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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Consumer Hardware & Components > Why cant Apple make a decent mouse???

Why cant Apple make a decent mouse???
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Ado
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Apr 22, 2009, 07:45 AM
 
I just bought my 9th mac in my life and to this day their mice still suck.
The scroll wheel gets jammed and doesn't scroll as it should... Geese...
     
Hg2491
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Apr 22, 2009, 08:02 AM
 
Because somehow people keep buying them.
     
Big Mac
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Apr 22, 2009, 12:43 PM
 
Did the OP really expect something other than the Mighty Mouse?

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." TJ
     
mduell
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Apr 22, 2009, 01:39 PM
 
Why do you keep buying Apple mice?
     
msuper69
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Apr 22, 2009, 02:19 PM
 
What do geese have to do with it?
     
Luca Rescigno
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Apr 22, 2009, 03:43 PM
 
Because they are stuck on using innovative means to solve every problem, even if the solution isn't as simple or elegant as an existing solution. Sometimes it pays off, other times it doesn't. The Mighty Mouse is an example of an over-engineered solution that creates more problems than it solves. It really doesn't solve any problems in fact, it only creates new ones as compared to traditional mice.

"That's Mama Luigi to you, Mario!" *wheeze*
     
angelmb
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Apr 22, 2009, 04:42 PM
 
Well, I love the Apple Mighty Mouse, have two and both work great. I guess I clean the mice too frequently. To me the only downside is they are clearly overpriced, but besides that… the BT model is fantastic, tracking is better than my third mouse, (Logitech MX Revolution) and it is light, very light, cause you need only one AA battery to power it.
     
ghporter
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Apr 22, 2009, 05:07 PM
 
I'm happy with my Mighty Mouse (it came with my iMac). I too experience issues with the scroll ball, but I saw a post here (maybe from Eug?) about how to deal with it: you turn the mouse upside down and roll it on the scroll ball up and down. That cleans out the gunk pretty well for me, and it never takes more than a minute to get the mouse running again. Yes, it's more expensive than a cheap-o Logitech or no-name mouse, but as long as it only takes minimal attention to keep it going, it should be fine. And obviously you didn't pay extra for this mouse since you reported that you just bought your 9th Mac...

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
angelmb
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Apr 22, 2009, 05:24 PM
 
I don't know about the Mighty Mice that come with the Mac, but the Wireless Mighty Mouse user's manual advices you how to clean it, same way Glenn describes. So I guess Apple has certain knowledge about such issues.

What is a pity about the Logitech is I had to pay $20 for a software which is way better than Logitech's own.

Ado, you can bring that Mighty Mouse to an Apple Store and my guess is they will give you a new one since your computer is obviously still under warranty.
     
Ado  (op)
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Apr 22, 2009, 08:38 PM
 
First 3 responses are by people who don't bother thinking before they answer.
The mouse comes with the mac so you have NO CHOICE!
Your question should have been why do you keeping buying macs?

Anyway Im using the new imac mouse and still when you scroll the ball gets confused and joggles the page up and down instead of down. Is Apple becoming another GM/Chrysler? Selling **** that doesn't work properly and of poor design.
     
Hg2491
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Apr 22, 2009, 08:45 PM
 
Originally Posted by Ado View Post
First 3 responses are by people who don't bother thinking before they answer.
The mouse comes with the mac so you have NO CHOICE!
I've met several people who have gotten a Mighty mouse by choice, even though they knew it has defects.
     
dzp111
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Apr 22, 2009, 08:46 PM
 
Got an Apple Mighty Mouse as a present last Christmas. No complaints here.
.................................................. .................................................. ..................................www.DNCH.com

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tooki
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Apr 26, 2009, 06:44 PM
 
Clean the scroll ball regularly with an alcohol pad to remove skin oils and it will work fine. (I know, they should have included a better way to clean it, but this is how you can make do.)
     
Gankdawg
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Apr 28, 2009, 04:55 PM
 
Can't stand Apple mice. I use a MS Intellimouse Optical and a MS wireless keyboard.
     
Simon
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Apr 29, 2009, 02:54 AM
 
While I think Apple's Al keyboards are great, the MM in my experience has been a disappointment. The one surface with optional right-click idea is great, but I don't get why they didn't just go with a regular 'rocking' scroll wheel like Logitech has instead of this failure-prone nipple.

I buy my keyboards from Apple, but my mice are all Logitech. I have the MX 900 BT mouse for my HT Mac and corded LX3s everywhere else. They're simple yet incredibly robust mice that work great out of the box. To run on a Mac you need zero drivers and there's no fiddling around. They're inexpensive as well.
     
ghporter
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Apr 29, 2009, 07:37 AM
 
I have tried BT mice-other than MM. My experiences haven't been so great. I can't get the speed to adjust correctly, so when I use the BT mouse the cursor zooms everywhere. I HATE the 1/10 second delay between moving the mouse and having it actually "wake up" to start moving. Having to charge the darn thing is a pain too.

