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Future MacBook Could Feature Removable Key That Works as a Mouse
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After CSAM fiasco only something truly innovative like this would regain consumers trust.
Companies patent ideas constantly - just in case. Most of them are things they don't even work on. In companies where I worked I got a bonus for applying for patents for things I was working on and things I wasn't working on but had dreamt up in the shower, then an additional bigger bonus if the patent was granted.
I was with some of the other posters that this had to be an old patent but then I actually looked at the patent application linked and it is dated August 19, 2021. Given using a removable key from a keyboard as a mouse is clearly impractical for so many reasons I wonder what the real plan is? Size, ergonomics, potential for loss aside, what key exactly are they thinking we can sacrifice from our keyboard?
Just a thought, what if the Touch Bar were removable? Oh, I just have to let it go being one-in-a-hundred who likes the Touch Bar.
Or is Hyperchaotic onto something and someone at Apple is sitting in their office thinking “Papa needs a new pair of shoes and I cannot believe they let me submit a patent application for this.”
Just a thought, what if the Touch Bar were removable? Oh, I just have to let it go being one-in-a-hundred who likes the Touch Bar.
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Consolidate the Magic Mouse and the Magic Trackpad into a single product. Make it so it docks into the MacBooks instead of the MacBooks having a permanently attached Trackpad.
Boom, that solves whatever Apple thinks this solves, and it also means Apple doesn't need to produce the Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad anymore - now there's just a single part that's manufactured at much higher volume than the old ones were (higher volume = lower manufacturing costs).
Apple can send me a private message here if they want to buy the rights to this idea off of me. I'll take 1 cent per one of these devices made and sold.
Boom, that solves whatever Apple thinks this solves, and it also means Apple doesn't need to produce the Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad anymore - now there's just a single part that's manufactured at much higher volume than the old ones were (higher volume = lower manufacturing costs).
Apple can send me a private message here if they want to buy the rights to this idea off of me. I'll take 1 cent per one of these devices made and sold.
I could see maybe a removable clicker/remote type device for slideshows or presentations being this size but not a mouse lol 😅
This sounds vaguely cool (Or Not) but can you imagine how many people would lose something like this? I guess it could be a good way for Apple to make money with replacement "Magical Mouse Keys."
I’ve lost track of how many times in a meeting I’ve absent-mindlessly grabbed my phone, laying next to my laptop, and tried to use it as a mouse. Why not make that a reality? There’s a camera, a light, accelerometers, and Bluetooth available.
All I have to say is I miss they could just make a regular mouse normal sized people could use. I have a Magic Mouse and want to love it but it's so small it actually hurts my hands to use. I bought the biggest mouse I could find and it's still kinda small...
This sounds like the mouse acceleration that I had to turn off just to make my mouse work like a regular mouse. Maybe it will work fine for others, but I don't see the value in it for me.
This sounds like the mouse acceleration that I had to turn off just to make my mouse work like a regular mouse. Maybe it will work fine for others, but I don't see the value in it for me.
I like this idea so much I am going to get out the super glue and pliers and the mouse and get to work. But… It will be very much be a martini cat and mouse kind of game🍸😹
This is pointless an ugly.
It’s almost as bad as the concept of having a stylus holder in a recess above the keyboard.
It’s almost as bad as the concept of having a stylus holder in a recess above the keyboard.
How about this as a combined keyboard/mouse enhancement?
First, build a microchip detector into keyboards.
In the UK, most cats are microchipped. So if a cat approaches, the keyboard detects it and switches itself off. Phew! That saves some embarrassing emails and lost documents.
Then, just a little bit further, microchip the owner. Now they can just use their chipped hand as a pointer.
Hey TC! – Contact me for my bank details, I’m sure we can cut a deal on the patents.
(Hmm, did I mean Tim Cook or Top Cat?)
First, build a microchip detector into keyboards.
In the UK, most cats are microchipped. So if a cat approaches, the keyboard detects it and switches itself off. Phew! That saves some embarrassing emails and lost documents.
Then, just a little bit further, microchip the owner. Now they can just use their chipped hand as a pointer.
Hey TC! – Contact me for my bank details, I’m sure we can cut a deal on the patents.
(Hmm, did I mean Tim Cook or Top Cat?)