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gorickey · Jun 6, 2002, 01:07 AM

If you head over to the Apple Store and try to buy a Black Apple Pro Mouse, you will be greeted with a nice "40 Day" ship time....40 days? Hmmm, MWNY almost dead on, right? Must be new mice FINALLY coming.

Come on Apple, gimme a 2 button-wireless mouse...

<img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

KellyHogan · Jun 6, 2002, 02:55 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by gorickey:
If you head over to the Apple Store and try to buy a Black Apple Pro Mouse, you will be greeted with a nice "40 Day" ship time....40 days? Hmmm, MWNY almost dead on, right? Must be new mice FINALLY coming.

Come on Apple, gimme a 2 button-wireless mouse...

<img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" /> <hr /></blockquote>A good mouse for OSX from Apple would be a three button mouse with equivalents for the control, alt and command keys.

Adam Betts · Jun 6, 2002, 04:07 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by KellyHogan:
A good mouse for OSX from Apple would be a three button mouse with equivalents for the control, alt and command keys.<hr /></blockquote>No, a good mouse for OSX from Apple would be a mouse that will give you an electronical shock every time your OSX get a kernel panic.

juanvaldes · Jun 6, 2002, 04:11 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Adam Betts:
No, a good mouse for OSX from Apple would be a mouse that will give you an electronical shock every time your OSX get a kernel panic.<hr /></blockquote>Ever heard of the painstation?

And why would your mouse idea be good?!? <img border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" title="" src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" />
I hope they join the rest of the world and ship a 2 or more button mouse, even more so now that its' very native in OS X.

Adam Betts · Jun 6, 2002, 04:19 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by juanvaldes:
Ever heard of the painstation?

And why would your mouse idea be good?!? <img border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" title="" src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" /> <hr /></blockquote>Heh, I was being irony... But this actually could be good idea because if more people complain that electronical shock almost kill them then Apple will fix the kernel panic faster than you can get blue screen of death.

Jerommeke · Jun 6, 2002, 04:28 AM

a good mouse will have a scroll wheel

dawho9 · Jun 6, 2002, 04:31 AM

I'm kinda fancy to this five button MS mouse I have right now. Scroll wheel and all...

...did you know when playing age of empires on the PC with this thing, that one side button brings you to your town center and the other one brings you to an ideal villiger.

Very cool...

I want a five button optical scroll wheel mouse...in black...

OK, not going to happen, but it would be cool...

dw9

Adam Betts · Jun 6, 2002, 04:37 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by dawho9:
I'm kinda fancy to this five button MS mouse I have right now. Scroll wheel and all...<hr /></blockquote>5 buttons!? No way I'll like it! You ever remember all of the setting/combo for PS/PS2 controller? For me, it's impossible because there's damn too many buttons and some of them are useless.

I'd bet that 1/20 of people who own 5-buttons mouse would only use three buttons or less.

OverclockedHomoSapien · Jun 6, 2002, 05:35 AM

What I'd like to see is a two button mouse, with a scrollwheel that is a button when pressed down. That's the best balance of functionality and ease of use IMO.

But at the very least it would be nice if Apple offered a mouse with a scroll wheel. The support is built into OS X, and I find that while I can adapt to a single button mouse with ease, I really miss the scroll wheel.

OS X really is more usable with a two button scroll wheel mouse: for example, the dock is MUCH more feature laden when used with a two button mouse--the right click makes Apple-menu style menus much easier to access, since no modifier key is required. Also considering how many things in OS X still need to be "finished", I find it odd that support for a two button mouse w/ scroll wheel is 95% complete!

What would be totally bitchin' is if Apple bought USB Overdrive and implemented it as the mouse preference pane in OS X! I think Mac users would love the ability to assign mouse button functions on an application specific basis, particularly graphics pros. And an advanced tab could be used for access to controls for the acceleration profile of the mouse. Plus Apple could either hire the developer of USB overdrive or pay him a tidy sum for his brilliant work!

Judge_Fire · Jun 6, 2002, 06:07 AM

A really good mouse would incorporate the benefits on a one-button mouse into a well-designed multi-button mouse.

The first button is quite likely used the most. It should be big and very, very obvious for newbies.

In the OS and in many apps, the second button brings up the contextual menu or plays a secondary role. It could be smaller, yet not clickable accidentally. It could even be the 'mouse menu' - button.

As for pro features, I like to scroll sideways too. Give me a two axis scroll sphere, as mod keys for this don't seem to work in all apps.

