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Next Apple Keyboard & Mouse...

A

Achtung_U2

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 3, 2004
59
0
Chicago, IL, U.S.A!
Strictly a 'styling' or asthetic question/thought here...

I'm still using my compact Apple keyboard from the Graphite styling era... it does match my monitor nicely, but I've been waiting for Apple's next keyboard/mouse, as i dont care for the white next to all the silver & clear plastics on my workspace.

I am also curious to see if the next mouse has another button and/or wheel added. And yes, I do want to go wireless next time as well.

Anyhow.... I was hoping, and thought maybe the next ones released might be in a titanium silver like the keyboards of the new Powerbooks. They would look great next to a G4 or G5 desktop and, even better if the next cinema dispalys are in metal/silver finish.... what do you guys think on this?

I apologize if anyone else has brought this up before, I hadnt seen anything on it here.
 
I really don't care too much about the keyboard, but a metallic keyboard/mouse will also go nice with the powerbook.

I, as well as many others, believe that it is time for apple to make the leap with a more sophisticated mouse. OSX demands a better mouse, and it makes no sense to search for it with 3rd party suppliers.
If you ask me the new mouse should have atleast 2 buttons and a scrool wheel. It should stay bluetooth, but it needs to have a charging base. Having the charger on a matching keyboard is nice, but there should be an option to buy an external charger for the mouse.
If they dont do that, they will start loosing shares to companies such as macmice.com. Nothing wrong with macmice, infact currently I am thinking about buying their product. I just think Apple can do better.

Such a new mouse will provide better working experience, esp to switchers.
If there is one thing I hate hearing from my P.C friends its: "How can you work with Macs? 1 button mouse is lame."
Proving them wrong is still uncool. They just don't get it, if the OS supports scrool/2nd button, why dont you get a mouse that does it?

Oh and plugging MSFT mouse to a Mac is a sin.
 
Hey Bilba...

Thanks, very well stated. I am in accord with you on everything you said.

Hope Apple does 'get it together' on this one. There's revenue here for them to grab, this stuff adds up. But, so far... the competion is ahead of the game.

I'd much prefer to buy thier product, but like you... am also looking into other options.

Later.... :)
 
Steve Jobs will be rolling in his grave before Apple produces a scroll wheel or two button mouse. Keyboards are fair game for improvement, but it wans't that long ago that the bluetooth white ones came out.
 
Wireless Mac Keyboard/Mouse 2 button

Originally posted by carletonmusic
Steve Jobs will be rolling in his grave before Apple produces a scroll wheel or two button mouse. Keyboards are fair game for improvement, but it wans't that long ago that the bluetooth white ones came out.
Click to expand...
WHITE and wireless is the new Apple Keyboard.
Your desire for an Aluminum or metal color finish for next generation KB & Mouse is pure speculation and not the focus of any intense demand. In contrast, there is considerable demand for and speculation about a metal case update for Apple's Cinema Displays. Until the new displays come out, there is little likelihood of matching metal KB or Mouse.

Kensington and other 3rd party products abound. I have not used an Apple Mouse in over a decade, always ordering a Kensington Trackball with each new Mac. The key advantage of a Trackball is that it sits still on your tabletop, only the ball and scrollwheel move, and cursor control is excellent.
Check out: http://www.kensington.com/html/1436.html
I have both the black with scroll-ring and the silver model with scroll-wheel, and each comes with a wrist rest for support. They come either wireless or with a USB cable.

Color coordinating a Keyboard with your Mac's outer personality is more limited. Kensington does have some Mac keyboards, wireless included, but I'd look around at other makes too.

My "clear" Adesso keyboard is split ergonomically for better hand position, I don't care about the color as much as the "feel" and hand position. Also, if you are into either Audio or Video, there are specialty boards with color cordinated KEYS for specialty software like FinalCut Pro, AVID, or DigiDesign products to help with shortcuts, some even have Shuttle Wheels.

But for an excellent Trackball 2+button mouse, silver or black, Kensington has what you want. And, the buttons and cursor movement are all easily programable with Kensington's free MouseWorks software. I would settle for nothing less to use with my Macs. :p
 
Kensington ExpertMouse PRO trackball- SILVER
 

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wow RAND,

thanks for all the detailed info. it is much appreciated :)

Im def gonna go check out that Kensington, looks like a nice setup.

take care.

