it's doing so I'm not too worried.

2 Button Scroll mouse would indeed be a great accessory to any power-user. :D
 
Pro Level Users

It's about time . . .

And I think, myself, that is for High-end users

When you install a software like Shake (apple-3500$) or Maya Unlimited (Alias-8000$) the first things they ask you, if you want to use it on OSX-Mac system, is to go get a 3-Buttom Mouses (or 2, with scroll wheel) in order to use the software. And a lot of Pro applications are like that. It's kind of embarrassing when you just bought few fully-loaded PowerMacs & Cinema Display at 8000 $ each . . .

I think with Xsan,Xserve,XRaid,Pro App,osx Server, they need to go over it and give to their high-end consumers, what they need. And it is not a ipod shuffle . . . A real Pro mouse !!!

Go apple go

:)
 
the whole reason mac has continued to use a one button mouse up til now is the ease of use for the common user. it also forces developers to create software that wont confuse your common user because there will always be one way of doing the same thing in all programs... that seems a little confusing as i type it, but i hope u understand if ur reading this. a 2 button mouse is not a horrible idea, but for your common user that has had their mac for a while now and "forgets" how to use windows, this would be somewhat confusing, not knowing that right clicking brings up the menus that are brought up when they hold down the ctrl. the biggest reason i can see for a 2 button mouse is the reason listed on the main page, and that is for your "switchers" who are switching from windows. a one button mouse is confusing for them. for a period of time or until mac os 11 i see apple selling both one button and two button mice.
 
decksnap said:
Lame comment. How dare I use a one button mouse and be a professional power user, right?? I hate how I have to feel like I need to defend the single button mouse every time someone makes one of these comments, but many power users are fluent in key commands and as such prefer one-button mice. 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.
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I am glad they are making a 2 button mouse.. That way people will have a CHOICE, if you like the one button then stay one button, if you like the two button then go buy it. Make APPLE some more money so they stay in business.

I personally like the one button but will probably buy a two button just for gaming.
 
Well, if Apple is going to do it, you know they'll do it right, and the end result will not be a simple 2-button mouse like we all know and love today - there'll be something unique and cool about it!

It's about time though... Hmm, can someone check the temperature in hell?
 
Knowing Apple, they'll make a 2-button mouse but ship all their macs with a 1-button mouse. If that happens, and I'm about 99.999% sure that will happen, it'll only re-affirm how stupid Apple can be sometimes.
 
JDOG_ said:
Seriously I don't understand the logic of of 1 button > 2+ button mice. A scroll wheel lets you not have to slouch forward and hit the up and down buttons, the right click button allows you not to have to lean up yet again or move your hand to hold CTRL and other buttons can be toggled for handy expose functions.

It just doesn't make sense other than a visual level of aesthetics why a 1-button mouse would be the better choice...unless you're technologically impaired, in which case you really should have just gotten a legal pad and some bic pens.
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Well, I think this goes a long way in showing the flaws in some folks assumptions-- I think what JDOG is saying is that he's not a power user who is using a mouse and keyboard but rather is using the multi-button mouse instead of the keyboard-- apparently from bed or something.

That makes sense to me.

To help you out though: you can use the scroll bar to scroll up and down and smart corners to trigger expose. In general, anything that can be done with the right button can be done some other way-- often without the keyboard.

Now, calling me technically impaired because the one button mouse fits my workstyle is going a little over the top... Suggesting that choosing simplicity shows an inability to handle complexity is quite a ways off the mark...
 
Really... who gives a rat's @$$? The 2-button is soooo 5 years ago. I have Logitech's MX700 8-button (programmable & wireless) and I couldn't imagine having anything less. Apple needs to forget 2 button and just get with the program which is a mouse with lots of buttons and programmability.

Don't they realize that if they created the "ultimate Apple-branded mouse" that their legions of Apple Fans would line up to support their efforts!
 

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I have a standard microsoft 5-button mouse and guess what, I use all 5 buttons! To only make a 2-button is almost a slap in the face to their pro users. :mad:
 
Only two buttons? I don't see how anyone can use a mouse without a scrollwheel. Once you try it, you'll never go back. For web browsing or skimming through email, a thumb button is great. I have it set to work as a back button in web browsers & spacebar in email or other apps where I can hit spacebar to page through text.
 
