Apple's
Mighty Mouse was one of the most loved
and loathed rodents of all time. When it worked, it was a magnificent productivity booster for Mac users. Unfortunately, over time, even after hours and hours of vigorous rubbing, the top-mounted trackball would become so ensnared in hand-jam that owners were left with two options: delicately splay the mouse for a bit of X-acto home surgery... or smash it with a vengeance hammer until justice was served. So maybe now you can understand all the hopeful fuss made over its successor: the
Magic Mouse. It's now shipping to those of you who ordered it separately from its iMac bundle. Snow Leopard (and Leopard) users can even download the software update now so that all those multi-touch and gestural features will be enabled once the bluetooth mouse arrives. Then we'll see if this is the mouse that rights all those wrongs.
Update: Added 10.5.8 Leopard download link.
Read -- Wireless Mouse Software Update 1.0 (Snow Leopard)
Read -- Wireless Mouse Software Update 1.0 (Leopard)
Read -- Magic Mouse now shipping
posted October 29th 2009 5:34AM
Lifting an index finger a quarter of an inch is a major annoyance? This is how I've always moused, even with multiple button mice. Are you really calling this a defect because you have to lift a finger? Have we become that much of a lazy society that the "I don't want to lift a finger" statement now actually lives in our computer mousing?
one finger, left click. two fingers right click. just like the trackpad.
I set up a new iMac with one of these last week and after about 5 minutes with it I think Apple might have the first mouse that you don't have to replace right away in almost 15 years. I still wish it was a little more ergonomic though. Does their design team consist of a bunch of people with tiny hands?
They all have tiny hands and smell like cabbage
Good idea in theory ... horrible in execution. Why not just ship touchpads with all of the iMacs? This is damned near the same thing.
I was thinking about getting one. For £55 I think it's a bit... much. And does anyone know how Exposé works? What if you used the middle button to get up the Dashboard? I'll have to do research first.
Now, if only they would come out with Vista/7 drivers they could have a huge hit on their hands.
Seeing as how Win7 is supposed to be all set up for multi touch and tablets etc, surely this is exactly the sort of device that should be being pushed out for it.
I'm a PC, but I do get jealous of some of the cool MAC gizmos that they get.
I don't think it would work very well. Apple's own multitouch trackpad doesn't work nearly as well with its drivers in Windows as they do in Mac OS X. Also, take a look at the Synaptic offerings on some EEE PC - they're all really horrible to use.
I think the OS has to have some deeper support for it to work nicely.
Really? Why?
To me this is a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. Once again, Apple have taken a useful device, added their own special brand of "innovation" and come up with something very close to useless. They really seem to take pride in the fact that they manage to mess up every mouse they set their hands on.
I have been using the mighty mouse for a couple of years, and I feel lost on any other mouse now. Not having the 360º of scrollability leaves me feeling disabled, it really does improve productivity. I agree, the scroll ball does get jammed too easily & quickly though, and it can become completely unusable. I have found that using rubbing alcohol (on a swab or prep pad) applied liberally to the ball, then rolling it vigorously, and repeating can clear this out. I don't know where the funk is ending up - but I can scroll again!
The Magic Mouse does 360 scrolling as well... you just wont have any balls to be putting rubbing alcohol on.
*gigglesnort*
You find it hard to use a non-Apple product?
Shock
Aside from the ghastly issues with gunk, the mighty mouse was horribly imprecise compared with a quality Logitech mouse. Terrible, terrible product.
No middle click gets the middle finger.
I was thinking the same thing. :(
hopefully they'll allow for some gesture controls... 3-finger swipe up could replace center-click, but until there's support for some custom gestures, i'll have to wait.
I only use center-click for Dashboard, but i use it dozens of times a day.
My boss just ordered us a few 27" iMacs. (It's a pretty huge deal since we're a graphic design office moving from crappy Dell/WinXP machines)
They're already coming with these.... so I guess there's no choice. I assume it's for the better though?
I'm a bit afraid of it being too finicky, but thankfully you can turn off the touch features or just use a regular wired mouse.
Needless to say though, I'm so EXCITE for our new computers to arrive in the mail. It's like Christmas! :D
Wow, a graphic design office that was using Dells & XP? I feel for you! Good to see you are taking a step in the right direction! You & your crew are going to be happy, I am quite certain.
I would suggest to your boss to look for other alternatives, judging from what we've been reading. As I'm sure you're aware of, mice are a personal preference. What feels right for some, doesn't to others, so why force the whole team into using one product, especially a design team. He should let everyone choose their own mouse and reimburse them. I'm sure everyone would be much happier and more productive.
I tried it out the other day at the Apple store. Ordered an Orochi instead.
I too was looking at the Orochi, but I can't myself put down $70 for a mouse that I haven't tried in store.
Awsum comments everyone. Wat I love about this web site is that you can get smart feedback from folks even before a product ships. And the most amazing thing of all is how people who will never buy the stuff offer the best advice. Keep it up guys cos this stuff is great and keeps me well eduucated.
