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Apple Patent Application For Button-less Mouse Design
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Looking at the hand positions one is fingers up the other is fingers down. So its not so much changing hand position as it is lifting the fingers.
Their attorney made a mistake though. The patent called for 2 hand positions. So someone can come along and patents 3 or more hand positions and cite the Apple patent as prior art and the make one with 3 or more positions.
They would have to pay Apple to use the patent but Apple would have to pay them if they go with more than 2.
I saw the complaint about wheel on the mighty mouse gunking. What if it were optical? slide your finger across a smooth lit dot.
Why is Apple stuck on the idea that people don't like buttons.
my opinion: they want to make their designs more intuitive, and they think removing buttons is the way to go. I don't agree with that, but let's see if they come up with an intuitive buttonless mouse.
Also, it gives them headlines... "Apple does something again!"
yeah, you still see this stuff in conferences. I would say at least a couple of years.
Totally agree. They're over-complicating what should be a really simple device. I will continue to use my MS Optical Mouse.
Why is Apple stuck on the idea that people don't like buttons.
Well there is first an issue of ergonomics. Our body wasn't evolved for pressing buttons. We are good at grasping and manipulating but pressing buttons not so much, if we press to many buttons it hurts our arms and hands.
Next is an issue of hardware design. Buttons take up mechanical space. They cannot change its shape to match the Application The primary iPhone argument.
Enviroment buttons often have gaps and collect dust dirst oils and grime get sticky or just break and makes a over $100 device unusable because of a failure of a $0.01 Part.
Exports shipping products across countries is easier without having to manufacutre buttons with different languges.
Handedness. Some people are left handed others are right handed sometimes the need to use the same device.
Takes time to figure out. Just yesterday I got stuck in an elivator. I needed to find the best way to call for help. Reading all the buttons even ones that don't work anymore was a daunting task. My first guess was the big red button but it was for a fire emergancy. Finally in the bottom left corner was one with a bell.
Buttons are usually the easy way out. Not the best but the easist.
I like the scroll ball in the MM but I've gotta say, increasing the requirements of the user to operate the mouse is not good. I should be able to use my mouse in MORE ways, not less. With a normal non-apple mouse I can move and click with anything. Hypothetically, let's say I'm 6 feet from my computer and I need to right-click to activate something. I could reach over with a yardstick and tab the mouse button. With a MM that's not possible. Maybe a kid wants to build a Leggo robot to control the mouse. Won't happen with a MM. I'm not saying this kind of stuff is common, I just think it shouldn't be impossible. I don't see any usability advantages to tying the mouse to specific fleshy requirements. Buttons are where it's at.
i'm not so sure this would be good.....but we'll see. if anyone could make this work, apple could
I think the best way to do it is this.
have the mouse....and right where your index finger would lay...have a presure sensitive "touch pad" if you will....One that doesnt detect movement...just one that detects pressure.....
you have your finger on the touch pad to move your curser
you lift the one finger up to scroll......
If it was FAST AND SEAMLESS.....NOTHING could beat it....
add a charging mouspad that has the leopard logo on it...and prepare to sell millions
have the mouse....and right where your index finger would lay...have a presure sensitive "touch pad" if you will....One that doesnt detect movement...just one that detects pressure.....
you have your finger on the touch pad to move your curser
you lift the one finger up to scroll......
If it was FAST AND SEAMLESS.....NOTHING could beat it....
add a charging mouspad that has the leopard logo on it...and prepare to sell millions
Nope... That means: (1) I have to have the mouse pad plugged in all the time, might as well get a Wacom tablet. And (2) I won't be able to carry the mouse with me and use it with my MacBook or any laptop or on any other machine unless I have the mouse pad with me.
Great idea... it's been done with the Wacom and other tablets in a much simpler way.
Why is Apple stuck on the idea that people don't like buttons.
Absolutely.
Apple's mice designs are horrendous.
The hockey puck was bad enough, then they release the optical "push the whole frickin' thing down to click" mouse. I don't have much experience with a Mighty Mouse but the little experience that I do have - I don't like those either.
Mice are supposed to be a simple design. Tried and true...if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I know Apple strives for innovation and improvements, but in this area - I think Apple needs to take a few steps back instead of a few leaps forward with some new radical design.
I'll stick with my Logitech mice.
Why is Apple stuck on the idea that people don't like buttons.
Because buttons jam and get broken and get lost and they are a pain in the arse to fix.
And because it is the future, buttons are so 20th century, they are like the nobs of the old old cathode ray tube TVs.
Ah... the mantra of Dell.
My grandma's B&W TV from the 60's still works - it ain't broke. But boy am I sure glad that RCA et al didn't listen to comments like yours.
COULD NOT AGREE MORE! I love Apple, and their intent on trying to innovate, but sometimes they seem to do it for innovation's sake. Can anyone say ADC connector? When I first saw the mighty mouse, I was like why the hell can't they just release a normal mouse, with a distinct right and left click. It seems non-sophisticated, and this sounds even more-so. Stop trying to reinvent the wheel all the time, and just give us something that is proven, and works without some learning curve.
