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Apple Patents: Optical Touch Pad Mouse?

Just make a g------n 2 (or 3) button mouse already!

Just make a g------n 2 (or 3) button mouse already!
 
nagromme said:
* From the picture, it is clear that this mouse is targeted towards tree frogs.
Click to expand...

If you've read any of the "4G iPod" thread, people are claiming that Apple would need Area 51 technology to implement an iPod-sized video player.

Well, those patent pictures seem like proof enough to me. ;)
 
I think it's almost unfortunate that Apple has filed for this patent, since Apple seems hell-bent against using multiple button mice (and I'm sorry, but ctrl-click isn't good enough). I'd rather see some 3rd party get it, just in the hope that we'd see a "real" mouse with it.

I'd love to see a 2-button-with-trackpad Apple mouse, but I think we just need to get used to buying 3rd party mice with each new Mac.
 
Assuming such a thing ever ships...

Two things I get from the patent text:

* It scrolls sideways, not just up and down (cool)

* The scroller is NOT also a second button

* But the option of having additional buttons is mentioned (I'd like Apple to offer a pro mouse with a right button and at least one Exposé button... but I won't hold my breath)
 
rueyeet said:
Maybe a bit like the touch-sensitive scroll-wheel on that Kensington mouse that I can't think of the name of. Maybe it could scroll up, down, left, or right with the touch of a finger, like the iPod scroll wheel. Maybe it could be like the trackpad on the laptops, but with a hand rest.

With Apple, only two things are certain: there's no way to tell, but it's always fun to find out. :)
Click to expand...

Kensington Studio Mouse.
I've owned it for over 6 months now...and love it.
 
This idea isn't new. I've seen mice like this before.. in fact there was a mouse like this in the company I work for...
 
I like the tactile feedback of buttons that click. I find my self squeezing touch sensitive buttons harder than I need to because they dont let you know in a tactile sense that they have been clicked.
 
If Apple integrates the iPod scroll wheel onto the mouse, it would make sense as a thumb wheel, because that is how the wheel is used on the iPod. So imagine a one button mouse with a scroll wheel on the side, that will act as both a scroll wheel and and context button. If it is bluetooth as well, then it can be turned from one side to the other to make it left handed.

This makes sense as a whole new generation of users are being trained on the iPod thumb wheel. I'd have to read the patent language, but I'm sure it includes placing the touch pad anywhere on the mouse.
 
I think it would be great to click and hold on an object - Finder Window for a basic example - and then use your finger to push/jog it around. This would help reduce carpal tunnel syndrome.
 
You'd think that with all the money Apple spends on design aspects of their products, that they'd hire someone better to do the patent drawings! They should also patent that claw-like hand.
 
jsw said:
I think it's almost unfortunate that Apple has filed for this patent, since Apple seems hell-bent against using multiple button mice (and I'm sorry, but ctrl-click isn't good enough). I'd rather see some 3rd party get it, just in the hope that we'd see a "real" mouse with it.

I'd love to see a 2-button-with-trackpad Apple mouse, but I think we just need to get used to buying 3rd party mice with each new Mac.
Click to expand...

Well, we do know that Apple is redesigning its mouse. They could very well put a second button on it in the process. And although the item in the diagram doesn' show a second button, remember that it is a patent application, not a finished product. Just because it doesn't show a second button (or any button at all, for that matter, or any type of tracking sensor...) doesn't mean there won't be a second button.

I hope they make a second button version, but as a optional, configure-to-order feature. It's still easier for a newbie to learn the single button...especially a child with limited motor skills, or a user with a hand deformity/injury. And keeping the single-button standard encourages developers not to hide functionality exclusively in a right-click menu. Input devices are very personal tools; don't try to make one size fit all.
 
greenstork said:
Man, it seems like everyone is so interested in the technology and is not seeing the big picture here. Apple, more stubborn about their one button mouse than any other computer maker on the planet, is finally, after years and years of complaints, developing a new mouse!!!
Click to expand...

Yeah a 2 button mouse is revolutionary for Apple!
 
Innovative

This Apple mouse sounds like a good idea, if only because it will innovate the way mice are designed for the next twenty years or so. The mouse has not changed much at all since the days of 8-bit computers. An iPod-like scroll wheel could be very useful for racing games ;)
 
To All Right Clickers

Right clicks are for PC losers who need to keep one hand free while using their computers. Multi button mice are ergonomic nightmares that don't come close to touching what you can do with the keyboard. Start using your Mac like a Mac and you will realize this too.
 
Macrumors said:
MacPlus.org (French) notes a relatively new Apple Patent (Filed Sept 2002):



Essentially, the new patent appears to be for a mouse with touchpad in place of the button. This appears to be an update to a previous concept patented by Apple -- the rotary mouse.
Click to expand...

Think of the iPod mini's scroll wheel with it's button capabilities - it would be awesome. If is two-four button enabled - then all buttons could perform the single-click as we know it today on Apple mice - then, in the Mouse Pane, we could enable the other buttons if we so desire - thus a multi button mouse with beginner and pro capabilities.
 
i disagree.

ITR 81 said:
Kensington Studio Mouse.
I've owned it for over 6 months now...and love it.
Click to expand...

I had one and the scrolling is BAD. Jumpy and sticky. Nowhere near a logitech mouse unfortunately. Apple will deliver though, as ever.
 
Multi button mice are ergonomic nightmares that don't come close to touching what you can do with the keyboard.
Click to expand...

I suppose it depends on how you work on your computer. I do desktop publishing and graphic design all day, and my Logitech mouse has 8 buttons that I use constantly -- two for Expose (Show Desktop and All Windows), two for Page Up and Page Down, one for browser Back, and the right mouse for Command-Click (to, for example, open a Safari link in a new window). It also has a scrollwheel, which I use constantly. I find it is vastly more efficient to have these functions right under my fingertips, without having to move my hand to keyboard, and I could probably do with a few extra buttons as well.

I'm not a novice user, and I agree that a single-button mouse is much easier for a computer neophyte to learn. But for those with some experience, multi-button mice are a godsend -- the more buttons the better!
 
Something I've been wanting for a long while, for some strange reason its cooler when I can't heart the mouse click. Weird
 
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