How to achieve the above design symmetrically or configurably for lefties, too, is a good design challenge.

J

Paco500 · Jun 6, 2002, 06:13 AM

Whatever Apple comes up with, I found no better input device than the Kensington Turbo. Almost completely unchanged for something like 10 years, as good as the day it was released. The only significant change has been moving from 2 buttons to 4- and I hardly ever use buttons 3 and 4.

eevyl · Jun 6, 2002, 06:50 AM

C'mon, let's face it.

Just put a ball under the Pro Keyboard and all of us can have a dozens button ultra sleek and ultra modern hyper-mouse

Matsu · Jun 6, 2002, 07:03 AM

Ah, hope springs eternal, but alas lads, 40 days? MWNY? She portends of little more than Steve standardizing on the WHITE pro mouse and keyboard. "They're so popular with our iMac and edu customers, people have been asking for them in the store, we listened..." you can here Stevie-boy already.

IFLY2HIGH · Jun 6, 2002, 07:27 AM

I'll stick to my cordless Logitech Wheel Mouse...

willed · Jun 6, 2002, 07:36 AM

There really is no point in shipping only 1 button mice any more. It used to be said that it was easier for newbies, but now the whole Western World is familiar with point and click, I think it's time for Apple to move on. It's a real bitch having to cntrl click every time I want to correct spelling etc in Word and multi button mice are just so much more elegant.

Judge_Fire · Jun 6, 2002, 07:56 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by willed:
 It used to be said that it was easier for newbies, but now the whole Western World is familiar with point and click, <hr /></blockquote>I'm in favor of multi-button mice, but ones better than the current crop. The whole western world, incidentally, isn't used to them yet.

I've taught courses aimed at the elderly, and having two identical buttons doing two different things just gets in the way of actually doing something.

Computers confuse newbies with endless little badly designed details, while limit pro users by dumbing things down. There's room for improvement, obviously.

J

Macanoid · Jun 6, 2002, 08:16 AM

This is a cool mouse: three button, including one scroll trackpad, very nice.

<img src="http://www.kensington.com/_images/productShot_med_1477.jpg" alt=" - " />

undotwa · Jun 6, 2002, 08:41 AM

Remember when we were all in favour of one button mices, and why we didn't need two button mices or scroll wheels (OS 9 days).

But now OS X has built in support for these technologies, everyone is in favour of these technologies. Oh the irony.

juanvaldes · Jun 6, 2002, 08:50 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Adam Betts:
5 buttons!? No way I'll like it! You ever remember all of the setting/combo for PS/PS2 controller? For me, it's impossible because there's damn too many buttons and some of them are useless.

I'd bet that 1/20 of people who own 5-buttons mouse would only use three buttons or less.<hr /></blockquote>if you don't like it then dont' buy it.

I for one love it (aside from how they brake down

) and use all 5 buttons in every app I can find a use.

That's pretty cool in AoE2, humm....better check and see if it works in the mac version.

Marienbad · Jun 6, 2002, 08:53 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by undotwa:
Remember when we were all in favour of one button mices, and why we didn't need two button mices or scroll wheels (OS 9 days).

But now OS X has built in support for these technologies, everyone is in favour of these technologies. Oh the irony.<hr /></blockquote>I've tried multi-button mice. I've got a three-button one for Linux and a four-button Kensington mouse. And of course I have to use a two-button mouse with windows. But I _prefer_ a one-button mouse. As long as I can click and hold for a contextual menu I'm perfectly happy.
Not only that, my favorite mouse of all time is the hockey puck. Perfect shape for my hand!

starman · Jun 6, 2002, 09:02 AM

One-button mice are useless crap.

I use the scroll wheel ALL THE TIME. I love it. How could anyone live WITHOUT it?

Anyway, wireless mice suck. The response time after it goes to sleep is too long and I got infuriated with it. I'll stick with my MS infrared Intellimouse. I even got a teeny Logitech one for my TiBook

Mike

Millennium · Jun 6, 2002, 09:12 AM

Two-button mice would be the ultimate usability mistake Apple could make right now.

Don't get me wrong. I like multi-button mice. I use a four-button trackball myself. But by including a one-button mouse by default, developers are forced to design for one-button mice. This means that all the functionality of a program (or at least that which is accessible by a mouse at all) can be accessed with a single mouse button; other buttons are relegated to shortcuts. And this is a Good Thing; every study out there shows that most users find multiple mice buttons confusing, particularly when they are all required.

