Apple's Mighty Mouse: The Move to Multi-Button
by Anand Lal Shimpi on August 4, 2005 8:10 PM EST- Posted in
- Mac
Aesthetics and Ergonomics
Ergonomically, the Mighty Mouse (and the rest of Apple's mice for that matter) is really a hit or miss depending on the size of your hands. Personally, I've never been too happy with the size of the Logitech MX1000, so moving to a smaller mouse is nice, but at the same time, I don't feel that the design of the Mighty Mouse is particularly ergonomic for resting your hand on it for long periods of time. Then again, quite possibly the most ergonomically sound decision that you can make is to not rest your hand on your mouse for long periods of time.
Logitech MX1000, Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer 4.0 and the Mighty Mouse
IntelliMouse Explorer 4.0 vs. Mighty Mouse Height Comparison
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LincTX - Saturday, August 6, 2005 - link
I don't think the mouse is the only one with small balls. There is a difference between Professional and just being plain tame. This is a horrible, horrible product that is sure to annoy more than just gamers and PC-switch users.I say pass the Apple product reviews on to a reviewer which hasn't been recently bitten with the Apple worm. It's only fair I think.
cryptonomicon - Friday, August 5, 2005 - link
Logitech or microsoft are not perfectly ergonomic and do not fit many people's hands, however they are infinately more ergonomic than this attempt by apple.Why can't apple just put two buttons on the top of their mouse??? The bottom-clicking mechanism is an overly complicated way for a mouse to work and causes alot more accidental clicks in my experience.
Vitaboy - Friday, August 5, 2005 - link
By the content of most of the comments here, it seems you have a lot of people who feel very threatened by the Mighty Mouse.
It seems Anand's review was very objective. He pointed out the mouse's good features as well as the bad features. In the end, he basically stated the mouse is certainly appropriate for some people (like Apple Pro Mouse users) but not so great for others (gamers and hardcore multi-button mousers). Yet, a lot of people seem to be very threatened by this seemingly sensible language with comments like, "This proves the mouse sucks!" or "Apple is all style, no function!" when it's clear most of the people posting have not used the mouse, do not have an open mind, and do not even care to have an open mind about it.
I've tried the mouse. The mouse isn't perfect, but it's perfectly good enough for most Mac users and probably a lot of less experienced Windows users. It feels comfortable to my hands and is thus "ergonomic" for my needs. Considering most companies slap the term "ergonomic" as nothing more than a marketing label to make consumers think they are getting "ergonomic" without really explaining why their product is so "ergonomic" (like the marketing guy that Dilbert needles by explaining what he means by "paradigm"), it seems to me the only definition of ergonomic is something that doesn't cause you discomfort or pain after use. And that, it seems, is a very personal thing rather than Microsoft, Logitech, or Apple telling me that their mouse is "ergonomic."
That being said, for every comment of "It's amazing how much Apple can get people to pay for useless style", you can always find someone who feels threatened by the idea that there are many people out there who find that Apple products work for them just fine.
The bottom line? Some users will love Might Mouse because it works well for them. Many other will not like it one bit. But everyone would benefit from the discontinuation of inane and childish mentality of "I think the mouse sucks and you are getting ripped off if you buy because I hate it and I know better than you and you should use what I think is better because Apple sucks." Nuff said.
IKeelU - Saturday, August 6, 2005 - link
I don't feel threatened by apple's products. It just seems arrogant to me that a company would forsake ergonomics and functionality just to be "different". Granted, I don't actually know why apple chose this design, but from Anand's reactions to the product, I can't see any other reason why someone would want to buy it.MCSim - Saturday, August 6, 2005 - link
Mighty Mouse is one way to say "we don't want to expand to gaming". If it only works in simple use, there's no way it would become popural outside of Apple fanatics or "we don't know anything else".My MX700 is ergonomic, can use it anyway i want, doesn't have same kind of limitations as MM, can use it with Mac's and PC's.
MM is just bling bling. There's no way telling what it causes in long periods of time to your hand. Only Apple can deliver this kind of "limited" usage products, because it's "cool".
As you said, most Mac users are a lot less experienced than the Windows users. My friend once told me a joke, simple computers for the simple users. He was just being sarcastic. :)
kmmatney - Friday, August 5, 2005 - link
Well, I think this mouse sucks. I also thought the "hockey puck" mouse sucked on the old imacs. I don't think they make the old hockey puck mouse, because, well, it sucked. This one seems way to easy to miss the clicks. The market will show how long this mouse lasts in its current form. I bet it won't go over all that well.Ocaid - Friday, August 5, 2005 - link
Amen.cryptonomicon - Friday, August 5, 2005 - link
" This is a case where I really think Apple has sacrificed usability in order to achieve aesthetic elegance."Yep. This mouse sucks. I feel sorry for the people who are going to use it.
SMOGZINN - Friday, August 5, 2005 - link
It seems to me that this mouse was created for the type of people that move the mouse over the icon and then pick up their hand and click with one finger. You know the same people that type with one finger, probably the same finger that they click the mouse with. I often think that Apple does not take their customers seriously, and makes systems designed for the lest common denominator. This is a shame because they often have really interesting ideas, and I would like to be able to get a system that does not look like it was designed for a 14 year old's room like the all plastic 'ninja' cases or a warehouse (flat metal case, beige case.)Houdani - Friday, August 5, 2005 - link
Mind you, I'm not bellyaching for the sake of bellyaching. This is a case where I really think Apple has sacrificed usability in order to achieve aesthetic elegance.I totally wouldn't be surprised if prolonged use of this mouse didn't cause significant musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) due to the unnatural way you have to manipulate your hand in order to use the mouse. Quite seriously, I expect users of this mouse to enjoy the pleasures of Tennis Elbow -- and they probably won't even realize it's the mouse which is causing it.
This mouse is a failure in the sense that in order to use it, you have to do unnatural things with your hand. Yes, you can "get used to it" but that's hardly any reason to excuse it's flawed implementation.
>> You should not have to physically lift one finger in order to click with another.
>> You should not have to pinch with your thumb and pinky in order to use the side buttons. Hello thumb button!
>> Moreover, you should not have to reposition your entire hand in order to use the side buttons.
>> You should not have to apply pressure to the trackball in order to use it. That's just unnecessary strain.
>> When using the trackball, you should not have to repeatedly move your fingers in a contorted manner (while exerting a slight amount of downward pressure) just to get to the other side of the document. Anand has me thinking the "high scroll rate" isn't all that high a rate.
On a side note, what happens when you click the trackball when either of your fingers is resting on the mouse? Do you have to physically remove your fingers from the left and right "buttons" in order to get a trackball click?