#262048 - 03/08/2005 01:46
Re: Apple "Multibutton" mouse
[Re: tonyc]
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old hand
Registered: 01/10/2002
Posts: 1039
Loc: Fullerton, Calif.
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Quote:
Apple's stodgy refusal to openly support multibutton mice until now was rather silly.
I once had an Apple Mac, I think it was a G3, and the apple folk I know called it a "beige case" one. I had it hooked to a KVM switch along with my PCs, so I operated it with the ibm keyboard and two button mouse via a converter. I think it had os9 on it.
Surprisingly, the right mouse button did all kinds of useful things on the mac. And it was nice to have the ridges on the actual home keys, instead of the next keys over.
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#262049 - 03/08/2005 04:12
Re: Apple "Multibutton" mouse
[Re: loren]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 09/09/2000
Posts: 2303
Loc: Richmond, VA
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Richmond Apple Store got 8 in today and I got 2 of them earlier this afternoon ... It's actually rather slick.
So clicking feels exactly like the standard Apple one-button mouse -- the entire mouse clicks down. In fact, by default, it is one-mouse-button-mode and you'd never know the difference (ignoring the scroll ball and side squeeze for now). After installing the installer on the CD, you get a fancy new prefs pane that lets you assign the right "button" to secondary action (i.e. "right mouse button"). Now the magic kicks in  It basically senses whether you put pressure on the upper left or the upper right and fires the appropriate action -- but it's still one button clicking (i.e. the entire mouse).
So the ball. In the middle top is a floating sphere that rolls 360 degrees. The action on it feels perfect for scrolling -- you almost can't tell if there's a physical rotation happening (it's very smooth). Additionally, the ball has a vertical "give" of maybe 5 mm or so that indicates it's also a button. By pressing down on the ball you can click in the usual paddle-clicking-style (but with the ball in the pressed-in position) and execute a third mouse button click. This defaults to bring up Dashboard, but can be reassigned.
Lastly is the squeeze. If you lightly squeeze the sides, you can generate an additional even -- This does not click, it's just sort of a "squeeze something that doesn't move". This defaults to performing an expose (reassignable also).
Overall it's pretty slick -- Initial impression is "cool". Time will tell if it's actually useful. Wireless would have been nice.
ms
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#262050 - 03/08/2005 07:09
Re: Apple "Multibutton" mouse
[Re: mschrag]
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addict
Registered: 23/12/2002
Posts: 652
Loc: Winston Salem, NC
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Richmond Apple Store got 8 in today and I got 2 of them earlier this afternoon...
The one at Short Pump Towne Center?
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#262051 - 03/08/2005 11:16
Re: Apple "Multibutton" mouse
[Re: loren]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 10/06/1999
Posts: 5916
Loc: Wivenhoe, Essex, UK
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Ars Technica have a review.
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#262052 - 03/08/2005 12:30
Re: Apple "Multibutton" mouse
[Re: matthew_k]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 09/08/2000
Posts: 2091
Loc: Edinburgh, Scotland
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I may sound like a technophobe, but I'm not - in fact I am a gadget head. But I mostly hate bluetooth (the part that doesn't hate it is the attack and penetration side of my brain, which has had fun playing with the seemingly unlimited number of interesting vulnerabilities in bluetooth.) I can think of no use where I would choose bluetooth over another method of communication. - In the car I want my phone plugged in to charge it, so why not have audio connected too?
- For personal networks - I prefer wires - obviates jamming and is way faster
- For larger wireless networks - 802.11 with EAP, TKIP, RADIUS and a sensible set of firewalls
- 3G or GPRS for my laptop - uses a PCMCIA card. Why waste my mobile for data calls?
- For keyboard or mouse - having to run on batteries is a pain, why not just have a wire?
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MkIIa, blue lit buttons, memory upgrade, 1Tb in Subaru Forester STi
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#262053 - 03/08/2005 13:06
Re: Apple "Multibutton" mouse
[Re: Cybjorg]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 09/09/2000
Posts: 2303
Loc: Richmond, VA
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Quote:
The one at Short Pump Towne Center?
yep
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#262054 - 03/08/2005 13:30
Re: Apple "Multibutton" mouse
[Re: frog51]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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I'm not saying that those are incorrect points for you, but: Quote:
In the car I want my phone plugged in to charge it, so why not have audio connected too?
I never plug my phone in in the car. I leave it in my pocket, and I don't answer it because I don't want to fiddle around trying to extract it. If I had a bluetooth headset I could just leave in the car, I could use the phone while still in my pocket.
Quote:
For personal networks - I prefer wires - obviates jamming and is way faster
Personal networks? I don't think anyone really advocates Bluetooth for networking; it's just a buzzword. If you're talking about peripherals here, Bluetooth is intended for slow devices, and if you've really got someone trying to jam your GPS connection, you've probably got bigger fish to fry than worrying about wires versus wireless.
Quote:
For larger wireless networks - 802.11 with EAP, TKIP, RADIUS and a sensible set of firewalls
Again, no one is really suggesting using Bluetooth for all-purpose networking.
Quote:
3G or GPRS for my laptop - uses a PCMCIA card. Why waste my mobile for data calls?