Mark ~
 
I would love to see a keyboard with lighted keys just like the Powerbooks have, plus a scroll wheel would be nice too, I hate Apple mice because of this.
 
Thats a nice mouse, But my point is why is it so hard for Apple to do that. If people want it why can't Apple make money off of it. Plus i like my Kensington mouse better anyways, comfortgrip is so nice
 
I like it too, and agree with you about Apple.

But, either way, i want to wait and go wireless next time, it didnt look like MacMice does one...

... yet.
 
yeah.... it will be good to see when it comes out then. And, it looks like it would match up pretty nice with Apple's Bluetooth Keyboard if you have to go that route.
 
Trackball by Apple?

Originally posted by Mav451
...didn't Apple make these Trackball-mice 10 years ago?
I swear I used these back in those days.
Click to expand...
If you did, it was most likely a Kensington Trackball. When the Trackball came out about 10 to 12 years ago for Mac, the novelty became so widespread and immediate that the platinum colored ADB serial device (matching Macs of the day) almost seemed like it was made by Apple...but it was from Kensington for Mac. Trackballs interfaced perfectly with Mac's graphical user interface (GUI) and attained instant popularity.

The original Trackball was said to use a standard size white billiard or cue ball (sometimes a black 8 ball for fun). The ball had a solid feeling that media designers liked because instead of rolling a mouse around your desk on wheels or ball bearings, moving a trackball, which sat in one place supported by small sensor wheels, gave precise adjustments to the cursor without a lot of taxing wrist and arm movement. Lots of media design professionals who tried a trackball immediately loved the feel and precise control, still others were not impressed and stuck with the familiar, ubiquitous and relatively inexpensive mouse in the palm of their hand.

The Graphics Pad was also introduced about 10 years ago and became important to artists working in drawing/painting applications like Illustrator, Canvas, Paint or Freehand because the stylus effectively imitated for drawing or painting the feel of a pencil, marker or brush; while many artists using Photoshop, PageMaker, Quark, and other "image" programs gravitated towards the "positioning" talents of a Trackball.

Today, non-mechanical "optics" has made cursor movement infinitely more precise, and Kensington has incorporated optics technology into both their mice and their trackballs. Now "optics" tech gives us the best of both worlds, relegating the "wheel" (except the Scroll/Jog/Shuttle Wheel) to the trash bin marked "obsolete".

Preference for a Trackball is kind of like a person's taste for Dr Pepper, you either love it or hate it, rarely will you find someone falling in between. But, like the Graphics Pad, selecting a Trackball is also an economic decision, since a good mouse can be purchased for $49 or less while a Trackball retails closer to $99, and Graphics Pads fall between $199 and $499. Besides, mice and a standard keyboard already come free with almost all new computers.

Economies of Motion. Besides the fact that the Trackball device has a small footprint because it sits in one place on your desk and does not require or need a mousepad, for you to move the cursor clear across the screen quickly and easily takes only a spin of the trackball with your finger tips instead of a lot of wrist and arm movement. People with special needs who have trouble manipulating a mouse because of limited wrist, hand, finger, or arm movement / rotation, often find the Trackball a God send.

Kensington's free MouseWorks software (which is constantly updated and improved) controls the cursor speed and other attributes of the trackball (or a Kensington mouse) as well as setting the function of 4 big buttons when Clicked, or in the case of an ExpertMouse Pro, the activation of 5 other buttons.

