Poll: OK apple, your touch-sensitive stuff has crossed a line.

[Thaius]

Am I the only one who see this thread as yet more ignorant Mac-hate?

Yes, because I am many things.
But ignorant is not one of them.

I'm not saying that every single person who dislikes Mac is ignorant: rather, it seems that most people here simply look at the picture and decide they know everything about it. But really, unless you read what they say about how it works (and for that matter, unless you've used the Macbook touchpads), you have no idea about how good of an idea it is.

Besides, the fact is that most people I've talked to who hate Macs are overwhelmingly ignorant about them. Thus, I've come to the conclusion that most people have no basis behind their Mac-hate beyond their own defensive and incomplete reasoning in a desperate attempt to defend Windows, the only OS they've truly known. Not everyone, but most people I've talked to, both online and off.

(Psssst I'm not the one-button guy [but those things were annoying as hell when they lasted])

What I think is funny is that my mouse has more functions than theirs, but yet they claim it does more than any mouse ever.
(It doesn't even have back/forward buttons functionality! I would die without those!)

Yeah, I noticed that you weren't the OP and fixed it in an edit. Kind of assumed since I quoted him and you responded so quickly. My bad. But yeah, the one-button thing was annoying: the right-click is honestly the only innovation I'll actually give Microsoft credit for. Pretty much everything else was done by Mac 5-10 years earlier (I'm looking at you, Windows 7).

Like any Apple product, this mouse is a matter of a smooth, elegant experience. They're not trying to pass it off as a gaming mouse, though I'm sure with the right program or drivers it could pass as one (something I definitely wouldn't judge the quality of until I see it: it has potential, but could also be awkward). Point is, I think for just normal computer functionality, this would work great. It has a heck of a lot more features than your average mouse (please people, stop saying it can't scroll or right-click: it can, look at the freaking page): not your average gaming mouse, mind you, but your average mouse (which is a lot more relevant to your average computer user).

Also, to those who say Mac innovates too often, are you really so content with where you are right now? There's nothing wrong with innovation, no matter how often or how much. Seems to me that by saying "what I have works fine, why does Apple keep making these things" is a sign of contentment, a lack of willingness or motivation to move forward. And when we no longer wish to make things better, humanity will be held back by its own incompetence.

I would still die without back/forward buttons. (Or functionality...because this mouse doesn't have buttons.)

Watch the video. It doesn't have obvious buttons, but it can right-click, it can scroll, it can select, it can zoom: it can do everything a typical mouse can and more. Again, it's not a gaming mouse, but it has more than your average computer user needs.

 

[Bored Tomatoe]

What is wrong with buttons! I hate touchscreens! STOP MAKING PEOPLE THINK THAT TOUCHSCREENS ARE "COOL"! Ugh, just when I think that touchscreens can't get any more insidious...

 

[lleihsad]

How about if I just hate Mac apologists? Am I a communist then, too?

If you like Macs, use them. Don't try to insinuate that ardent PC users are anti-American. Apple is doing quite well for themselves, and they don't need that kind of defense.

 

[The1Krutz]

Interesting idea, but I'd have to wait to pass judgment until I saw how well it worked.
Then again, I'm one of those trackball freaks, so my opinion doesn't count.

 

[theCrusher1234]

I selected that apple-tards need to die just for the irony that i am typing this on my ibook.

 

[UltraParanoia]

I got my mouse for free.

It scrolls and clicks and does everything that one does. So why does that one cost 70 bucks?

 

[bluepilot]

Without a wire attached I wonder how many people will loose that thing.

I use the mouse inbuilt to my computer so I do not need such a thing. I think people will miss clicking the buttons though. Clicking buttons is kind of stress relieving.

 

[kahlzun]

I'm constantly being surprised by the slickness and professionalism of Apple's products.

I'm giving this the benefit of the doubt.

 

[The_Echo]

ok i am a mac user and i own apple products but i mean what the hell is wrong with a mouse. I doesn't need to be innovated further its something that is simple and works.

Also being a Mac user, I agree. It's nice that Apple is making these little gadgets, but this is a bit much. Their mouse is just fine. They don't need to make it touch-sensitive. It just seems silly.

 

[DanDeFool]

That's Apple for you; trying so hard to be innovative (because there's no other reason to buy their products) that they wind up shitting all over themselves.

They compare it to the iPhone and the iPod touch, and in those instances the touch system is genuinely useful; you can have a lot more screen real-estate and still maintain user-friendly functionality, but adding touch-sensitive technology to a mouse is building a car that can also be pulled by a team of horses. You can kind of see the connection, and you might gain some extra functionality out of it, but it's not really an essential or useful addition.