But then again, all the tech we use at desktop workstations weren't ergonomic to begin with. Everyone's getting carpal tunnel and eye problems from not using their monitors, keyboards, and mice correctly anyway. There is a proper way to use a mouse and keyboard and a proper way to position a monitor. Keeping the buttons on a mouse to me is irrelevant to how you use it. Apple just needs to make the sensors in the MM better. Now that I can understand.
There are times I click the right side of the MM and the left button responds. A better sensor is what it needs, not more buttons that get clogged and make us look like monkies in front of a TV screen.What have those knobs been replaced with? 99 times out of 100 it's a button.
I see this as having huge potential. The mouse was a revolutionary invention when it first came out - this could be the next generation of input devices.
And it makes sense. Apple's multi-touch technology is great for the iPhone, but I don't see it as feasible just yet for computers themselves, i.e. computers which are only touch screens a la Minority Report. Yes, the technology exists, but it's too much of a leap right now. So, instead of having a multi-touch screen for your computer itself, why not have an input device which accomplishes the same goal? Have a mouse which is multi touch and interacts with the UI accordingly. Not only would this be a significant advancement, but then throw 3D into the mix. Now all of a sudden, instead of only being able to move up & down and left & right on your screen, with a new mouse such as this one you can move "into" and "out of" a 3D UI as well. Imagine the possibilities.
I'm not sure when we'll actually see this type of technology, but it's good to see Apple is working on it and has these types of concepts in mind.
And it makes sense. Apple's multi-touch technology is great for the iPhone, but I don't see it as feasible just yet for computers themselves, i.e. computers which are only touch screens a la Minority Report. Yes, the technology exists, but it's too much of a leap right now. So, instead of having a multi-touch screen for your computer itself, why not have an input device which accomplishes the same goal? Have a mouse which is multi touch and interacts with the UI accordingly. Not only would this be a significant advancement, but then throw 3D into the mix. Now all of a sudden, instead of only being able to move up & down and left & right on your screen, with a new mouse such as this one you can move "into" and "out of" a 3D UI as well. Imagine the possibilities.
I'm not sure when we'll actually see this type of technology, but it's good to see Apple is working on it and has these types of concepts in mind.
I disagree with a lot of people here. I think, firstly, the Mighty Mouse is a great idea with poor execution (of the ball). I want Apple to continue making multi button mice that LOOK like they don't have any buttons (in the traditional Apple way).
I hope they can come up with a solution to the ball problem, and continue making simple elegant mice.
I hope they can come up with a solution to the ball problem, and continue making simple elegant mice.
And now they will be replaced with sensors and touch sensitive capacitors and what not
Or in other words, who needs innovation and progress?
Who says they are trying to re-invent the wheel? Sure, perhaps they refer to this as a mouse, but depending how Apple does it, this could be a completely different type of input method utilizing multi-touch technology and providing 3D capabilities. It's not a matter of re-inventing the wheel, it's a matter of inventing a new, possibly superior method of input.
And regardless, that's progress - plain and simple. I suppose a few years ago you were lobbying that cell phone makers shouldn't change anything either? "It's just a phone, just let me make calls, that's all it needs to be - don't reinvent the wheel". If they had listened we wouldn't have streaming video, built-in cameras, MP3 capability or SMS - are these all bad innovations? Furthermore, we wouldn't have an iPhone either.
Is that what people said when the first mouse was released? I remember when that was, and there were all sorts of built-in tutorial programs on how to move the mouse, how to click, how to double-click, etc. So sure, if this is simply another mouse, fine, but if this is a completely new method of input as it has the potential to be, then a learning curve is simply to be expected - and welcomed.
Come on people, think outside the box.
No. For one, the MM does have big "buttons", the left and right corners are basically huge sensing areas. To read a secondary mouse click, you must not have a finger near the primary button. If there is anything near the primary button when you click, the mouse assumes that you clicked the primary button. MM uses a capacitive sensing system, which senses proximity, not contact or pressure. In short, to use the secondary button, the user must raise their primary button finger in order to register as a secondary button press. That is a behavior requirement that is not forced by any other model of mouse I've ever used or seen.
Button micro switches are incredibly durable. They last a few million clicks, and if it dies, you can replace the mouse, by the time it breaks, it's probably served a long enough life as it is. I'm still using a Logitech DEC rebranded mouse from a computer I bought in 1998 and it's still working fine, despite daily use for many hours a day. I have never lost a button or had a button jam, I'm not sure why you think loss of buttons is a concern.
It's a good idea that they're releasing another build, but nothing said on the "secret features" yet, and a tonload of bugs!
Starts me to think that the "secret features" are just overhyped standard features which have gotten a facelift.
But I do think that a new GUI or Finder are possible, though.
Oops, posted this on the wrong thread; was meant for the Leopard seed comment.
Starts me to think that the "secret features" are just overhyped standard features which have gotten a facelift.
But I do think that a new GUI or Finder are possible, though.
Oops, posted this on the wrong thread; was meant for the Leopard seed comment.