[Gavin]

Apple's new mouse has the appearance of one seamless surface yet registers 2 buttons.

Why not do the same with the button on laptops? The default is to be in single button mode, which acts just like it does now, but in two-button mode it can tell the difference between the right and left sides. The look of the machine stays the same.

They can put it in powerbooks and not iBooks.

[deermatt]

i perfer 2 buttons over 1, you can do stuff quicker and get more done. i dont really get the whole 1 button mouse thing..

[teknopimp]

not necessary imo since your left hand is out already for typing.

[lamewing]

Originally Posted by teknopimp

not necessary imo since your left hand is out already for typing.

Very necessary, actually. I very often will surf websites, especially when reading the morning news with only the trackpak/mouse and traveling between sites. Right clicking to open a tab in firefox is much eaiser with two buttons versus having to reach up hold down a key, click the mouse/trackpad just to open a tab.

[teknopimp]

Originally Posted by lamewing

Very necessary, actually. I very often will surf websites, especially when reading the morning news with only the trackpak/mouse and traveling between sites. Right clicking to open a tab in firefox is much eaiser with two buttons versus having to reach up hold down a key, click the mouse/trackpad just to open a tab.

not a reach actually, just extend your pinky down... doesn't anyone touch type anymore?

[Helmling]

he said "with only" the mouse...doesn't anyone listen anymore?

Seriously, though, I don't understand the stubborn resistance to two buttons. I right-click all the time.

[mgl]

It's impossible to Ctrl Click when you're holding a bagel in one hand and browing the web with another.

I work in the usability field. Too often, people run usability tests in labs without doing any research on how people actually use computers in their homes and offices. In a lab setting with only a bottle of water on the table and a few cookies that don't drop crumbs, you wouldn't notice the dilemna of thousands of geeks holding bagels, muffins, or pizza in one hand while typing or mousing with the other.

My morning routine requires two mouse buttons. I use a mouse with my laptop.

[teknopimp]

i won't ask *what* you're doing with the other hand.

[lamewing]

Originally Posted by teknopimp

not a reach actually, just extend your pinky down... doesn't anyone touch type anymore?

You are assuming that a person, when casually reading, is hold both hands on the keyboard. How about when just leaning back in the chair, with one hand on the toubhpad/mouse? By the way, I type 60wpm and learned to do so back in 1984 on an IBM selectric typewriter....

[lamewing]

Originally Posted by teknopimp

i won't ask *what* you're doing with the other hand.

...and do people ever not have their head in the gutter these days?

[mgl]

Re: Morning. It's morning, time for pizza.

Good grief, it's the morning. Bagels. I won't ask what you were thinking.

[OogaBooga]

I love eating at my computer. Seriously.

When I come home after a long day of school/work, I want to relax with a beer/bagel/pizza/taco in one hand and a mouse in the other hand. How am I supposed to open tab-links and download files with a single button mouse?

[Randman]

Absolutely not.

[hmccorkle]

Ugh, two button clicker thing? NEVER.
Next they'll go back to the old black style but keep the design flat, then put the speakers under the keyboard and make that surface flat, then replace the apple command key with the control key, then make volume control only available in the OS, then lower the battery life to about 30 mins, then slap a Dell logo on the back.

Stick with it, or hell, buy the mighty mouse like I did.

[Randman]

Fix your sig!!!!!!!!!!

[CobraNT]

I agree, need 2 buttons. They also need to get rid of the stupid track pad as I find it useless.

[amazing]

Now that the logjam has been broken with the Mighty Mouse, 2 buttons on the laptops aren't far behind.

Ooh, guess what? What with that mouse and the Intel chips in the Mac's future, the netherworlds can't get more frozen than they already are! Until someone starts yet another thread about missing OS 9, that is...

[NateEssex]

Originally Posted by CobraNT

I agree, need 2 buttons. They also need to get rid of the stupid track pad as I find it useless.

