Apple doing a two-button mouse?
By Peter Rojas 
posted March 16th 2005 6:27AM
posted March 16th 2005 6:27AM
You read the headline—AppleInsider says they have several reliable sources who seem pretty damn sure that Apple is
going to come out with a two-button wireless optical mouse. We figured Jobs would go to his grave buried in some sort
of gigantic one-button coffin, but according to the report, Apple is going to reverse literally decades of stubborness
with a two-button mouse that will probably retail for around $69. Why now? Supposedly Apple (well, really Jobs) sees a
two-button mouse as critical to attracting lifelong Windows users who are just used to doing that right-click thing
(alerting consumers to the fact that third-party two-button mice usually work just fine with Macs would be a smidge too
easy).
[Thanks, Chuck]
I actually read all of the aforementioned comments.
1) Touch screens more than likely were invented by someone, and whoever uses it probably licenses it somehow, someway. Any claim by Apple is of their spin and presentation of that invention. They are allowed to market that as their own. No one is losing money on their idea here.
2) 1 mouse button is minimalistic usability. It makes sense in a small number of cases where the user is truely inexperienced with a mouse/navigation/clicking/etc. 2 button mice, one for clicking objects, the other for contextual menus is a vast usability improvement over ctrl-clicking. Scroll wheels improve usability for up-and-down scrolling, being a third button, and now side-to-side scrolling. The 2 extra "thumb" buttons for browser navigation (back/forward or previous/next) is another usability improvement. Of all mice, no matter the number of buttons, one mouse will have a greater usability to a specific set of users.
3) Whatever defines a "power user", the number of mouse buttons in no way should make or break that title.
4) Options is the way to go when it comes to purchasing computers. The basics come standard, and you upgrade and pick options from there. One, two, four, or seven button mice as options would better serve the consumer and producer by wasting less. Sure, its just a 1 button mouse I can replace within a 15 min trip to a store, but thats a total waste. The downside is it takes more time and costs more money and creates more inventory to manage what macs come with which mouse. It's all about 1 box. Apple minimalizes more their consumers' confusion, not its users' confusion.
Four words: one button, five digits?