In other words, there are a bunch of tradeoffs in selecting mice, and overall I think having to clean the little scroll ball now and then is the minorest of tradeoffs.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
Wiskedjak
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Apr 29, 2009, 08:30 AM
 
Apple doesn't make mice. They make icons. The Might Mouse is designed with two goals in mind, neither of which include consideration for the user: maintain the illusion of a single button mouse and be as different as possible from other mice.
     
angelmb
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Apr 29, 2009, 09:40 AM
 
It has to be with mouse clicking. The typical two button mouse uses only a small area of your wrist to do this action and ends up wearing down the muscle which leads to the carpal tunnel syndrome. By using the one button mouse design you actually utilize a greater portion of your whole forearm and is supposed to take in easier your wrist and reduce carpal tunnel. Hence it is as different as possible from other mice.

I have the Logitech MX Revolution and the wireless Mighty Mouse, both are fantastic mice, the MX may be a slightly better all-around mouse for those in need of to personalize the multiple buttons it comes with but the Mighty Mouse is tons lighter and my hand doesn't hurt a bit after having using it for hours.
     
Veltliner
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May 6, 2009, 11:52 PM
 
I like the apple mouse.

Feels good, looks good, works well when it works.

Yes, the scroll ball gets stuck regularly.
     
Simon
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May 7, 2009, 03:16 AM
 
That's my beef with the MM. It looks great and works nice until it stops working.

I went through various cleaning procedures for the scroll ball. But they never really solved the problem. A week later I was back at step one. So basically I'd have been forced to buy a new MM every half year.

That idea didn't really appeal to me so I switched to Logitech mice. They certainly don't look as good as the MM, but they work very well, they're very sturdy, and they feel great in your hand.
     
benj
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May 7, 2009, 07:44 AM
 
I usually take a clean sheet of paper turn the mouse upside down and roll it around and around and around for a minute to
clean the mouse ball...works for me....now i'd love to know why my wired mouse doesn't right click when my bt mouse does ....
"Merrily, we roll along."
     
Maflynn
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May 7, 2009, 08:03 AM
 
[fanboy]
I actually like apple's mice, always have even back when there was a single mouse button
[/fanboy]

even so, I a logitech mouse for my work pc and that seems like a nice mouse but the I've gotten so used to the mighty mouse pimple, I miss the functionality when I'm on my work computer.
~Mike
     
Wiskedjak
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May 7, 2009, 08:37 AM
 
In the 2.5 years that I've been using my Logitech, it works like the day I bought it without any cleaning or maintenance.
     
Veltliner
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May 8, 2009, 04:54 AM
 
My first MM lasted only eight months.

This second one is (knock, knock) already over a year old.

Found out alcohol isn't that good. Just a rubber of good quality.
     
ghporter
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May 8, 2009, 07:55 AM
 
I'm still running my first MM-I got it in August, 2007. Cleaning the little ball takes the high tech device called a "mouse pad" and some elbow movement. A good quality pencil eraser could work too, but the mouse is always on its pad, so I haven't bothered with anything else.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
Veltliner
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May 8, 2009, 10:24 PM
 
The weird thing is, that it's always the "move page down" direction that's stuck.

Page up gets rarely stuck.

Damn! My MM trackball just got stuck again. Where's the effing eraser!
     
acoustix
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May 21, 2009, 04:29 AM
 
They blow...
MacBook 2.0/60GB/2.0GB
iBook 1.42/60GB/1.0GB
iBook 300/6GB/320MB
     
turtle777
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May 21, 2009, 09:53 AM
 
Originally Posted by acoustix View Post
They blow...
You sure they don't suck ?

-t
     
Andrew Stephens
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May 23, 2009, 04:43 PM
 
Why can't Apple make a decent mouse?

Because all there designers are fully tied up trying to develop a power supply that doesn't frak up after six months light use.

don't expect an early breakthrough!
     
squeabs
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May 23, 2009, 09:31 PM
 
I never understood the problems people seem to have with Apple mice. I've owned two Mighty Mice. One was a bluetooth one that I used everyday almost none stop for the better part of three years. The one I have currently is wired to my iMac. I haven't had any issues whatsoever with it.
Am I using it wrong or something? Why isn't mine breaking?
     
Wiskedjak
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May 23, 2009, 09:38 PM
 
Originally Posted by squeabs View Post
I never understood the problems people seem to have with Apple mice. I've owned two Mighty Mice. One was a bluetooth one that I used everyday almost none stop for the better part of three years. The one I have currently is wired to my iMac. I haven't had any issues whatsoever with it.
Am I using it wrong or something? Why isn't mine breaking?
Do you clean its ball regularly?
     
ghporter
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May 23, 2009, 09:53 PM
 
I don't clean the ball on my MM "regularly." Only when it doesn't scroll right. Then it takes maybe 15 seconds rolling upside down on my mouse pad. I may whip out an alcohol prep (those alcohol-soaked squares used to clean a site before giving an injection) and clean it if I wind up messing it up with crumbs or something, but mostly it's just a bit of rubbing on the fabric-covered mouse pad.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
putrid
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May 24, 2009, 04:05 PM
 