I tried it at the Apple store here in Century City, first impression was WOW, well more like HOLY S#@$!!! The idea behind it is amazing. I was flipping mouse back and forth to see how it works..........LOL.............but after trying for about 10 minutes, I would say I will not switch to the new Magic mouse. Here are my reasons. 1) The design is too flat, my palm feels missing something, it's like shoes without the arch support. 2) The gesture movement doesn't feel natural or work well, specifically the 2-finger from side to side. I found myself holding the mouse down with one hand and try to gesture it with the other, very very awkward. One finger movements are fine. Yes, it's beautiful as always from Apple, a total looker, but ergonomically speaking, not so much.
There's a very easy way to clean that stupid ball that kept clogging up.
The answer? It's a cleaner for a lot of other things as well.
The answer is:
FIRE.
I'm currently using a mac and a mighty mouse at work right now. Company provided. I hate that mighty mouse. It looks nice but my $2 mouse I have as backup "simply works" 100 times better and much more ergonomical. Trying to right click on it is the worst experience on a mouse I have ever used. Ever. Not to mention the keyboard (looks nice) but the keys are pitched and rise so high that that when you press down on the keys, it jams it into the housing so you don't get a press.
I simply feel like picking up the whole sheebang and throwing it out the office window. It simply works my ass. I've got $5 peripherals at home that simply work better.
The puck mouse was terrible.
The Mighty Mouse was terrible.
Something tells me this thing is going to be terrible, too.
A lot of design houses and Agency designers are using PCs. It's no longer dominated by Macs. I've used and still use an XP and Vista machine for my graphic design work for years now and it's fully just as capable as a tricked out Mac. The crash rate is on par with my friend's Mac in the office and in some instances, it's simply easier for me to recover from an application or system crash.
You'll find that the global drop in advertising dollars moving from Agencies has many of them thinking about making easy choices between a PC and Mac. When the performance is on par (and has been for years) and software is the same, cheap upgrade options and scalability on the PC, with the Mac costing 2 times more, it's no surprise at all PC's have made inroads in design houses. 1/2 the Macs I see in use in Agencies are now their own personal machines.
I always hear about this high crash rate among Macs here in the Engadget comments - yet I myself witness very few crashes between my system or the other 6 we have here. I really do not remember the last crash I had, and as far as a system crash (not just an Application) I think it has been a couple of years - and my set up gets pushed.
What the hell is wrong with your Macs?
Just played with it at our local dealer. I'm not that impressed because you still have to click (I mean really click!) to use it. I'd rather wanted it to be fully "touchable"... so I guess I'll stay with my Mighty Mouse
Is it just me or will this thing hurt productivity excessively?
Why would apple, the inventor of the mouse, be so incapable of making a good one? I'll keep my targus mac mouse with infrared scroll and 5 buttons thank you. Finger gestures are horrible to attempt and lack of side buttons is re-frigging-tarded.
Shame on you, apple. How hard is it to add 2 more buttons??
Uh.. Where did you get the idea that Apple invented the mouse? One of the early adopters of it sure, but invented??
"uhhh..." I meant initiator....sorry. Apple was the first true initiator of the technology to use it with their new systems.
Happy???
Because carpal tunnel is a small price to pay to look chic.
Another case where Apple chose form over function. Apple seems to have a real weakness when it comes to designing items that are physical contact with humans , mice ear buds, keyboards
I have had the Mighty Mouse for some time and really like it. I have had the "dirty" ball problem, but that was always easily fixed.
My Magic Mouse arrived today. It's great! Very responsive, scrolling is very easy and moving back/forth through web pages is very much like the track pad on my MacBook Pro! I do miss the ability to activate expose, but I have a feeling that is coming with 10.6.2. The weight is great so that when you swipe your two fingers, the mouse stays still.
For those who tried in the store, keep in mind that using a mouse while standing and leaning over is much different than sitting at a desk where your arm is parallel to the desktop.
I really don't care who invented what....what I care about is that the product in front of me works well. This one does.
I love my mighty! I like the shape (I am ambidextrous), precision, the click and even the scroll ball (yes time to time I have to do the white paper trick, but it only takes 2 seconds and the ball it's running again).
I would not change it for anything... or maybe the magic mouse will change my mind...
Mine still says "prepared".
Like many others have said, I won't be surprised if Logitech and especially Micro$oft would follow Apple on this multi-touch technology on a mouse. I predict Windows 7 will soon be updated to support gestures made on a mouse. It's a cat and mouse game again, but Apple always wins.
Magic Mouse is missing a way to call up Expose. There's nothing to push on the sides and four finger swiping like on the MacBook trackpads doesn't work.
Off the hook! Only been using the Magic Mouse for a day, but it's surprising comfortable and addicting. Feels nicer in the hand than it looks. The "scroll with momentum" (throwing the vertical and horizontal scroll) feel like a trackball and had me hooked in 20 min.
Happy that mine has actually shipped. Should arrive today!
Goodness knows the trackball cr@pped out on my Mighty Mouse months ago, and have just been suffering with it.
Just got mine off the Fed Ex truck and absolutely is the best mouse outside of the Magic Kingdom. The scrolling features and preference set ups allow awesome adjustments for personal uses. Works exretemely well with my Mac Book Pro.