Because you don't live in the US, where mobile wireless connectivity is virtually unobtainable outside of a cell phone. Also, maybe you don't want that PCMCIA antenna sticking out of your laptop, ready to be broken off.
Quote:
For keyboard or mouse - having to run on batteries is a pain, why not just have a wire?
So you're complaining about the wirelessness of a wireless technology? Can you never see a reason where having wires is a pain in the ass? Myself, I use Bluetooth for a desktop machine at home. This is because that desk doubles as a paperwork desk. I can just pick up the mouse and keyboard and put them in a drawer while I'm not using them. Having a wire on them limits where I can move them to. Obviously, I could duplicate this with RF, but I've got Bluetooth built in. Why would I want to duplicate that except with a big honking dongle?
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#262055 - 03/08/2005 13:31
Re: Apple "Multibutton" mouse
[Re: wfaulk]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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Actually, let me sum up everyone's complaint about Bluetooth so we can move on: Quote:
I don't have any use for it. Therefore, it sucks.
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Bitt Faulk
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#262056 - 03/08/2005 15:11
Re: Apple "Multibutton" mouse
[Re: wfaulk]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
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Quote:
Actually, let me sum up everyone's complaint about Bluetooth so we can move on:
Quote:
I don't have any use for it. Therefore, it sucks.
Um...not fair.
I have most of the uses that everyone else does, but it doesn't work for me. I've probably just had bad luck with cell phones. The P800 and T608 are not the best SE phones ever made.
I think the complaints would be more like "bluetooth is still in toddler stage right now. therefore, for some people it causes a lot of headaches"
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Matt
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#262057 - 03/08/2005 16:18
Re: Apple "Multibutton" mouse
[Re: Dignan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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Okay, fair enough. But if your complaint is that it's not working for you, then you're already past "what's the point", since you've tried to use it. Personally, I've never had any problems other than a bad driver on Windows. Everything else has pretty much worked flawlessly.
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Bitt Faulk
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#262058 - 03/08/2005 16:28
Re: Apple "Multibutton" mouse
[Re: wfaulk]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
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Quote:
But if your complaint is that it's not working for you, then you're already past "what's the point", since you've tried to use it.
I was mostly wondering what the point was in relation to keyboards/mice when RF was working perfectly fine for me. I can understand the "dongle" arguments and such. Besides, the one experience with bluetooth keyboards/mice was with my girlfriend's, and she didn't buy it because of bluetooth, and you she has to have a bluetooth adapter in a USB port anyway.
Overall, I definitely thing bluetooth will be great...in like two years...
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Matt
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#262059 - 03/08/2005 16:47
Re: Apple "Multibutton" mouse
[Re: Dignan]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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As has been pointed out, people said the same thing about USB years ago, too, back when it sucked in Windows and worked flawlessly in MacOS.
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Bitt Faulk
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#262060 - 03/08/2005 17:00
Re: Apple "Multibutton" mouse
[Re: andy]
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addict
Registered: 23/09/2000
Posts: 498
Loc: Virginia, USA
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I went to the Apple store to try out the mouse. I'm underwhelmed. It's better than the absurdity of a one button mouse with no scroll wheel. I think Apple's elegent design is very appealing but at some point function is most important. I'll stick with my zillion buttoned Logitech/MS mice. How can one live without forward/back buttons on a mouse?
If you really like the regular Apple mouse but just wish it had a right button and scroll then you'll like the Mighty Mouse ("here to save the day!"). I think their intentions are misguided but I give Apple credit for creating a multi-button mouse that can behave exactly like a single button mouse if you so choose.
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#262061 - 03/08/2005 17:45
Re: Apple "Multibutton" mouse
[Re: frog51]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/01/2002
Posts: 3937
Loc: Providence, RI
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Quote:
3G or GPRS for my laptop - uses a PCMCIA card. Why waste my mobile for data calls?
Because using my phone turns out to be cheaper.
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#262062 - 04/08/2005 06:32
Re: Apple "Multibutton" mouse
[Re: Daria]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 09/08/2000
Posts: 2091
Loc: Edinburgh, Scotland
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Wow - the GPRS card in my laptop seems to work out much cheaper, I don't need to worry about setup/connections as it is always there. There is no external antenna. All just works.
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MkIIa, blue lit buttons, memory upgrade, 1Tb in Subaru Forester STi
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#262063 - 04/08/2005 06:36
Re: Apple "Multibutton" mouse
[Re: wfaulk]
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pooh-bah
Registered: 09/08/2000
Posts: 2091
Loc: Edinburgh, Scotland
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Quote:
I never plug my phone in in the car. I leave it in my pocket, and I don't answer it because I don't want to fiddle around trying to extract it.
I reckon 80% of my time spent in the car is spent on the phone, so a handsfree kit is essential, and on a 6 hour journey, I can easily drain a mobile battery if it is not charging.
And at home I have one mouse and one keyboard hooked into my main 4 way KVM switch for my day to day servers. And I just ssh into most of the other machines. Lots of wires in the server room, but pretty clear elsewhere.
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Rory
MkIIa, blue lit buttons, memory upgrade, 1Tb in Subaru Forester STi
MkII, 240Gb in Mark Lord dock
MkII, 80Gb SSD in dock
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