[Mr Kino]

My first Apple computer was an iMac, purple 333mhz.

Seeing the ball of the mouse from the top of the puck was so neat! i was like how neat they actually bothered to make that look cool. what an interesting company, tell me more...

anyways... i could type all day about my old 333, (tweak)

what i wanted to bring up was that i have been hearing a lot of hate going towards that particular mouse and i ask why?????

[NYCFarmboy]

the puck mouse was very difficult for those of us with large hands.

(ahem)

It was not very ergonomically designed, as when you held it your hand was in a unnatural position.

I've never liked Apple mice anyhow... I prefer a 2 button w/scroll wheel el cheapo Logitech.

Was it pretty, yes, I still have several, a blue one, a green one and a orange one...but they are in my closet somewhere.

[Mr Kino]

I've never liked Apple mice anyhow... I prefer a 2 button w/scroll wheel el cheapo Logitech.

[/B]

ha ha, i probably have that exact mouse too. after two apple optical mice died on me i drove down to wal-mart and bought a logitech two button mouse with a scroll wheel. those first gen optical mice from apple just never survived more than one year for me. =(

[Paco500]

I have mixed feelings about the puck mouse. I never used one extensively, but that was due mostly to the fact that for years (since Mac Plus days) been enamored with the Kensington Turbo Mouse. I've owned 4 or 5 and still use one today.

I have big, beefy hands, and the size never bothered me. Once they added the dimple to the front and I could tell which way was up by feel, I kind of liked it.

I have to agree it was a disaster as so many people hated it, but with tiny mice now being all the rage- mostly being sold as "portable mice," I'm wondering if it was just ahead of it's time.

I have a 3.5 year old and he's really starting to like using computers. I may try and dig one up and see how it works for him.

[Kilbey]

I like the looks of the puck mouse that came with my Rev. A iMac, but after a few minutes of using it my wrist and hand would start to ache.

I bought a kensington scroll mouse to replace it.

I am currently using the no-button optical mouse that came with my eMac and I really like it. Perfect size and tracks perfect.

[PurpleGiant]

I never had an original iMac, but when I used the puck mouse it was very comfortable. Just required minimal movement of the fingers, not a whole hand

[TailsToo]

It was just hard to move it straight

[TheBadgerHunter]

It required holding it with your fingers. Once you get used to it you find it can be much better, but its hard to get used to. I like the current mice since you can hold them both ways.

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

This thread is so 1998.

[olePigeon]

I heard it doesn't even have a floppy drive!

[MilkmanDan]

Original iMac: Good.

Puck Mouse: BAD.

I lived though quite a few years of that, and I have really big hands.

[Randman]

The puck was fine for basic clicking and dragging but it was a nightmare to do any precision work, such as in PhotoShop, Illustrator or (at the time) Quark.

Nowadays, I use the Logitech cordless Trackman at home and work. More precise, many more buttons, more comfortable and less chance of repetitive strain. But rather than normal trackballs, you control it with your fingertips rather than thumb.

[AB^2=BCxAC]

Apple, I want an optical, bluetooth puck mouse.

Retro-chic.

Get crackin'!

[turtle777]

Würg ! Glad I never had to use on of these...

-t

[ajprice]

In my previous job, there was a blue G3 in the office, with puck mouse. I hated it, I could never tell whether it was the right way up or not, and often went left to right with the mouse to see the cursor go diagonally across the screen, followed by me going and hating the bloody thing a little bit more.

Apart from that, it was cool.... barely usable, but cool.

[mitchell_pgh]

I liked the material and usability, it was just that it was round that annoyed me. You had to look at it to figure where "up" was.

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

The rev B of that mouse they added a little groove in the button to so you could feel your way to the button.

If they wanted to ship it with the iMac fine, it was a low end consumer/family computer.

When they shipped it with the B&W G3 towers I was totally shocked.

[Apple Pro Underwear]

on a scale from 1 to 10

it was a 5 at best


the problem with that is that 10 dollar mice are capable of being 7 or 8s and a 20$ investment can get you 9-10. a product from apple should be a 9-10 just because they made it.

it looked futuristic and cool though. in this case, it was a detriment.

[turtle777]

Originally posted by Apple Pro Underwear:
on a scale from 1 to 10

it was a 5 at best


the problem with that is that 10 dollar mice are capable of being 7 or 8s and a 20$ investment can get you 9-10. a product from apple should be a 9-10 just because they made it.

it looked futuristic and cool though. in this case, it was a detriment.

No way Apple can do a 9-10 mouse with only one button !

*duck*

-t

[Mafia]

Originally posted by turtle777:
No way Apple can do a 9-10 mouse with only one button !

*duck*

-t

understand apple trying to stay in with their style but how hard is it to add another mouse and it would shut up those pc users. one windows user came over and saw me using my logitech 1000 with my powermac and they were like "WOA you can use a 2 button mouse with a mac?!" heh it was humorous.