If Apple ships a multibutton mouse by default, developers will start to get lazy. They'll start hiding functionality behind the right mouse button, and users will be confused. The interface consistency of the OS will suffer as a result. How do I know this will happen, because I've done it, in my brief forays into Windows development. Not to be arrogant, but I like to think that I'm extremely conscientious of interface, and yet even I found myself starting to design with two-button mice in mind, rather than one button as I should have been (with the right button being used strictly for convenience shortcuts). If it happened to me, it can happen to anyone else. And judging from the software I've seen out there for Windows, even from former Mac developers, it's an extremely common phenomenon.

That is the real usability issue. Not in the mouse itself, but the software which uses it. I don't mind the idea of Apple making a multibutton mouse, or making OSX friendly to multibutton mice, but they must not ship it with Macs by default, or the interface consistency and usability of the Mac will suffer greatly as a result.

rsh · Jun 6, 2002, 09:25 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />I've tried multi-button mice. I've got a three-button one for Linux and a four-button Kensington mouse. And of course I have to use a two-button mouse with windows. But I _prefer_ a one-button mouse. As long as I can click and hold for a contextual menu I'm perfectly happy.
Not only that, my favorite mouse of all time is the hockey puck. Perfect shape for my hand! <hr /></blockquote>I recently bought a new iMac for the wife and kids. I assumed they would want a multi-button mouse so I bought a Kensington to replace the "no-button" white capsule.

Guess what? They unanimously preferred the capsule! Every time I would go to work at the machine I'd find the Kensington unplugged and the capsule plugged it.

Why? I have no idea... aesthetics? touch and feel? Who knows. They use contextual menus, they just hold down the modifier key to do it.

I've also seen plenty of users with scroll wheel mice who never use the wheel. I'll see them press-hold on the scroll bar arrow in a window and ask... "Why are you doing that?" In most cases they never change, even after having the "benefits" of the scroll wheel explained to them.

To each his/her own. <img border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" title="" src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" />

Judge_Fire · Jun 6, 2002, 09:34 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Millennium:
I don't mind the idea of Apple making a multibutton mouse, or making OSX friendly to multibutton mice, but they must not ship it with Macs by default, or the interface consistency and usability of the Mac will suffer greatly as a result.<hr /></blockquote>Might well be.

Especially now, when the Mac Look & Feel is 'in danger', as a large number of developers with no Mac GUI guidelines experience are interested in OS X.

Ideologically, I'd still claim that the contextual menu is a better implementation of the noun->verb interaction model used in Mac OS. Having to travel to the menu is, IMHO, an unnecessary task. There are great possibilities for more direct interaction in contextual menus and beyond.

For example, instant in-place zooming of individual icons would be cool. No travel to View Options- menu or remembering command-J when all you want to see bigger is one pic.

(Interestingly, support for two-button mice has been hiding in APIs since System 7, IIRC, atleast in dev. releases, so there might even be some good-old-UI-group studies on this. Anyone remember?)

Anyway, yes, Apple should keep the interaction model from deteriorating, but also aim to develop input methods beyond the 'dumbing' effect of forced hardware. If that development is up to third parties, we might never see the cool stuff that's made possible by Apple doing both the hardware and software.

J

Gankdawg · Jun 6, 2002, 09:40 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Adam Betts:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by dawho9:
I'm kinda fancy to this five button MS mouse I have right now. Scroll wheel and all...<hr /></blockquote>5 buttons!? No way I'll like it! You ever remember all of the setting/combo for PS/PS2 controller? For me, it's impossible because there's damn too many buttons and some of them are useless.

I'd bet that 1/20 of people who own 5-buttons mouse would only use three buttons or less.<hr /></blockquote>I use all 5 buttons for TacticalOps:AoT. They really come in handy for switching weapons or whatever you want to customize them to.

lookmark · Jun 6, 2002, 09:41 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Millennium:
Two-button mice would be the ultimate usability mistake Apple could make right now.<hr /></blockquote>That's a little strong. Your points are well-made though...

My mother, who uses a Dell, after several years is still consistently confused and sometimes right-clicks instead of left-clicking. Basically it's just off-limits, a button that says "something confusing will happen if you push me".

My father, on the other hand, gets it. You're pretty much crippled in Windows if you don't get the right-click.