Then there is also either the little Scroll Wheel to run a finger over, or the large Scroll Ring (unique to Kensington's BLACK Trackball) permitting precise scroll control by finger movements, much like a shuttle weel. In fact, Kensington's BLACK ExpertMouse trackball is the only "mouse" device that has a scroll ring with a scroll/jog/shuttle function similiar to either the Shuttle Pro or ShuttleExpress by Contour, shown below. Being able to precisely scroll, shuttle or jog is critical to non-linear editing (NLE) programs used for video editing like in iMovie, FinalCut Pro/Express, Avid DV/Express, and iDVD & DVD Studio Pro, or audio editing with programs like Apple's GarageBand and Soundtrack, Macromedia's SoundEdit, SmartSound Software's Sonicfire Pro Mac or Movie Maestro, or with AVID/DigiDesign's ProTools. Such finger tip control devices are often incorporated into such highend equipment as Audio Control Surfaces for sound studios, or Video Editing Equipment for video editing suites; and is even found on hand-held remote control's or the control panel of pro/consumer VCR's meant for serious (expensive) editing.

So, between a keyboard, mouse, trackball, touch pad, control knob, shuttle wheel, or graphics pad, your tactile input options are pretty much covered. Once you know what you like to design on a Mac, it's a good idea to checkout the various input devices available to make your Mac creative experience truly enjoyable! Try them all for functionality and comfort (and color coordination if that's what turns you on), then take your pick! ;)

Thank you God for my Mac, and all the toys that make it so much fun to play with... :D
 

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Jobs and the 1 button mouse

This may be true - but I think at some point, even Jobs needs to realize that as his OS has evolved, so has the need for more sophisticated input devices to go with it. He's pretty stubborn though, so he may be willing to let all the potential sales of 3rd. party mice continue - simply so he doesn't have to admit he was "wrong". (Let's face it. The media would have a field day with a change like this at Apple, no matter how Jobs tried to spin it. And if he did, I imagine he'd try to insist that the users have "finally grown out of the 1 button mouse, so Apple is listening to them and making the changes they ask for". Something like that just begs to be made fun of by the PC crowd.)

For all of Apple's elegant (yet functional) design decisions, I think their choice of input devices (both mice and keyboards) gets the least attention. Look at the horrible "puck" mouse they provided with the old iMacs. Look at the keyboards on the TIBooks. (Black keyboard on a silver laptop? Looks like it was dropped in place later by a "case modder" or something.) Even the standard issue keyboard on the Apple Performas was a pretty mushy feeling beige plastic deal, that felt like the "bargain keyboard" you'd expect with a generic PC clone. (A far cry from the "Apple Extended Keyboard II" that was arguably the BEST keyboard they ever sold. Imagine, a caps-lock that actually stays down when pressed!)


Originally posted by carletonmusic
Steve Jobs will be rolling in his grave before Apple produces a scroll wheel or two button mouse. Keyboards are fair game for improvement, but it wans't that long ago that the bluetooth white ones came out.
Click to expand...
 
Jobs and the Apple 1 button mouse

Originally posted by kingtj
...more sophisticated input devices ...
Something like that just begs to be made fun of by the PC crowd.
For all of Apple's elegant (yet functional) design decisions, I think their choice of input devices (both mice and keyboards) gets the least attention.
Click to expand...
Apple's current attention to functionality of input devices delivered with new Macs? Fundamental, basic and minimalistic.
Attention to Design coordination? Elegant, efficient, superb (and, major Award winning)!
Interface? modern (optics tech) & current (USB & wireless Bluetooth).

Is Apple's approach to the keyboard & mouse too basic and simplified? Maybe for some. But the company satisfies all essential needs of the vast majority of users fully.
The keyboard lacks "media keys" or unnecessary "specialty keys", and the mouse IS single button with no scroll wheel, but none of these things hamper full use of a Mac computer or its Operating System.

The G4 iBook and especially the PowerBook keyboards are greatly inproved versions today, including optional fiberoptic backlighting - an industry first?

For someone who has never used a PC or its mouse, what use is a 2nd button?
How is it necessary for the effective operation of a Mac?

True, each of my Trackballs over the last dozen years has had 4 or more buttons, all programable ...but I have only needed or really used ONE.
I do like to use the Scroll Wheel, when I remember it's there, an increasingly more frequent occurance. Really, the cursor clicked or dragged along a slider bar is efficient and more than suffient.

I have most of the Apple Keyboards and all of the Apple mice that have come with my Macs still wrapped in original packing, waiting to be used, to be loved, yet they sit quietly in a bottom drawer. Yes I could "get by" with using them, but like many Mac users I want more, I want something different, something specifically designed for my particular needs.