I like the trackpad, but would also appreciate being able to turn on a right/left click option like the Mighty Mouse. I often have my TV remote in one hand and my other on the trackpad. And honestly, I prefer putting down the remote to pick up a Corona as opposed to having to press the control button

[Mike Pither]

It's not exactly the same as using a two button track pad but by using Sidetrack you can assign corners of the track pad to do different things. I have a tap in the top left corner assigned as an equivalent to a right click and a tap in the right corner assigned as center buttin click which opens a link in a new background tab. I think it's a great bit of software.

[sniffer]

Funny, I think it's awkward when I am using a two-button trackpad, and awkward when I am using a single button mouse.

[Big Fat Octopus]

The PB/iBook trackpad is excellent and one button is sufficient IMHO. Two buttons on a laptop are often hard to distinguish between by touch and I always hit the wrong one or both at the same time.

I'm often surprised just how little I miss the whole two button mouse scene. Proof is on the pudding for me. In practice the single button mouse theory works just great. I do IT support and you'd be amazed how often I get [ Windows ] clients clicking on the wrong freekin mouse button.

Everyone is different though and advanced users can handle the power :-) of extra buttons. An external mouse is able to be designed for your hand. Get a Bluetooth multibutton mouse if you want more things to click on.

[lamewing]

Originally Posted by Big Fat Octopus

The PB/iBook trackpad is excellent and one button is sufficient IMHO. Two buttons on a laptop are often hard to distinguish between by touch and I always hit the wrong one or both at the same time.

I'm often surprised just how little I miss the whole two button mouse scene. Proof is on the pudding for me. In practice the single button mouse theory works just great. I do IT support and you'd be amazed how often I get [ Windows ] clients clicking on the wrong freekin mouse button.

Everyone is different though and advanced users can handle the power :-) of extra buttons. An external mouse is able to be designed for your hand. Get a Bluetooth multibutton mouse if you want more things to click on.

I really want to say that what you are saying is just bunk. How hard is it to look/feel the right from left side of a mouse or trackpad button? A two button mouse/trackpad is POWER for ADVANCED users? Jeez. YET (here I really started to wonder)....I spoke with a a tech at the local CompUSA when I was buying a well-priced powerbook and by the gods, the average computer user really is clueless. I just had no idea of the lack of knowledge that so many users have.

I still prefere two buttons and I don't like the new Apple mouse due to the TINY little ball. The one button appearnce is nice, though.

[madmacgames]

>> Funny, I think it's awkward when I am using a two-button trackpad

It's not funny at all... its the truth... anyone who can use a 2 button trackpad with comfort or efficiency has got to be a mutant.

I never got 2 button trackpads... they're so awkward to use. You have break your hand in half for it to be comfortable using both buttons.

At least when I use the trackpad, my hand naturally falls with the thumb on the button, the index finger on the pad, and my other 3 fingers floating generally above the trackpad (between it and the keyboard on the right wrist pad). basically the same as the right hand typing position just shifted down to the trackpad. I'd have to cut my hand and fold it in half to get one of them in proximity of the 2nd button. And well, using my thumb, that sort of motion would quickly cause severe damage to the thumb.

The only real way I've found to use a 2 button track pad without breaking your hand or thumb, is to stop using the trackpad, move your hand down some, and use the trackpad finger to click the 2nd button, or (again) stop using it, and move your hand to a position where it would comfortable to click it with the thumb. No thanks. Its much easier and quicker to ctrl + click.

[Randman]

With the scrolling mechanism on the latest version of 'books, let's hope Apple never goes to a multi-button trackpad

Now, if they bought out sidetrack and added that functionality, that would be cool.

[NateEssex]

Originally Posted by Mike Pither

It's not exactly the same as using a two button track pad but by using Sidetrack you can assign corners of the track pad to do different things. I have a tap in the top left corner assigned as an equivalent to a right click and a tap in the right corner assigned as center buttin click which opens a link in a new background tab. I think it's a great bit of software.

I just found the site, http://www.ragingmenace.com/ , which I presume is the Sidetrack you speak of. Is it a stable utility? Have many of you used it? It sounds interesting...

[Randman]

Sidetrack has a very good rep and it is extremely stable.

[spencers]

Another vote for a 2 button on Powerbooks.

I hate control clicking.