That said. I've a hunch that Apple *will* release a two-button mouse at MWNY, in fact I've been expecting this for quite some time. An oft-heard dismissive statement of Macs connects them to the single-button mouse (check out PC and even Slashdot forums to see a *lot* of these). Apple has shown it's willing to make some trade-offs to change their image and gain potential marketshare, and I think they'll do it.

On the plus side, for everyone except the most novice of users it *will* be nice, and many features in OS X are practically designed for two-button, scroll-wheel mouses.

How to avoid that creeping right-click functionality, though, I'm not sure... It's an alarming problem.

Perhaps Apple will keep the 1-button mouse with consumer models -- to make sure developers can't rely on right-clicking -- and offer a real Pro Mouse for the professional models. With the opportunity to switch for a small fee in a BTO machine.

Hmm, I don't know though. Once Apple makes a decision it tends to go for it all the way. It may just fall to the good taste and standards of Mac developers.

[ 06-06-2002, 09:47 AM: Message edited by: lookmark ]

D3k61 · Jun 6, 2002, 10:36 AM

I hate to promote anything made by M$, but <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouse/ie_info.asp" target="_blank">this</a> is the best mouse I have ever used. Unlike every other optical mouse I have used, this one won't "wig out" when you move it too fast due to it's abilty to capture 6000 pictures per second. Very handy when you are playing a game like Quake3.

Judge_Fire · Jun 6, 2002, 10:40 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by D3k61:
I hate to promote anything made by M$, but <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouse/ie_info.asp" target="_blank">this</a> is the best mouse I have ever used.<hr /></blockquote>Ok, confession time... I'm using one right now

Though I love the MacAlly one with switchable original yummy iMac color covers more

J

wingdo · Jun 6, 2002, 10:47 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by D3k61:
I hate to promote anything made by M$, but <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouse/ie_info.asp" target="_blank">this</a> is the best mouse I have ever used. Unlike every other optical mouse I have used, this one won't "wig out" when you move it too fast due to it's abilty to capture 6000 pictures per second. Very handy when you are playing a game like Quake3.<hr /></blockquote>Well, you hate to admit it and I hate to agree but this is the best mouse I have used. Comfortable and capable.

mitchell_pgh · Jun 6, 2002, 11:20 AM

Five button mouse!!! Why don't they just take the keyboard and attach the mouse to the bottom of that...

Two plus a clickable scroll wheel would be nice

mrwalker · Jun 6, 2002, 11:51 AM

I've just bought my first mac (powerbook 667 DVI) after using windows for ages.

I'm currently using a 5 button wireless intelli-mouse explorer lefrt over from the PC, which is great on a desktop where you don't move about much. I use my powerbook in different rooms, at work, at home etc & I'm constantly moving the huge usb dongle to get a proper connection. With this in mind I'd prefer a wired mouse.

What would be more useful would be a rechargeable bluetooth mouse with a wheel. My wireless mouse is about to go on yahoo if you'd like to make me an offer... I'm in the uk.

-mrwalker

Matsu · Jun 6, 2002, 11:51 AM

You're all making a mountain out of a mole hill. It's going to be a white button mouse for everyone. The only thing that's changing is the color.

Proudest Monkey · Jun 6, 2002, 12:21 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Matsu:
You're all making a mountain out of a mole hill. It's going to be a white button mouse for everyone. The only thing that's changing is the color.<hr /></blockquote>agreed ... the new white mouse will match the new white powermacs released @ mwny.

P · Jun 6, 2002, 12:30 PM

A mouse looking like a Logitech Wheel mouse would be good as a default. Personally, I swear by my Logitech Mouseman wheel, with a thumb-button for enter (dismiss annoying dialog-button), but that one's unusable in the left hand.

If Apple is releasing something like that, it woudl reuire support in the OS for configuration (flipping left and right buttons, at least). Anyone seen something like this in Jaguar betas?

MickS · Jun 6, 2002, 12:31 PM

For most things a one button mouse is fine.

Power users want more buttons, but there are plenty of third-party mice out there. If Apple released a multi-button mouse with scroll-wheel etc people would just get on their back for killing add on companies again.

I've been using a Mac since the 80's and the interface (still) works fine with just the one button.

euphras · Jun 6, 2002, 01:22 PM

Apple makes a BIG MISTAKE, if they�re not willing or able to transform to at least a two button/clickable scrollwheel mouse. Apple claims in every brochure that they�re building machines for pro�s. And as such i WANT this type of mouse!! Scrollwheel and contextmenue enhance clearly the workflow. It�s a pitty that PS 7 does not support scroll function, BTW. They could sell the one-butt�s in the entry line but in the range of G4 towers and tibooks they�re laughable (after some discussion my retailer accepted to give me a third party scrollwheel mouse for free with my Ti).