I can see where they're going with the whole "gestures" thing, making it easier to navigate webpages and whatnot, but companies like Logitech (i.e., companies that aren't developing products solely to jerk off in our faces) solved that problem years ago by, and this seem a bit backwards and primitive for the 'enlightened' Mac-using public, ADDING EXTRA BUTTONS.

The bottom line here is that if you're going to charge us $70 for peripheral, make it do something genuinely innovative, like have on-the-fly sensitivity adjustments or rechargeable battery packs.

Wait, my Logitech G7 mouse has both of those things... and it was released over five years ago... and it costs the same... and it works with both Mac and Windows based machines... and it isn't just a glistening white blob of semen being sprayed into my face...

Seriously, this is the dumbest thing Apple has done since it made iPhones AT&T exclusive.

 

[AlexFromOmaha]

I say this as someone who has not owned an Apple product besides an iPod since the 80's, but I think this is pretty brilliant. Apple just subverted one of Win7's most hyped selling points with a cheaper, more user-friendly alternative. Given Apple's real talent and experience in touch-sensitive products, I bet it works like a charm.

Would I buy one if it were released for PCs? No. It's $70. Still, I wouldn't dismiss it as useless before 1) the mass market started using it, and 2) actually reading the material. Every single person complaining about "it doesn't do x!" didn't read or isn't aware of how mouse input works.

 

[Heresy101]

It HAS buttons...you just can't see them. Exactly the same as the current mighty mouse - they have click and right click even if it doesn't look like it. Watch the damn video ffs.

You guys should realise this is where mice are headed whether apple do it or not. It wasn't too long ago there was a post on gizmodo with loads of multitouch mouse concepts for pc (some of them were better than this one too). I don't think having the entire mouse as a touchpad is such a great idea, but maybe just a small patch up the front like some of the other concepts I've seen.

Anyway the mouse would be terrible for gaming. I can see it being useful for creative suite but only if they add 3 finger gestures and rotate/scale functionality too.

 

[HentMas]

when i read the link all i could thing of was on mickey in the movie fantasia

hehehehe oh

ah no buttons mouse?? whatever, not like i buy apple computers

 

[DanDeFool]

Also, to those who say Mac innovates too often, are you really so content with where you are right now? There's nothing wrong with innovation, no matter how often or how much. Seems to me that by saying "what I have works fine, why does Apple keep making these things" is a sign of contentment, a lack of willingness or motivation to move forward. And when we no longer wish to make things better, humanity will be held back by its own incompetence.

This isn't an issue of whether innovation is a good thing or a bad thing. Of course innovation is a good thing; the touch-screen interface on the iPhone and iPod Touch was very innovative, and was a great use of touch-sensitive technology.

I think the point of this discussion is that you can strain out innovative products until you give yourself a hernia, but unless the innovations are a SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT over the original concept then it's just innovation for innovation's sake. That's not moving forward, it's running in circles.

 

[CrysisMcGee]

This mouse is the very defination of redundant. In fact, I have always felt that EVERY mac mouse is fairly useless.

The previous mouse, the mighty mouse, had this problem

the Mighty Mouse does not report whether the right and left sensor is activated simultaneously. In fact, it reports a right-click only when there is no finger contact on the left side of the mouse. This means that the Mighty Mouse cannot support mouse chording, used by CAD software, games, and other applications where multiple functions are mapped to the mouse

They've fixed that problem with this one, and in fact the mouse looks nifty...and useful. all the buttons and scrolling are there, just different. Oh, yeah,...it supports 2 buttons and a scroll wheel.

Aside from being not as boring, I doubt it will do anything better.

 

[Juven Ignus]

I just don't get why Apple keeps trying to "improve" things. It's a good idea, but I don't quite think any of us are quite ready to make this kind of thing work.

 

[shannon.archer]

This is why there are no Mac gamers.

Exactly i imagine it would be hell trying to play an fps with this. *shudders* Or starcraft... Apple is all sizzle no steak.

 

[Thaius]

Also, to those who say Mac innovates too often, are you really so content with where you are right now? There's nothing wrong with innovation, no matter how often or how much. Seems to me that by saying "what I have works fine, why does Apple keep making these things" is a sign of contentment, a lack of willingness or motivation to move forward. And when we no longer wish to make things better, humanity will be held back by its own incompetence.

This isn't an issue of whether innovation is a good thing or a bad thing. Of course innovation is a good thing; the touch-screen interface on the iPhone and iPod Touch was very innovative, and was a great use of touch-sensitive technology.

I think the point of this discussion is that you can strain out innovative products until you give yourself a hernia, but unless the innovations are a SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT over the original concept then it's just innovation for innovation's sake. That's not moving forward, it's running in circles.

To an extent, but many of the greatest things in history were accomplished in baby steps.

 

[similar.squirrel]

They put a mouse on a mouse so we can click while we're clicking?
Well. Hopelessly devoted Mac-people like my mother will buy this garbage in spades. Hurrah.