Lacero said:
I have a standard microsoft 5-button mouse and guess what, I use all 5 buttons! To only make a 2-button is almost a slap in the face to their pro users. :mad:
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Damn straight - but why stop there? Maybe they should just put roller balls under the keyboard and have it become a mouse when you move it - 100+ keys!

Seriously, though, I'll be happy with two buttons - because it implies they can change their stubborn minds, and a better mouse might come out later.
 
~Shard~ said:
Well, if Apple is going to do it, you know they'll do it right, and the end result will not be a simple 2-button mouse like we all know and love today - there'll be something unique and cool about it!
Click to expand...

Yeah, but this is the company that put that hockey puck on the iMacs for so long. I got used it eventually, but I wouldn't call it the best designed mouse I've ever seen...
 
Me too!!!

sord said:
I love my one button mouse!!! But I wouldn't mind a one button mouse with a scroll wheel :D
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I'd buy that!!!
But I also bought the Apple BT Mouse and used it for about 5 days before digging out my old Apple mouse (BT mouse too heavy)
 
keysersoze said:
I really don't care either way, as long as it is Apple branded.
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Why is that at all important? There are plenty of great multi-button mice out there from Logitech and others, even ones that blend better with Apple hardware than Apple's own mice (Apple still ships white/clear plastic mice and keyboards with PowerMacs, when clearly a silvery/metallic look would be more appropriate). Offering two-button mice is also a problem if they don't intend to completely replace the single-button mouse with them, as they then cannot have a consistent in-the-box packaging if they allow people to choose which they want. What I'd prefer to see is Apple not shipping mice or keyboards at all with their computers, making it a mandatory side purchase. Then the buyer can choose any mouse or keyboard they like, including Apple's own.
 
smurfjammer said:
I'd buy that!!!
But I also bought the Apple BT Mouse and used it for about 5 days before digging out my old Apple mouse (BT mouse too heavy)
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Funny-- I'd have stopped using the BT mouse because the batteries discharge so quickly but I kept it because I like the weight...

And that, children, is why the mouse market will never consolidate...
 
Lacero said:
99% of the world's computer users use at a 2-button mouse. Why does Apple continue making a 1 button mouse for the 1%? Apple. Stupid.
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Well 99% of the world's computer users HAVE a 2 button mouse, but 95% of them don't know how/when to use it.

Really, multi-button mice are nice for people who know to use them, but Joe user simply gets confused. I would prefer Apple keep with the 1 button mice. Let companies like Logitech who specialize in those kind of things make the 100 button / Programmable++ mice.
 
beg_ne said:
Really, multi-button mice are nice for people who know to use them, but Joe user simply gets confused. I would prefer Apple keep with the 1 button mice.
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I wouldn't mind seeing Apple make a two- or three-button mouse with a physical mechanism whereby all the buttons could be linked to act as a single button if desired. You can also just do this in software, but some people would like to be able to click anywhere an the surface and feel the whole thing move as one so it truly acts as a single button. Even if Apple doesn't go to multiple buttons, they should have a scroll wheel on their mouse, there really is no excuse for that IMO. The fact that the newest PowerBooks have the scrolling feature in the trackpads might indicate they're at least coming around to that idea.
 
I think the real answer to why Apple has not yet realeased a mouse with more than one button can be found in my previous post in this thread.

BUT if and when they do release one, it had better be good ... imagine the Apple-haters swoon: "oh wow, a two-button mouse! how amazingly innovative! way to think different, Steve-o!" Seriously, the we're-cool-with-just-one-button thing has lasted quit some time. It has inertia all its own. Normally I'd think that means they wouldn't ditch it unless they had something really boss up their sleeves. But it might just be another nod in the vein of "PC + Mac" on the iPod box .... I hope for the former.
 
Revolutions

This should be quite exciting. The wheel changed the way a mouse was used. Then optical precision became popular and is quickly becoming the standard. There have been slight modifications - horizontal scrolling, for example, but nothing major, and I've stuck with the single button since my first LCII.

After arguing the case of the one button mouse for some 20 years (ie: good UID shouldn't require two buttons), in true Apple style this new mouse will not simply be a multi-button wheel mouse. It is likely to totally revolutionize the way we use the input device, I'd expect nothing less. The most innovative company in the world could very well change forever the point-and-click metaphor with this rumoured release. I would watch this space closely for Apple to say Hello. (again) (again).

~BN
 
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