Pat

zcasper · Jun 6, 2002, 01:35 PM

I tried the Microsoft mouse on my Powermac and I couldn't stand it. The quality and ease of clicking on my Apple Capsule is much better.

I really wanted a scroll wheel though so I bought me one of <a href="http://www.griffintechnology.com/audio/pwrmate.html" target="_blank">these</a>.

I really love it and has great software support (something like USB Overdrive where you can customize it between different apps).

Zach

IamBob · Jun 6, 2002, 01:59 PM

Instead of trying to come up with a multi-button mouse of their own and wedging themselves in there they could extend a hand to the third-parties. That way you could spend an extra $10 for the mouse you want instead of buying it afterwards for $30.

If I would've had an option to ditch ThePill� and get my MacAlly iOptiJr....you bet I would have.

Oh, whoever it was that said they liked the puck, you should try the iOptiJr. I loved the puck, right up untill the 'Jr. found its way to my desktop.

iKevin · Jun 6, 2002, 02:04 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Millennium:
Two-button mice would be the ultimate usability mistake Apple could make right now.

Don't get me wrong. I like multi-button mice. I use a four-button trackball myself. But by including a one-button mouse by default, developers are forced to design for one-button mice. This means that all the functionality of a program (or at least that which is accessible by a mouse at all) can be accessed with a single mouse button; other buttons are relegated to shortcuts. And this is a Good Thing; every study out there shows that most users find multiple mice buttons confusing, particularly when they are all required.

If Apple ships a multibutton mouse by default, developers will start to get lazy. They'll start hiding functionality behind the right mouse button, and users will be confused. The interface consistency of the OS will suffer as a result. How do I know this will happen, because I've done it, in my brief forays into Windows development. Not to be arrogant, but I like to think that I'm extremely conscientious of interface, and yet even I found myself starting to design with two-button mice in mind, rather than one button as I should have been (with the right button being used strictly for convenience shortcuts). If it happened to me, it can happen to anyone else. And judging from the software I've seen out there for Windows, even from former Mac developers, it's an extremely common phenomenon.

That is the real usability issue. Not in the mouse itself, but the software which uses it. I don't mind the idea of Apple making a multibutton mouse, or making OSX friendly to multibutton mice, but they must not ship it with Macs by default, or the interface consistency and usability of the Mac will suffer greatly as a result.<hr /></blockquote>I totally agree! I think Apple should continue to ship the 1 button mouse as a standard...and possibly offer a Apple multi-button mouse for those of us that want it.

..But I totally agree with what you're saying

bewebste · Jun 6, 2002, 02:05 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by rsh:

I've also seen plenty of users with scroll wheel mice who never use the wheel. I'll see them press-hold on the scroll bar arrow in a window and ask... "Why are you doing that?" In most cases they never change, even after having the "benefits" of the scroll wheel explained to them.

To each his/her own. <img border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" title="" src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" /> <hr /></blockquote>Sometimes I see the opposite, users who are addicted to the scroll wheel and just seem to forget that the scroll bar still exists. They're easy to spot, since you can hear them from across the room, cranking the scroll wheel over and over as fast as they can, trying to scroll to the bottom of a very large document. <img border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" title="" src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" />

sbjordal · Jun 6, 2002, 02:07 PM

NOTHING was cooler than when I plugged the receiver for my new Logitech wireless RF Keyboard and Mouse and it worked instantly in OSX.

KidRed · Jun 6, 2002, 02:08 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Macanoid:
This is a cool mouse: three button, including one scroll trackpad, very nice.

<img src="http://www.kensington.com/_images/productShot_med_1477.jpg" alt=" - " /><hr /></blockquote>I can't believe no one has asked about this mouse. Do you have a link for it? Who makes it? Would match my dualgig nicely.

mikemako · Jun 6, 2002, 02:22 PM

multi button mice rule, and anyone who doesn't understand the meaning of right clicking probably isn't going to be designing webpages or using photoshop anyway so it doesn't really matter if Adobe or Macromedia add more right click functionality to their programs. My 4 button MS mouse is great, and it's simple to understand. the button where my thumb is goes "back" in my internet browser, and the one on the opposite side goes "forward". Then of course there is the standard Left Click and Right click... and I've totally grown used to the scroll wheel, i couldn't stand having to mouse over to the page up/down arrows every time I wanted to navigate through a forum of web page.

mikemako · Jun 6, 2002, 02:26 PM

it's a new kensington.. I want one too!