I"m glad Ado started this thread. I was going to start one entitled " My mouse has turned into a rat".LOL The inferred mouse that came with my mac has a mind of it's own. It'd be funny if it wasn't frustrating. The curser will take off in any direction and bounce along the side of the screen like it's trying to find a way out. Or go in a different direction than what I am. Usually at a very high speed. I'd rip it out of the keyboard if I tried to move it that fast. Track ball only works in one direction and only sporadically at best. Guess it's off to a different mouse.
     
ghporter
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May 24, 2009, 06:17 PM
 
I have to admit that, since my last post in this thread I had another scroll ball problem. It didn't respond to rolling on the mouse pad, nor to cleaning with alcohol. But some vigorous cleaning with a pencil eraser worked. It was about five minutes worth of "gee, this always worked before" followed by "gee I hope this works like Vetliner says." It did.

By the way, mine always loses the "scroll UP" capability, rather than "scroll DOWN" that Vetliner loses. While I would love a means to get at the works that the scroll ball interfaces with (I used to have to clean out the sensors in my ball-type mechanical mice whenever they started acting up), but this has so far worked just fine-though it is indeed frustrating.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
Wiskedjak
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May 24, 2009, 06:43 PM
 
While it apparently doesn't take much to clean the scroll ball, I haven't had to clean my Logitech mouse once in the 3 years since I got it. I was so happy when the optical mice appeared, since it meant no more mouse ball cleaning. There's no way I'd ever again accept a mouse that required cleaning.
     
ghporter
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May 24, 2009, 09:16 PM
 
Does your Logitech mouse have a wheel for scrolling, or a ball? That's the big issue with Mighty Mouse. Since it is a 2D control, it can't simply have an encoder tacked onto the axle of a wheel; it MUST use the same basic mechanism that a ball mouse does. It is just a lot less prone to goofing up because it's so small and it is on top of the mouse.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
squeabs
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May 24, 2009, 11:49 PM
 
I suppose you could say that I'm a bit meticulous when it comes to keeping my computer and peripherals clean. My keyboard is just as clean as it was out of the box. So is my mouse and monitor/cpu. Maybe that's why I've never had problems with it. I don't grab the mouse or type with dirty or oily hands.

EDIT: No, I've never needed to clean the ball.
     
putrid
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May 25, 2009, 01:10 AM
 
Cleanliness wouldn't explain the inferred mouse that came with the computer. Why my curser flies all over the screen like a rat fleeing a sinking ship. There's no moving parts. No ball under the mouse to get dirty. Just a beam and a reader. Perhaps Apple just needs a better reading device.
     
Wiskedjak
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May 25, 2009, 08:27 AM
 
Originally Posted by ghporter View Post
Does your Logitech mouse have a wheel for scrolling, or a ball? That's the big issue with Mighty Mouse. Since it is a 2D control, it can't simply have an encoder tacked onto the axle of a wheel; it MUST use the same basic mechanism that a ball mouse does. It is just a lot less prone to goofing up because it's so small and it is on top of the mouse.
Exactly: the Mighty Mouse's ball gets gummed up because it's a ball. I can't help be believe the only reason Apple put a ball on the Mighty Mouse was just to be different from other mice, and not for any improvements in usability.
     
ghporter
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May 25, 2009, 08:47 AM
 
Originally Posted by Wiskedjak View Post
Exactly: the Mighty Mouse's ball gets gummed up because it's a ball. I can't help be believe the only reason Apple put a ball on the Mighty Mouse was just to be different from other mice, and not for any improvements in usability.
Horizontal scrolling isn't an improvement? I use it frequently. It uses a lot less energy and motion to go from one side of something to the other. Having both vertical and horizontal scrolling in the same control is quite intuitive (if any interface is intuitive, this one is), and except for the occasional "you have to clean it" episode, it "just works."

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
slugslugslug
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May 25, 2009, 06:46 PM
 
Originally Posted by ghporter View Post
Horizontal scrolling isn't an improvement? I use it frequently. It uses a lot less energy and motion to go from one side of something to the other. Having both vertical and horizontal scrolling in the same control is quite intuitive (if any interface is intuitive, this one is), and except for the occasional "you have to clean it" episode, it "just works."
I've found tilt wheels to be just as intuitive on logitech and MS mice that use them. They lack the Mighty Mouse's ability to scroll diagonally, but I never miss that when I use a tilt-wheel mouse (I do miss horizontal scrolling on old-school wheel mice).
     
Simon
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May 26, 2009, 02:30 AM
 
Clearly, the MM's scroll ball offers more scrolling freedom than a tilting scroll wheel. But OTOH I'll gladly give up on that extra freedom (I rarely scroll diagonally) if the ball tends to clog while the tilt wheel always works. And that's why I chose a Logitech LX3 to replace my MM.
     
   
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