I’ve been a Mac fanboy ever since we had a Performa 500-something of other in one of the GT classrooms at my elementary. I just bought my third Mac (not counting the one my family had when I was younger). And sure, they’re expensive, but the money is worth the smug sense of satisfaction and superiority that comes with being a Mac user. (And if there’s one thing I love in life, it’s anything that gives me a smug sense of superiority.) But I have a healthy distaste for their habit of producing crappy mice.
Up until 2005 Apple insisted on shipping single button mice with their computers. Sure, OS X (released on 2001) could support a multi-button mouse, but you wouldn’t get one with your computer. The day after I bought a Powerbook G4 back in 2003, I headed to CompUSA for a mouse. Now, I wouldn’t expect a laptop to come with a mouse, but I should point out that the trackpad had only one button. So you’d have to control-click to right-click.
It really baffles me why Apple would adopt that policy for years and years in the face of innovation from everyone else. The Performa 6116CD that my family bought when I was eight or so had a single-button mouse, and I believe multi-button mice were well established on PCs at the time. I just don’t get it.
In any case, Apple finally gave in with 2005′s Mighty Mouse (later renamed in a trademark dispute). It had a little trackball for a scroll wheel and supported left and right clicks. I think I’ve used this here and there in a few computer labs and it works okay.
Apple’s newest mouse, however, isn’t so great. The Magic Mouse is a sleek design with some clever capabilities. For example, you can scroll in any direction just by swiping your fingers. It’s an incredibly smart piece of engineering.
Unfortunately, it’s a complete disaster from an ergonomic point of view. The sharp edges of the top jam into your fingers. The low profile means that your thumb and pinky will drag along the desk; try to lift them up and they’ll be jabbed by the sharp edges. I had to spend $30 at Best Buy for a Logitech mouse just so I could have something comfortable. I really shouldn’t have to shell out $30 on a peripheral after I spent as much money as I did on the computer. (I’d have loved to have used the USB mouse I bought in 2003, but it’s pretty much on the fritz at this point.)
It really baffles me that a company that can be so brilliant screws up so often with its mice. Please, Apple, don’t mess this up ever again.
I despise the Magic Mouse. It loses connection all the time for no apparent reason. And at least once per hour the back just falls right off. It’s very irritating.