Sometimes it's an ergonomic split keyboard design for physical comfort, or a trackball or ShuttlePro for better hand-eye coordination or ease in positioning the cursor at just the right pixel, or it's a Wacom Graphics Pad so I can use a Pen stylus to draw or paint instead of trying to retrain my hand and brain on how to use a flat chunky mouse with an arrow shaped cursor to get 256 (or more) levels of pressure and sensitivity on a digital surface, which is eventually translated onto paper using a color inkjet printer.

Thankful am I for the original keyboard and mouse, simple, basic and true, when whilst navigating through the pre-Jaguar updates and upgrades, OS X would lock up, freeze, and utterly deny the existance of any foreign input device. And I marvel at the evolution from serial port to USB to wireless Bluetooth, and from mechanical to optic technology, keeping steady pace without fanfare as science and technology progressed. Simple and basic functions are to be admired and appreciated in avoidance of Murphy's Law.

There is much to admire in the excellent fundamental design of the Apple mouse & keyboard shipped with every Mac, and the wireless option now available. The Mac OS and an Apple computer only needs ONE button on the mouse, and needs no wheel to scroll.

50 years ago Chrysler Corporation added aircraft style tailfins to their automobiles. Knowing full well that such "tailfins" added no functionality whatsoever to an automobile traveling at highway speeds, GM and Ford followed suit. By 1959, emphasis on the "tailfin" design got to preposterous proportions before everyone realized how silly aircraft tailfins looke on an automobile and they quickly disappeared. Except for functional spoilers on some sportscars, do you see any "fins" on automobiles today?

Want something more than what a Mac needs to function optimally, such as a PC 2 button mouse, then buy a Microsoft mouse with scroll wheel included. Some may even come with a "fin" design.
Or, select a 4+ button Trackball with scroll ring or wheel, or a Graphics Pad from 4x5 to 8x10, or an add-on Shuttle Wheel or lighted Knob to take advantage of special software capabilities.

Bottom line: all Macs come stock, right out of the box, with better basic features, essential software, overall capability and equipment than any comparably priced PC.

So why would any Mac user care what the "PC crowd" thinks, says or giggles about?
If someone doesn't understand why a Mac is better than a PC, maybe they should consider becoming a "switcher"... to a PC. Then having become a "transplatformite" surely the difference will become crystal clear from the "dark" side. Shucks! at $499 for CPU with Intel Pandemonium processor, 15" Monitor, standard Keyboard & 2 button Mouse with dynamic scroll wheel, the temptation is not only there, it's cheap! Real cheap! Oh, what! no sound board, firewire, superdrive, iApps or OS X?
Sorry, you get what you pay for including: Crash XP, PhotoPaint&Draw Lite and maybe MS WordWorksPlus (aka TextEdit beta for PC).

Can anyone tell how sick & tired some of us get hearing about the 2-button PC mouse? Left & Right CLICKS on a PC mouse are just about as useless as Left & Right TAILFINS on a 1958 Plymouth.

Will someone please refer me to the exact provision in any Apple Mac Manual (not cross-platform software) where it explains how to Left or Right CLICK a 2nd mouse button while using a Macintosh computer?
:mad:
 

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In my opinion, there is still no excuse not to include a scroll wheel.Scrool wheel has become much more important in the past few years, esp. with the constant growth of internet browsing,

Apple can do what ever they want, hack I am not the CEO, but the fact remains that many "loyal" Mac users, who will never switch to P.C opt for a better "Basic" mouse (and I am not talking about 8 or 10 button mouse/trackball/graph board).
For this they go to 3rd company and settle on their product or they keep on using the Apple mouse out of pure loyalty.

The only reason why apple is still able to sell their mouse is because Apple mouse still carry that extra wow effect, which 3rd party product never will. It does look cool to have imac/powermac/ibook/pbook with a matching keyboard/mouse with the Apple logo.

It would be interesting to see in a poll how many would prefer Apple 1 button mouse over Apple! 1 or 2 button mouse with a scroll wheel. I think that the answer is clear.

Giving scrool wheel option is not admiting a defeat, but prolonging it is.
 
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