<a href="http://www.kensington.com/" target="_blank">Kensington Home Page</a>

dawho9 · Jun 6, 2002, 02:33 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by D3k61:
I hate to promote anything made by M$, but <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouse/ie_info.asp" target="_blank">this</a> is the best mouse I have ever used. Unlike every other optical mouse I have used, this one won't "wig out" when you move it too fast due to it's abilty to capture 6000 pictures per second. Very handy when you are playing a game like Quake3.<hr /></blockquote>That is the newer version of the MS mouse that I am using right now. I only have one, so I switch it when I go between the mac and the pc.

I am not saying that apple has to make a five button mouse, the average user may be a little confused (however - MS sells a bunch of their intellimouse optical mice - so maybe the consumer is smarter than we all think). But I do think it is time for the right click.

Apple lost the mouse battle. Has anyone actually tried to right-click of OSX. For god's sake, I can never find the keyboard fast enough. Its all about speed and ease of use, and the consumer demands the following:

Two button optical mouse - scroll wheel.

Mark my words, if Steve introduces a two button -scroll wheel mouse at MacWorld, the people will celebrate. They will kill on behalf of Steve, they will do anything for him. Apple also knows that it would get more money in their pockets. Imagine all of us MS hating people who have to use their mouse because it is simply better. I would love to buy an apple mouse. Just give me a damn right button.

dw9

atomiks · Jun 6, 2002, 02:39 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Matsu:
She portends of little more than Steve standardizing on the WHITE pro mouse and keyboard. "They're so popular with our iMac and edu customers, people have been asking for them in the store, we listened..." you can hear Stevie-boy already.<hr /></blockquote>That's what I was thinking ever since the iMac's came out with the new white 'boards and the mice. Now the black boards are going to be a nice and expensive Service Part. I might as well get myself another black board now, while they're still around for when I wear this one out.

The white just so doesn't go with my Sawtooth G4/450.

cpt kangarooski · Jun 6, 2002, 02:50 PM

Mil--
You're probably right. (I'm thinking of the P.J. O'Rourke line about the difficulty of writing, now)

But at the very least, if there _has_ to be a multibutton mouse, it definately ought to be designed so that the two buttons are totally dissimilar, with the 1st button being much more prominent than the 2d. And personally, I'd like a jog wheel instead of a scroll wheel; it's annoying as hell to have to pull the finger back as far as it can go, then reposition it and do it again. At least it seems like it'd be worth investigation.

D3k61 · Jun 6, 2002, 03:38 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />That's what I was thinking ever since the iMac's came out with the new white 'boards and the mice. Now the black boards are going to be a nice and expensive Service Part. I might as well get myself another black board now, while they're still around for when I wear this one out.

The white just so doesn't go with my Sawtooth G4/450.[/QB]<hr /></blockquote>Funny you should say that.. I have the black pro keyboard and have a hard time seeing the keys in low light. Perhaps if I was a touch typist I wouldn't mind, but an old-timer like me needs to look at the keys while I type.

I'll probably go pick up one of them fancy new white ones soon

WildZero · Jun 6, 2002, 04:53 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by mitchell_pgh:
Five button mouse!!! Why don't they just take the keyboard and attach the mouse to the bottom of that...

Two plus a clickable scroll wheel would be nice<hr /></blockquote>Agreed, which is why I'm using a M$ optical now. The wheel is a button and you can assign functions to "hold wheel down and roll up" and "hold wheel down and roll down" using the mircosoft mouse driver in OSX. Sounds like a pain, but it feels like a 2 button and acts like a 4. I use the push and roll for copy-paste all the time and love it.

At the very least, Apple should offer a Pro mouse with multiple buttons. Their stubborn refusal to even offer this as an option just means more $$$ for Microsoft, IMHO.

yellar · Jun 6, 2002, 05:37 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Matsu:
You're all making a mountain out of a mole hill. It's going to be a white button mouse for everyone. The only thing that's changing is the color.<hr /></blockquote>Or (and I have no inside info on this) Apple is going to release Bluetooth enabled keyboards and mice... It would seem like a logical step provided Bluetooth controllers make it on to the motherboards of new MWNY machines.