[andretan]

I preferred using the puck mouse.

EDITED.

[turtle777]

Originally posted by andretan:
I loved the puck mouse.

(trying to get the picture out of my mind )

-t

[andretan]

Originally posted by turtle777:


(trying to get the picture out of my mind )

-t

[hayesk]

Originally posted by NYCFarmboy:

It was not very ergonomically designed, as when you held it your hand was in a unnatural position.

It was ergonomically designed. It forced you to hold it with your wrist perfectly level with the top of your forearm, the way we are supposed to when we use any mouse or type (but most of us don't).

That said, I didn't like it. You couldn't feel which way was up and it was too small.

[Apple Pro Underwear]

i like 1 button mice

in fact i traded my logitech for a apple pro with milhaus of this very forum


however i can see why people like 2 button mice. what i miss most is the scroll button. that came in handy.

[cc_foo]

I dislike the puck mouse simply because it was made to be round only for aesthetic reasons. Functionally, being round was a big drawback. The dimple added on later helped, but the underlying design was poor.

I'm glad Apple got rid of it.

Having said that, I'm sure the puck mouse did:

1. boost demand for USB mice. At the time, there weren't many third party USB mice. Most were PS/2, and fewer were ADB. Soon after, Logitech started releasing translucent multibutton scrolling USB mice.

2. Increase discussion about the iMac itself (along with the lack of the floppy drive, the removal of ADB/SCSI, the new blue translucent plastics, the handle, the keyboard and so on).

[tooki]

I like the puck, and still use one on my B&W.

Most people who complained about its shape were trying to fill their palm with mouse, and if you do that, you will be cramped up. If instead you base the position on the finger positions, you will do fine -- there's just an airspace under the palm, unlike with most mice.

tooki

[nforcer]

Originally posted by NYCFarmboy:
the puck mouse was very difficult for those of us with large hands.

I have large hands and I did not have a problem with it. If I woke up tomorrow and all multibutton mice were gone, I would take the puck over any other one button mouse, whether it is optical or not.

[TailsToo]

I didn't mind mine too much, but the new mice are MUCH better.

[paully dub]

Apple's optical mice seem kinda delicate to me. I worked in a lab with a bunch of them and three or four died in a six month span. Meanwhile I have this shitty travel one by logitech which I put through hell and still works like a champ.

But I liked the puck just fine. It was neat when it came out.

[ajprice]

I've had an optical Pro Mouse (older clear cable type) die (this time in my present job) because the inside of the cable went green around where it meets the mouse casing, it worked for a bit as olng as you held the cable in one place with your fingertips, then the connection went completely and it just died. Apart from that the only complaint on Pro Mouse is that they get lots of cack inside the semi circle grip bits at the sides, and you can never get it out (I've tried).

[Snooperino]

At least you can make a coatrack outta them now.

[Landos Mustache]

Honestly it looked Hello Kitty and was made for little Asian girl hands or something.

Everytime you let go of it the cord would cause it to turn slightly so when you grabbed it again without looking up was no longer up etc.

It should never EVER ever have shipped with the pro machines and I am so glad I never owned one.

[Gossamer]

Originally Posted by Landos Mustache

It should EVER ever have shipped with the pro machines and I am so glad I never owned one.

Haha

[Landos Mustache]

Originally Posted by Gossamer

Haha

oops. I watched to much Fubar ... Giver!

[ort888]

Did it ever ship with Pro machines? I don't think it did.

I hated that thing. the designer who sits next to me still uses one though. She has it hooked up to her G5 and she loves it.

[Landos Mustache]

Originally Posted by ort888

Did it ever ship with Pro machines? I don't think it did.

I hated that thing. the designer who sits next to me still uses one though. She has it hooked up to her G5 and she loves it.

http://www.macaddict.com/issues/1999/5/reviews/bwg3

"The machine does have some flaws, though. Its keyboard and mouse are the same as those that ship with the blueberry iMac—hardly adequate for professional use."

I forgot about the ass keyboard with no forward delete and tiny F keys.

It also might have shipped with the first G4 gray towers.

[Gossamer]

Originally Posted by Landos Mustache

http://www.macaddict.com/issues/1999/5/reviews/bwg3

"The machine does have some flaws, though. Its keyboard and mouse are the same as those that ship with the blueberry iMac—hardly adequate for professional use."

I forgot about the ass keyboard with no forward delete and tiny F keys.

It also might have shipped with the first G4 gray towers.

I think it did. And I hated that keyboard for everyday use, the arrow keys were retarded. I can see where a compact size would be nice for some applications, but it was ridiculous. Luckily by the time I saved enough mowing lawns to buy my own iMac DV, Apple had released the Pro keyboard and mouse. My parents still use it to this day.

[CharlesS]

Yep, the Pro keyboard and mouse came out with the dual-processor G4 towers. All the pro machines between the B&W G3 and that used the puck mouse and tiny keyboard.