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Apple Files Trademark Application for 'Magic Trackpad'

parafish13 said:
At first, I thought these Magic names were cheezy,

then I remembered Clarke's famous quote that "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

and now I think it's cool and fun and a nice little tribute to the sci-fi hero.
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Sorry, still cheesy. I know most consumers aren't that tech savy, they usually aren't as technologically unsophisticated as superstitious tribes people. Even tablets aren't mystical. Electronics technology isn't so complicated that a person couldn't understand the basic principles. Even genetic technology isn't so bad that the basic principles couldn't be understood, even if you'd never be able to do it on your own. However, if dancing to an iPad brings rain, then I'll change my mind.
 
I agree that a MBP like trackpad for desktop Macs would be cool. I use the Air Mouse Pro app on my iPhone which turns the iPhone into a trackpad for your Mac (among other things) and it works pretty well. An Apple solution would be very welcome.
 
Yawn! There's nothing magical about touch technology. It's been around forever. I don't like the word 'magic' anyway, as I don't believe anything in the universe would ever fit the bill on this one. 'Magical' suggests something that exists outside of reality, outside a basis in science. As science is a basis for everything, magic cannot exist. A better word would be 'Majestical'. That emplies grandeur,elegance and...well, majesty. I think that word might be more appropriate. That said, who'd want a Majestical Mouse or Majestical Trackpad? Stop with all the fluffy BS and give me a MOUSE for f*ck's sake! Better yet, give me a 'Plastic-Digital-Pointing-Device'. That's more explanative!
 
mac1984user said:
Yawn! There's nothing magical about touch technology. It's been around forever. I don't like the word 'magic' anyway, as I don't believe anything in the universe would ever fit the bill on this one. 'Magical' suggests something that exists outside of reality, outside a basis in science. As science is a basis for everything, magic cannot exist. A better word would be 'Majestical'. That emplies grandeur,elegance and...well, majesty. I think that word might be more appropriate. That said, who'd want a Majestical Mouse or Majestical Trackpad? Stop with all the fluffy BS and give me a MOUSE for f*ck's sake! Better yet, give me a 'Plastic-Digital-Pointing-Device'. That's more explanative!
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Touch technology in Apple's hands becomes an entirely different beast. Quite "magical", in fact.
 
GorillaPaws said:
Oh dear god, please be an external USB multitouch trackpad alternative to the mouse that uses the same standard multi-touch gestures as the laptop. Apple could call it the "feces trackpad," style it brown, and overcharge by a wide margin and I would STILL buy one in a heartbeat if it did everything the multi-touch trackpads for the laptops do.

The key for me is standardization of gestures across all Apple platforms. I don't want to learn different gestures for different devices (and especially different sets of rules for 2 different devices who both run OSX). You shouldn't have to "think" about which gesture to use, it should just happen naturally (like right-clicking does).
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Put me down for 2 of them! This is a huge missing piece for Apple right now. It almost feels like a step backwards to use a desktop after becoming used to gestures.

I hate to be that guy, but come on Apple! How hard can it be?

Take the MBP trackpad assembly, put it in a slim aluminum case, wack some non slip feet on there and stick a USB cable on the top of it and charge $59 for it. Replace the USB with a BT chip, AAA battery and antenna and charge $99.

Not that big of a deal.

If they really want to go crazy then blow it up by 50% or so in the Magic Pad version. :eek:
 
mac1984user said:
Yawn! There's nothing magical about touch technology. It's been around forever. I don't like the word 'magic' anyway, as I don't believe anything in the universe would ever fit the bill on this one. 'Magical' suggests something that exists outside of reality, outside a basis in science. As science is a basis for everything, magic cannot exist. A better word would be 'Majestical'. That emplies grandeur,elegance and...well, majesty. I think that word might be more appropriate. That said, who'd want a Majestical Mouse or Majestical Trackpad? Stop with all the fluffy BS and give me a MOUSE for f*ck's sake! Better yet, give me a 'Plastic-Digital-Pointing-Device'. That's more explanative!
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And that's why it's called a Magic Mouse.

For the ones who still don't get it: better names in meaning don't mean better names in daily language.
 
A mouse, to me, is increasingly a game controller (loaded with buttons, please). For daily computing, I prefer the precision of a really GOOD trackpad (like Apple laptops have). I can point and click faster.

So if desktop computers move toward a trackpad that sits next to the keyboard, I won’t complain. (I WOULD like it to be off to the side like a mouse, not in the center or attached to the keyboard. I might have to pick up one of those Wacoms if Apple doesn’t release something!)
 
doctoree said:
Normally it may be hokey but once its truely magicall its a good name. Apple please give us essentially large, external mltitouch trackpads. with a lot of space for really cool, natural, powerful multitouch gestures. Kill the Mouse!
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Can't see any mouse killing happening so long as the PC gaming industry is as huge as it is. Trackpads, at least in their current forms, are just not good for games that require quick mouse reflexes and high accuracy.

That said, current input methods -- namely mouse/trackpad and keyboard -- should be abandoned altogether and replaced with a direct neural link from the user's brain to the PC! Now that would be magical. ;-)
 
This should make the guys over in the "waiting for arrandale" notebook thread pretty happy! I think this is a pretty clear sign that new MacBook Pro's are coming shortly with new/ re-branded trackpads.
 
The Magic Mouse is awesome, though I really dislike it when Steve uses the term 'magic,' it is very hokey.

It's a bit lazy, creatively, to rely on one term so much.
 
MandolinPlayer said:
If this gives the same abilities as the trackpad on my macbook, I will be the first to toss the Glidepoint I've been using on the thing in clamshell mode and line up to get a new Magic Trackpad. I still haven't quite figured out why it's so difficult to take the trackpad out of the macbook, put it in an external enclosure, stick a USB cable on it and make it available for iMac and macbook users who use external keyboard/mice...
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+1
Cheers,
Marcel
 
teleport?

GoodWrites said:
When I saw the iPad presentation, I was a bit surprised that it did not offer a way to interact with our Macintosh computers. I have a friend who sits his laptop next to his monitors of his Mac Pro and "tosses" stuff between them to include open Safari windows. I forget what the application is that allows him to do that.

I thought that the iPad would offer similar functionality and a way to use it, somewhat, as an input device for a regular Mac computer. It did not.

Maybe this patent is a step in that direction with a separate device that will, in the future, allow for even greater seamless operation between various devices.
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